#the cameras work in AEW are top tier

[hanitje]

CINEMA

[closetofanxiety]

Fight for the Fallen: Thoroughly OK-ish

I watched AEW’s third show on Saturday, and let me tell you: it was OK.

I think I’m just becoming impatient with waiting for the weekly show to start, so we can finally get a clear idea of what this company is going to look like. A string of exhibition-type shows threaded together by various YouTube series is not going to be the model; that’s every indie company on earth right now. This show did not really give any more hint about the eventual direction of AEW on TNT than either previous show, and to boot, had worse matches overall. The panic in some online quarters is unjustified; they’re still starting out, and in a much better position than any non-WWE wrestling company since the 1990s. Still, if this was my first exposure to AEW, I don’t know whether it would leave me eager for more.

The Good

* The pre-show was much better! It was short, it was mostly matches and video packages, and the cringe-inducing comedy was kept to a reasonable minimum. 

* The crowd seemed really into MJF, Sammy Guevara, Shawn Spears, Joey Janela, and, especially Darby Allin in their six-man tag match (for which Jimmy Havoc was also present). Darby Allin has gotten over more in two AEW shows than he did in two years with EVOLVE. This was basically a sampler plate of what these guys are capable of, but the crowd heat really indicates they could have future stars on their hands. 

* Speaking of future stars: holy cow are A Boy And His Dinosaur over. People were NUTS for Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy, ably assisted by Marko Stunt. Even if you know nothing about them, they’re an immediately compelling visual: a giant-dinosaur man, a feral jungle boy, and (as Spectacle of Excess noted) a Hobbit. I not only want to see them wrestle a bunch, I want to go on adventures with them. 

* Awesome Kong seems like she’s going to be a regular member of the roster, and they teased a Kong vs. Kong feud when Aja Kong came out to stare down Awesome. 

* Kenny Omega vs. CIMA was great. A state-of-the-art wrestling match from two vets who, incredibly, had not wrestled each other before.

* Excalibur continues to impress on commentary.

* Jericho’s promo was good stuff.

* The video packages are really well done. One of the problems that other would-be majors have had in competing with WWE is that they look second-rate and cheap in terms of production value. AEW does not have this problem: they are already at the WWE’s level in terms of set building, camera quality, and pretaped packages. This seems like a minor deal, but it’s important for casual fans and newbies; while you and I may crave the gritty haphazard nature of a small-town indie show headlined by someone named the Midnight Fatso, people who have not yet been totally infected by the wrestling bug are immediately put off by anything that screams “second-rate.” Making AEW look like a sports show or network reality show is a hugely important step for them. 

The Bad

* There were a couple of production screw-ups that really made the show feel like amateur hour: when the broadcast began running garbled closed-captioning during the women’s tag match, and then at the end of the show when Matt Jackson was doing his post-match promo and got shut down by a music cue like it was the Oscars and someone’s award acceptance speech was running too long.

* They should put someone in charge who does not wrestle matches. They’re too self-indulgent in terms of pacing and length when it comes to their own stuff. The Hangman Page vs. Kip Sabian match felt like it lasted for hours, and the main event tag team bout took way too long. It seemed like they decided to do an old school, Southern-style match as a riposte to critics who deride them as spot monkeys, but guess what: those critics are never going to be won over. And the people who like the Young Bucks for being the Young Bucks are unlikely to fall in love with a match where one heat segment on Matt featured the Rhodes boys working over his left arm for EIGHT MINUTES. You don’t want one of your VPs/top tier stars muttering “I guess we’re short on time” into a live microphone at the end of your show because his segment is being cut short by the production truck. Trim the fat from these matches.

* The women’s tag match was kind of messy, and since we know now that Britt Baker got a concussion midway through, we know the reason for some of that. But whoever agents these matches needs to do a better job communicating with the joshi workers; Riho and Shoko were throwing popcorn punches that visibly didn’t connect, something I noticed also during the joshi match at Fyter Fest. Are they being told to work lighter because Americans aren’t used to the stiff Japanese style? Whatever the case, it made the match look clumsy.

* Ideally in a three-person commentary booth, labor is divided this way: you have a staid play-by-play announcer keeping the action moving; you have a stats monger who provides insight and context; and you have a color commentator, usually an ex-jock, who provides pop and sizzle. Right now in AEW, Excalibur fills all three roles. Jim Ross just seems lost and ornery, while Alex Marvez occasionally chimes in with factoids that sound like he’s reading them off his phone (perhaps he is). 

* Is Brandi Rhodes a heel? Before her match with Allie, they showed an ESPN-style video package where she talked about impostor syndrome, about being afraid she can’t hang with the people on the roster who’ve been wrestling for long years, about her insecurities as a performer. This was very well done, and naturally built audience sympathy. She then came out for her match and brought Awesome Kong as muscle, and proceeded to wrestle in a cartoonishly heel fashion, event spitting water in Allie’s face like a member of Oedo Tai. After the match, Brandi and Kong beat Allie down until Aja came out to make the save. Now, a heel whose rulebreaking is fueled by self-doubt and insecurity is a good character, but that’s not how this came across. Just like with Cody, who’s a heel on Being the Elite and a face during live shows, the way this was handled just looked like they don’t know what to do with one of their marquee names. 

* I like the openly Memphis nature of the Dark Order, but they are dead in the water with the crowd. They were also the best wrestlers in their three-way match, but again, they got almost nothing from the audience, who doesn’t get (or doesn’t like) what their gimmick is supposed to be. There needs to be a course correction on these guys, because they’re very talented, but the current gimmick is not working. 

Miscellaneous

* I once went to a wedding in July in Jacksonville, and let me tell you: I understand why that crowd seemed quiet and deflated. Apparently this specific venue and design was Tony Khan’s dream, but running an outdoor show in North Florida in July, with post-sundown temperatures still at 85 degrees with mushroom-grade humidity, is perhaps not the best strategy.  A lively crowd can make an average wrestling show seem amazing, and a dead crowd can make a great wrestling show seem lackluster.  

* Having spent some time in Jacksonville, I am familiar with the flamboyant personal injury attorneys Farah & Farah, and was delighted to see not only that they were sponsors of this event, but that Eddie Farah himself was seated ringside, waving a cup of beer around and hollering.