Jade Cargill went from rising standout to hindrance to the TBS Championship's future. Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee have been feuding for over six months without wrestling each other. However, just as often, AEW will set up a story that runs its course too slowly to satisfy fans. Hangman Adam Page's AEW World Championship victory, Orange Cassidy's rise from comedy act to workhorse and The Acclaimed's homegrown build to top stars are just a few of the payoffs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Gunther, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are all fighting champions that are delivering quality matches every week.Īt least one of them can open the show in a match most weeks rather than spending that time talking up a storm to set up a predictable battle later.ĪEW has taken a slow-and-steady approach to some of its biggest stories, and it can deliver quality payoffs at times. Monday Night Raw especially is finding its footing as a more in-ring-focused product. The only real exception right now is Roman Reigns. Fans are not tuning to watch most of the roster on the microphone. This is certainly not the only answer to a more compelling product, but it is an easy step in the right direction. It is what gets the crowd excited, warming them up for a big night.ĪEW has almost always delivered on this formula, building a strong foundation for the rest of the two-hour night. WWE premium live events are special because of the action in the ring. It may be easy to write but lacks the spark that makes wrestling special. Someone must come out to start the show, soak in the crowd response and talk about their future before an interruption sets up a key match later in the night. WWE has a formula, and it does not lead to the most exciting episodes week to week. For each Becky Lynch or Jamie Hayter, there is a Piper Niven or Penelope Ford waiting in the wings for an opportunity to align with their talent. However, fans will not invest in the whole division until it is treated as a larger deal on the flagship shows. Both have lower expectations on them and use that chance to highlight more of the women's division. NXT and ROH serve as fascinating showcases of what WWE and AEW could be doing more regularly. This will require stories to build beyond the main two women's championships. That can increase for the red brand with three hours to fill.įor AEW, the first goal is to put at least two women's matches a week on AEW Dynamite and the newly announced AEW Collision. Commit to at least one match over ten minutes on Raw and SmackDown and another in the solid eight-minute range. Neither WWE or AEW are likely to reach that goal any time soon, but it is possible with a steadier commitment to rationing out TV time.įor WWE, that means increasing the length of women's matches. The closest may be Impact Wrestling, though the company's management has not been able to sell that ideal to fans. No one has truly approached this ideal on a major stage. The ideal in professional wrestling should be a relative 50-50 split between the men and women. Instead, the company has committed to only one women's match on each show per week, leaving the division an afterthought most of the time. The roster of top stars has grown, but the spotlight has not increased with them.ĪEW had a chance to jump ahead of WWE by fully committing to the women's division. It took a long time for WWE to commit to the women's division as the talent deserved, but the follow-up has not been a steady improvement. The following are the seven simple and easy tweaks that WWE and/or AEW can make right now to improve their product weekly and long term. The next steps are not big moves but small steady tweaks. While all of this is positive, both companies still need to grow. Blackpool Combat Club continues to take the wrestling world by storm, feuding with The Elite and CHAOS currently. The Bloodline is the hottest angle WWE has executed in years. AEW looks poised deliver one of the single most anticipated shows in wrestling alongside New Japan Pro-Wrestling with Forbidden Door II. WWE once again delivered a fantastic WWE WrestleMania and has only built off that momentum. All Elite Wrestling has already sold 65,000 tickets to Wembley Stadium, breaking every company record for total gate. Professional wrestling could be in a new boom period. Roman Reigns' world championship reign has brought a new perspective to what WWE can do, opening the door for more changes in terms of philosophy that can improve the company even more.
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