I recomend to watch dynamite every weds thats where all the main stories happen in aew not much happens on collision and rampage I recomend for them 2 watch UA-cam clips UA-cam very good way to keep up with aew content but the most to watch dynamite that's like wwes raw there biggest Weekley show
Watch dynamite and if there are matches that interest you on collision watch that. Rampage never has a story, it’s just matches to build people up or for the crowd to see wrestlers that didn’t wrestle at dynamite
To answer your questions, Dynamite is the must watch. it's the show with the longest history, and is more promo and segment heavy than Collision. Collison is more wrestling based and you would get the backstage segs here and there Rampage is the c show. it's not bad but pretty skippable. i typically watch Rampage when I attend Dynamite live because they tape Rampage after Dynamite goes off the air. 2. i dont owe merch that strictly says AEW. i own a Darby Allin sticker, an Omega shirt, a Young Bucks shirt, a Punk shirt, and a Revolution 2020 poster signed by Mox. 3. the most unique match type AEW has is the Anarchy in the Arena and the Casino Battle Royal which they haven't had in a while. the former is a 4 on 4 brawl around the arena. the latter is like a rumble but it's 5 ppl coming in at fixed intervals instead of one. the last entrant is the Joker card. 4. No AEW doesn't have gimmick ppvs technically Blood and Guts is one but it's a tv special. 5 I'd love to see Nakamura in AEW or in the women's case, i'd love to see Tegan Nox in AEW. tag team wise? probably DIY. 6. I like TK. I don't really hate him. his strongest points as a booker is that he gives wrestlers more of a free reign to do stuff on their own creative wise like Vince did in the 90s. but WWE is more micromanaged. idk if it's still like that in the Triple H era tho. TK's weakest points as a booker is that more often than not, wrestlers are still in the same spot that they were months ago. Hook is a prime example of this. while the FTW title is cool, it has a shelf life to it. Darby is still fighting for the TNT title, a belt he has held like 3 times already.
The fact that so many people are commenting essays trying to help this guy get into aew really warms my heart glad to see the non toxic side of wrestling fandom online when so much of it is negative
@@Dporticus yeah man I really hope you gain more traction and viewers bc this type of genuine positivity without any sarcasm layered into it is much needed especially on UA-cam
Day 1 AEW fan here: 1. Dynamite is the A show where more stories tend to unfold and is the "can't-miss" flagship program. Collision is the supplement to Dynamite. You could miss Collision on any given week and still be up to date on most ongoing stories. Rampage is honestly skippable, and mostly serves as a vessel for just entertaining wrestling matches. 2. Why are we wearing brand t-shirts? AEW fans are very LOYAL, and like you said, prideful. We are also made up of a lot of fans who likely became jaded of the style of programming WWE was offering during WWE's monopoly era. So we know how important having a strong alternative is to pro wrestling, because before 2019, WWE was more or less the only mainstream option for 18 years (TNA was never remotely as big as AEW is now). If you're a fan that prefers more of an in-ring focused product with nuanced storytelling, and a dose of violence sprinkled on top, WWE during the 2010s wasn't for you. That's not a knock on WWE, that's just a preference. So as fans, we truly appreciate that AEW exists, and will wear merch to show as such. 3. Gimmick matches: They did do a Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match, which was made famous in Japan. The AEW version was good, though the "explosion" left a lot to be desired and well, it's worth a watch for a good chuckle. Otherwise, aside from Blood & Guts, Stadium Stampede, and Anarchy in the Arena, the Casino Battle Royale, and the new Gauntlet Battle Royale, there isn't anything more with gimmick matches that comes to mind immediately. I wouldn't say AEW does themed PPVs either, at least not at this point. But it's an interesting idea. 4. Tony Khan was that uber-wrestling nerd folks probably made fun of as a kid. He grew up loving it; he fantasy booked it; went to shows, etc. The difference is that he happens to be the son of a billionaire, and was able to work towards funding AEW's beginnings. Legends like Jim Ross, Schiavone, and others, have praised Khan for his vast wrestling knowledge, as he truly loves and appreciates the pro wrestling business and its history. My honest guess based on his interviews, that he probably has some form of anxiety diagnosis. That is why he probably rubs people the wrong way at times, and has his random outbursts on X in the past. However, even though I don't condone those, I will say that he's been pretty mild on social media for most of this year. I think he's learned a lot from his past mistakes, but I don't think he'll ever be the "suit" that people expect when thinking of a boss like McMahon or even Levesque. It's just not his style, and I know that some don't like that -- but some (like myself) have grown to appreciate it. He was a big ECW fan growing up, which was the renegade brand run by Paul Heyman. I'm speaking to the original ECW during the mid-late 90s which is largely the reason why wrestling had a boom period in that time (but that's a much longer conversation). So i think he sometimes parrots that "maverick" attitude, if that makes sense. 4a. TK does have a team of writers/bookers that already works with him. He recently hired Jennifer Pepperman early this year, who was a big part of the May/Storm storyline. While he always has the final say, he does have a team shooting him ideas and working with him. I think it's a case of patience. Khan has booked some great stories in AEW history, from Omega/Page, MJF/Punk, Cody/Jericho, etc. These all happened under his watch. I think with any company, be it AEW or WWE, you're going to have creative droughts and misses here and there. 2023 is a good example of that, as a lot didn't hit for me in AEW for 2023. But he's learning, and constantly gaining experience, and I think AEW is on an upswing right now creatively.
Also re: writers, Pepperman was brought in on the recommendation of Mercedes Moné. Others who have helped book / write / produce in the past are RJ City, Sonjay Dutt, Bryan Danielson, and I believe Dustin Rhodes and Kenny Omega with the women. Folks like Jericho and MJF also have a lot of creative freedom.
I was gonna write a whole response to the video, but tbh you said everything I would have said, so... Ditto. I will say one thing regarding the merch, a lot of the AEW merch is not as blatantly branded, so it can be hard to spot. For instance I'm currently wearing my Danhausen button up, which has his face on it a bunch but not a single AEW logo. I have a closet full of wrestling shirts, most for AEW, but almost none of them even have the AEW logo and many you wouldn't even recognize as a wrestler shirt. I have 1 AEW hat though. I highly recommend one of the crates, whether AEW crate, or pwcrate. They all have exclusive shirts that you can't get elsewhere and I've only once or twice for a shirt I didn't like.
Day 1 AEW fan too and I agree with most of this comment, just want to add a complementary comment about tony khan, Clearly he often has a socially strange behavior sometimes more subtle than others we can notice it in interviews, segments, speeches or his interactions with other wrestlers or people in general (his rants on social media also) in my perspective and with my understanding of the topic, he shows characteristics of neurodivergence (I am a psychology student and I am diagnosed with ADHD) that could explain some of his behaviors (also his way of booking) and MAYBE is ONE of his reasons for the appreciation for guys like Osprey or MJF who are allegedly also diagnosed with types of neurodivergence (obviously the big factor is that they are arguably his bigger stars) and also explains his constant promotion of mental health and neurodivergency mentions in promos (MJF vs Osprey promo for example) but I am speculating on this examples. The problem is that neurodivergence isn't a very common topic of conversation in society and also the factor that exist this stereotype of this "classic" billonaries, so culturally it makes more sense to see a billionaire acting socially weird and being very euphoric and passionate about his things and think "Oh yeah Tony Khan is a coke head" and I am not saying that he don't have behaviors to fix or to be blamed for but I'm just saying that most of the people who harash him without understanding that MAYBE his brain is in "that doesn't work for me brother" type of attitude... jokes aside I hope I have explained myself clearly im not a native, cheers and Enjoy wrestling!!!
Dynamite's the must watch, Collision's the secondary show, watch when you can but you can miss some and you'll usually be alright. Rampage is an hour long and you don't have to watch it, it's typically just banger matches and less focus on story (or the stories aren't that *big*), you can miss it and be fine. - I don't own any AEW clothing but I'd assume that people wear the logo just to get the company in the public eye, as WWE is ultimately THE mainstream wrestling company.
Dynamite = Main weekly show narratively Collision = B show with other dangling narrative bits Rampage = Just a fun time, but zero consequences most of the time
Tony Khan is a good man who created a rival company that provides hundreds of jobs in the wrestling industry. The impact that AEW caused WWE to improve is astronomical. Better pay, better negotiating, easier schedule and a better product. He is also a very awkward person who lets his frustrations get the best of him sometimes and has caused his company some embarrassing moments. Him wanting to be a wrestler's friend as apposed to their boss has led to some taking advantage of him and of course the entire CM Punk debacle. His issues with the WWE stem as far back as when Dynamite debuted and the Wednesday Night Wars occurred with NXT debuting on USA on the same night two weeks before. When all is said and done, my advice to you is "just enjoy wrestling".
I think this recent episode of dynamite has a good example of how differently aew tells their stories. Back in March Swerve, Hangman and Samoa Joe had a triple threat for the title which ended with Samoa Joe getting Hangman to tap out. Since wrestlers usually don't tap to Joe's choke and instead usually tap out a lot of people assumed (along with speculation from the commentators) that hangman tapped so that he could be sure that swerve wouldn't win the championship. Nobody on screen except the commentators mentioned the possibility that hangman tapped for that reason until last night's episode when swerve and hangman were face to face swerve accused hangman of this and hangman's face told us that he was right. And then swerve mentioned that he was so pissed at hangman for this that he drove to his house and saw hangman leaving to go to the hospital with his pregnant wife. Revealing the birth of hangman's second child, a piece of news that hangman had not been public about. We know that for many different reasons (all valid btw) WWE would have told these moments differently. I personally prefer this type of storytelling in wrestling. It's as subtle as you can get in a not so subtle form of entertainment
@@markmayhew69 No they absolutely did imply that hangman tapped out to cost swerve the chance to win the title, I watched the match I remember commentary suggest it.
@@sadboi88 I'm not not implying that 🤣. But seriously it's not always condescending and they have definitely told stories in a more subtle manner in the past. Just in general their show is structured in a way that makes less sense to do so
14:03 Triple H is far from innocent as he was known to be selfish as a talent. He's ok as a booker but still follows the WWE formula that's happened for decades. Tony Khan is not the best at times, because he does a lot of impulse booking. But certain characters do influence his decisions and that leads to some good long term storytelling. Toni Storm, Bryan Danielson, Swerve, MJF are a few examples of this, which you'll discover for yourself.
Yeah, Triple H is far from innocent. I remember back in the day when stories of wrestlers' drama would leak on a near daily basis and it was clear that Triple H was an office politician. Then there's the story of Triple H re-signing Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows by bringing up how staying with WWE would provide for their families' security, causing the Good Brothers to renege on a deal with AEW... only to fire them just weeks/months later, after they had already burned that bridge. Now, it probably wasn't Triple H who made the call, but it's still not a good look.
Not replying aggressively, just giving my side of it and I gotta disagree, I've been watching for 29 years and this WWE feels completely different to what's been going on for the past decade, way more cohesive storytelling, wrestlers you love getting over, fans being listened to, and the shows are worth watching again, just 4 years ago I would have told everyone to just check the highlights, 5 years ago I was telling everyone to watchout for AEW taking over
@@MetalThrashingMan13 I think it's a bit of column A and column B. WWE is certainly better than it was just a year or two ago and way better than pre-AEW. But there are certain formulas that work for either them specifically or wrestling as a whole. That said, now they've had to adapt those formulas.
You are just a wrestling fan, and that’s a great thing! As a long time fan, I follow wrestlers more than companies. Of course, I started as a child watching WWF as a hulkamaniac. But as I learned more, I see these guys working all over. Now I follow my favorites and try to watch whatever program I can when I have time. My favorite show is always changing based on the roster changes.
I think compared to HHH or Vince most people don't have a strong opinion on Tony Khan, they'll critisize certain decisions, or certain bad habbits, but mostly people just think of him as "a big nerd with a lot of money", that sometimes has strokes of genius and sometimes won't let go of a bad idea because of either ego or some dumb statistic.
i think is less about ego and more about him being so naively empathetic to ideas from wrestlers that he doesnt have it in him to cut a program short or remove from tv a bad performer that is getting paid a lot of money.
The only reason people are fond of Triple H is because of NXT Black & Gold. Prior to that, most fans hated him and claimed he used to bury talent that those very same fans felt as worth of a push.
I disagree with you. A lot of people who dislike AEW have a very strong opinion of Tony Khan. Now when I say "a lot of people" I mean the IWC. The general public probably has no idea who Tony is.
Gonna try my best to not make the comment too long, but I wanna help you on the things I know. 1) Dynamite is the main show. Collision is also good and sometimes storylines and clips from it show on Dynamite. But usually it's a bit of its own thing at times. Rampage is pretty Skipable most of the time, so no worries on watching clips unless something crazy happens. 2) For fallout fans, the Fallout classic collection is free right now on epic games if you are interested ❤ 3) People wearing the company's logo is not a super rare thing, but they usually go for wrestler designs or just wear casual clothes. It's not too crazy, but if one does get over (Like bullet club back in the day) You'll see it a lot. 4)I recommend checking out Anarchy in the arena and Blood & Guts. No other speculation matches come to mind right now, but those two have been fun. Both this year and last year's were fun. Think of blood & Guts as Wargames and Anarchy in the Arena is more of a freak show, but so far no PPV fully revolved around a stipulation. 5) Tony Khan is a weird fella. Overall he is a super nice guy, but tends to get easily drawn into criticism and can't resist not responding to it at times. He is a fan of wrestling and let's himself go with the whole tribalism thing. He is childish on some regards, but I can't be more thankful of people with power like him with care for his wrestlers and their families to exist, specially during the whole Vince era and constant releases of talent.
The FTR/Bullet Club Gold best 2 out of 3 match is probably one of the best matches ever in AEW. Its not a super crazy stipulation but they used it to craft a really interesting and suspenseful match.
@@ryanlargent9320its main event or velocity/heat from back in the day. It’s a nothing show, definitely not a third hour of raw. Maybe when it started but there’s nothing going on anymore
First: I appreciate your perspective and your attempt to listen more to fans who enjoy what they watch than the ones who pick it apart. Boy, that's tough to find on the internet these days. Second: Always Dynamite, often Collision, sometimes Rampage. For example, this week's Rampage has a four-way match that should KILL, and I'm sure I'll catch up on it Saturday morning. Third: Tony Khan is one of us. Grew up a fan, fantasy booked as a kid, continued to watch as an adult doing business things in the wider world, and suddenly had a genuine opportunity to make the company happen when The Elite came available and his dad decided not to make Tony and his sister, Shanna, wait to inherit. He has some really youthful qualities, gets excited about his company, the folks he works with, and wrestling in general. He claps back sometimes when he thinks a criticism is unfair. He bends a little too far now and then when he really likes someone, and often gives them one or two chances more than he maybe should. I'm A-OK with his being the head of the company; he enjoys a lot of the wrestling I enjoy, and he built a business around giving it to us. Fourth: Holy cow, are things more enjoyable as a whole if one watches the shows, enjoys chatting about the shows with buddies who also enjoyed them, and leaves social media the ever-loving hell OUT OF IT. Like, if a big story breaks, it'll show up in your Discord. If a great clip is making the rounds, it'll show up on your Discord/in your community. Trying to keep up with all the minor, pointless animosities, "gotcha"s, etc. IS what some people enjoy, annnnd I really wish those folks would find ANY other hobby, because EVERY possible hobby is a hotbed for it. The way they talk, it quickly comes clear that THEIR hobby is juicing adrenaline by blowing things out of proportion. Fifth: The next PPV is a literal week from now. 😅WrestleDream, after All Out, is in October; please consider watching THAT build instead of calling the experiment done with All Out.
Oh, right: One of Tony's biggest strengths is essentially "vibe check"-ing his entire roster and putting together teams/stables that quickly get over with the audience. It ain't always perfect, but as a long-time fan who saw plenty of "Odd Couple" pairings over the years, he has a knack for it.
dude, you have got to be the best wrestling content creator on youtube. you’re so genuine with it, you may convince me to start keeping up with AEW now
Tony khan gets too much hate. Basically he’s like us wrestling fans he tries to book and make things he knows fans would love. He sometimes lets his fandom of wrestling get the best of him and he gets very defensive. Overall he’s a great guy though I’ve had a couple interactions with him at shows.
On the AEW merch topic & why people wear AEW logos in particular; It's multi-faceted, certainly. All of the reasons you've mentioned in the video (I want to let people know I like this specific wrestling promotion and the style it affords, I want to promote AEW because I believe in the mission to offer an alternative/different type of wrestling. I think it is a good thing for ALL of wrestling to have many places where wrestlers can go to be successful, it is a good thing for wrestlers to be able to choose the style of wrestling and management that they prefer, etc.) but I think it's also important to call out that WWE have, for many years, have established themselves as a heel company (the Authority, corporatism, literally booked as bad guys in programs against beloved babyface talent, etc). WWE is not a beloved company as much as the content they produce being beloved (at least by a large segment of wrestling fans who have known mostly or only WWE and/or for whom their love is a generationally inherited fandom, etc.) Wearing AEW merch lets others know you are part of a subculture of wrestling fandom (much like nerds who wear very niche merch for non-mainstream nerd fandoms or people who, like me, love punk/hardcore music and wear band merch only others 'in the scene' will truly appreciate fully. On which shows to prioritize; Dynamite is the most important, by far. Rampage is pre-taped so the good thing is that if there is going to be a big/important match on Rampage that Friday, they will announce it/set it up on Dynamite so you know it's coming on Friday and can tune in for it, if you like. Otherwise you can just catch the highlights of Rampage. It's only a 1 hour show, so it's okay to skip and just see what happened later. Collision is, I think, more worth tuning in for, especially as you are getting to know the roster/the mechanics of AEW because it isn't trying to be the same as WWE, which is something I think a lot of fans trying to crossover don't understand -- often you will hear criticisms solely based on expecting WWE-style storytelling, booking, house style of performing, etc etc and AEW is built on not being that as an ideology. There will, of course, be commonalities, but some things are meant to be different and appreciated on their own without comparison/correlation to WWE's methodology, so I recommend keeping that in mind. Lastly, as a massive *wrestling fan* (I am not loyal to any specific company/promotion, I simply like the wrestling programming & events that I like and I don't spend time worrying too much about other options out there that just aren't for me anymore -- I love AEW, I love indie promotions, I love NJPW, etc., I was a massive WWE fan/enjoyer when it was the only option on tv regularly where I live but in 2016-2018, I was truly falling out of love with wrestling watching WWE programming and only finding joy in wrestling when I went to indie shows, which hurt my heart. I felt like I had seen most everything WWE had to offer, it felt repetitive, it felt like filler, it felt homogenized -- I wanted to see different styles, I wanted different characters and stories, I wanted to stop being spoon-fed how to feel about wrestlers or programs. And that is okay. Not everything has to be *for me* forever. I got so much joy from WWE for many years, but now I needed more of the kind of wrestling that still brought me joy, and AEW came around at the right time to give me that. I care about preserving wrestling for a long, long time to come -- I could give dissertation on wrestling being the closest thing we have to Shakespearean theater. It is an art and it deserves a wide, wonderful array of ways to enjoy it. And that, finally, leads me to Tony Khan. I think you will find that many AEW fans have a deep love for Tony as he truly, deeply *loves* wrestling. The joy and awkward giddiness and contagious revelry in nerding out that Tony exudes when it comes to wrestling is beautiful. Now, I don't believe billionaires should exist as a rule, but Tony gets a lot of shit for simply being a nepo baby whose father gave him a wrestling company, when in reality, Tony is a decorated, degreed sports statistician. He was passionate about football (not the american kind!) so he went to the UK/Europe and worked for football clubs. He worked his way up from statistics to management to council to owner. He loves sports, and wrestling is just one of those sports for him. You can easily find video & photo evidence of him nerding out for WWE for many, many years. But he had a dream to start a wrestling promotion and at that time, Cody Rhodes was in the market for potential investors to do a massive independent wrestling show with friends he made in the indies and Japan, and Tony and The Elite plus Cody + Brandy saw from the success of the first All In in Chicago that they could do it. They could become a new wrestling promotion, by wrestlers/wrestling fans *for* wrestlers/wrestling fans. They sought to be an alternative to the only wrestling company in America considered the big leagues. They wanted to offer a different type of wrestling programming AND support some of the most hideous ways that wrestlers are exploited by companies like WWE. Whether you love or hate them, their contract employment system is horrendous. Their anti-union, mega-right wing ideology is harmful. Wrestlers put their bodies, their brains, their mental and emotional well-being, their valuable time away from their family, friends, and homes on the line for us to be entertained, and they deserve to be compensated fairly, to be treated with respect at work, to have paid time off and work reasonable hours, to have access to healthcare outside of sports injuries, etc etc etc, and AEW sought to invest in providing that. They also invested in employing diverse people, and celebrating LGBTQ+ and minority wrestlers, staff, and fans in a way that was missing in mainstream wrestling. Now, are they perfect at these things and other lofty ideals? No, of course not! But they have ideals, they want to make wrestling a place where everyone can have opportunity, support, and feel safe to enjoy this thing we love. And Tony is no small part in this. He believes it, you can tell not by the things he says, but by the things he does. The way he has supported, quietly, roster members and their families when in need, the way he has allowed talent to work outside of AEW as long as they are being safe & responsible, the way he purchased ROH even though it was, objectively, not a great business decision in that specific moment, because the roster and their families were being left to fend for themselves, scared for their futures and the future of this critically important wrestling promotion, no matter how small it may be compared to WWE, in terms of its historical impact. Should, perhaps, someone take Twitter away from Tony sometimes? Sure. But he is constantly being attacked & demeaned & mocked (calling him a cokehead constantly bc he's awkward in an on-the-spectrum sense and gets excited about wrestling? constantly rooting for AEW to fail? racism because his family isn't white? and yes, even WWE as a company interfering -- contract tampering, employing wrestlers & staff to watch AEW and report on what they're doing/working toward so WWE can try to beat them to storylines & events, etc. -- this isn't hearsay or gossip, it's been publicly acknowledged and confirmed). So yeah, sometimes he gets feisty to defend AEW. So what? And lest we forget, wrestling is and has historically been a carny business built on the camp and drama of it all. The McMahons built an empire on this (and shady business practices but whatever, that's capitalism for you), so I don't really subscribe to judging Tony to some angelic standard. That's unfair. And even Paul (HHH) has been quite quick to lash out at AEW, at their talent, at their ideals, at any criticism of WWE recently. Maybe not in the same always-visible on social media way as Tony, but they are in competition -- at least for now -- so I think people should offer some grace to Tony and try to see the positive he does more often than obsessing over his mistakes. No one's perfect. Anyway, that's a lot, sorry for writing a novel but I do hope that you (and maybe others with you!) will give AEW a real chance because even if you are a massive WWE fan, there's room in the world for all the wrestling, and we all win when wrestling is successful, no need for tribalism beyond having preferences, legitimate discourse, and in-good-faith jokes here and there.
I'd say Dynamite is the only show that is 100% required viewing. I miss a Collision every now and then and it's fine, and I haven't watched Rampage in forever. as far as gimmick PPVs, AEW doesn't really do that - they have a loose tradition at Double or Nothing where they do an Anarchy in the Arena/Stadium Stampede but that's it. they have gimmick TV Specials however, like Blood & Guts. as for how we feel about Tony Khan... I mean it's always going to be mixed. nobody is a perfect Booker. nobody can please everyone. but I do have a level of trust in him that I wasn't expecting. especially for how he handled the pandemic, that showed me a lot. and the respect he has for the wrestlers and for the business is very apparent, from the Brodie Lee tribute show to the Owen Hart Cup and everything else. and at the end of the day he's made a show that has reignited my passion for pro wrestling and seems generally like a nice guy, so I like Tony. he can be goofy. he can go off sometimes. though it's not often he goes after WWE. he's praised them way more than he's slandered them. but yeah. overall, I like the guy.
1 more thing I think the reason a lot of people THINK AEW has no stories is because they do a lot of storytelling in and during matches. where WWE relies more on promo's and backstage segments. The stories in AEW are there but more nuanced. For example in WWE they would have Tiffany stare at the belt for a bit before giving it to Nia. Where in AEW they would tell that same story by have Mariah glance at the title or put her hand on it while it is resting on Toni's shoulder during a promo.
They also have a lot of foreshadowing, like having the devil mask by Adam Cole's background and so forth. Some might say we're reaching with these "foreshadowing", but it happens on such a regular basis that they probably insert them in, even if the foreshadowing never pay off.
When it comes to merch, you don't see people repping WWE as an overall brand because WWE as often portrayed the corporation as the heel within their own stories in the past, and as the forerunner brand WWE doesn't represent anything more than "I like wrestling". AEW as a brand however has a specific association "I like indie outsider wrestling and enjoy seeing it brought to an international television audience." AEW has also never been the villain in an onscreen story. It doesn't portray itself as a corporate villain but rather as an inviting whollistic platform for every kind of wrestling one could want. With the stipulations, AEW doesn't do gimmick branded pay per views the way WWE does. The nearest thing is that Double or Nothing since pandemic has always had a Stadium Stampede or Anarchy in the Arena match, and they do a early television special for their War Games style match, Blood & Guts. They've also made passes at giving other pay per views a specific match type but nothing has really stuck yet, the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing and the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match being notable among those. The exploding ring match you saw was an Exploding Barbwire Deathmatch, and will likely never happen again. It was a love letter to a specific style of Japanese hard-core match pushed by the love Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega share for that legacy. With the fact that the final explosion actually had a technical failure and the climax of the match turned into a bit of a wet fart because of it, I don't see them trying the stip again. They also did that during pandemic, don't know if they would run those explosions in proximity to a full crowd. Other stips to look out for: title Eliminator matches, where a challenger must beat a title holder or top contender for a shot at a belt; Continental Title matches have all seconds/managers barred from ringside; ROH Pure Title/Division matches have aired on Dynamite in the past. The Pure division limits each wrestler to 3 rope breaks in a match, with the ref unable to call for a break after the 3rd time a wrestler in a submission has gone to the ropes, and a wrestler is disqualified for using more than one closed fist punch. The one big stip that feels very AEW is the Lights Out match. It's been a while since they've done a proper one, but it's their super hard core one on one match that is billed as not being sanctioned by the promotion. Personally I would love to see a Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and Briefcase Cash In style opportunity in AEW. Tony Khan is a traditional smart mark, with a strong history of being involved in the Internet Wrestling Community and old forums/BBS environments. His attitude toward WWE is informed by decades of being involved in communities where his present attitude would have been a calm even handed approach to WWE, and what he perceives as professional disrespect with WWE attempting contract tampering and refusing to recognize his company as legitimate. I personally don't care about the shots fired and am just presenting this to give some perspective on where the guy is coming from. With regard to Tony's booking, I think he needs to be less swayed by the people he is a fan of and trust his gut more. Whenever we've had booking decisions that are clearly Tony doing something cool that is a novel idea of his, or a dream match, dream booking of his, it's turned out amazingly well. But in the instances that it feels like top wrestlers have been in Tony's ear advocating for themselves over the interests of the promotion, the shit goes flat. Which is better than what has happened in other promotions with bookers listening to top talent, but it does seem to suck a lot of air out of the room even if Tony doesn't go full WCW or Dixie Carter and give top talent their own creative control.
Wednesday Night Dynamite is the only must-watch every week for me. Collision & Rampage are secondary shows and I catch up on those later. The big things will happen on Dynamite.
Tony Khan is learning this business as he goes. He’s been a diehard fan for most of his life and his passion is cool, but there is an element of inexperience and immaturity that comes with that. As a whole, as we look back to the 2019 Tony khan and the Tony khan of today, things are on the up and although he may continue to be somewhat immature, he knows far better how to run his company and use all the tools in his toolkit. He needs to care more about women’s wrestling though, that part is somewhat inexcusable. It’s far better right now than it has been the last number of years, but it’s still not at all where it could be.
Ah, Toni Storm's catch phrase: "Chin up, tits out, and watch for the shoe!" She's definitely one of my favorite. One of the interesting matches that I've seen, not sure if other promotions did it, but at Blood And Guts it was two rings pushed together in a sort of "double cage". That was a fun one to watch.
Tony Khan is an amazing person who has taken the time to come out and thank the fans for attending at every live AEW event I’ve attended. He’s growing as a boss, I think sometimes he can be disorganized, with almost a perception of “too many cooks in the kitchen”
@@pleaseshutup7053 if you noticed in the comment you responded to I never called him a good boss. I said he’s growing as a boss. Still new to this just like the company. I appreciate your opinion but read what you respond to before pressing send, cause you look kinda silly right now.
Game Changer Wrestling is having a show in Detroit on September 14th. Tickets are $35 for GA and it is so worth it. As a wrestling fan you will love it even if you know nothing about it. They are the spiritual successor to ECW in that they are now the premiere indie/hardcore wrestling company. I went to my first show and it was one of the best experiences because I was so close to the the action and hardcore wrestling is fun.
I read this and thought "Wow, a company I have not heard of" then saw the ECW comparison and thought "Huh, who are these guys?", then I realized it's GCW and I felt stupid lol. I don't think I have seen it spelled out before, I always just see "GCW"! I don't think I had know clue what the company was actually called!
I actually think AEW is the spiritual successor to ECW in terms of wrestling focused, very layered stories that develop slowly over time. I have nothing against GCW btw, it's not a criticism, but I think people think of ECW as just hardcore wrestling when it was so much more. Paul Heyman even said that if AEW had survived it would have changed into basically early ROH. Which isn't surprising given Gabe Sapolsky is a Heyman protégé
About Tony, overall i like Tony Khans booking. I think it’s inconsistent at times, but can be great at others. About all his actions regarding WWE, I don’t like it, at all. but i realized that i can separate that from enjoying the very enjoyable product his company produces
Blood and guts is pretty unique in that it's a team cage match where the objective isn't escape or even a pin fall, it's "submit or surrender" you need to get your opponent to either say I quit or tap out.
It's not unique at all! It's just WarGames from back in the day that they changed the name for because WWE owns the WarGames name! There's also WWE WarGames that is a copy of the old WarGames but apparently(I have not paid attention until reading comments pointing it out) has no roof.
The last few weeks of Collision have actually been fun! It gave me a WCW Saturday Night vibe, with the smaller venue, but it is soley focused on the wrestling. Dynamite is more story driven, though it still have plenty of wrestling. It depends what you look for more... the story aspect of wrestling, or just to see some good ol fashion rasslin matches.
My take is that Tony Khan is one of the more decent human beings who's ever been in charge of a wrestling company. Any fair criticisms of him are focused around how he's not a "boss" or doesn't always make the right business decision. Personally, this doesn't bother me. In America we've been inundated with this idea that somehow business acumen is a moral value. I like the idea that Tony treats his employees with respect and admiration instead of trying to hold power and money over them for more authority. I think this world could use more of that, even if it means slightly less profits in the long run. For anyone who wants to take 3 minutes: As a screenwriter I also wanted comment on AEW vs WWE's focus on storytelling... There is this idea that WWE is more story focused than AEW. I don't think that's entirely accurate. They just tell different kinds of stories in a different way. How I would put it is this: WWE tells more dramatic prime-time television-like stories in a more up front manner. AEW tells organic and "sports" focused stories, in a subtle way. A WWE feud may commonly center around something like a romantic relationship (judgment day) or family drama/honor (like the bloodline). The McMahon family storylines used to be WAY over the top at times (IMO) and one time WWE did a custody battle ladder match for Dominik Mysterio. AEW's stories feel a little more organic and sport-like. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady had a rivalry in the NFL; as time went on each of their matchups kind of told a different story. This wasn't because one of them attacked the other's family or slept with their wife. It was just because the competition led them to that place. But viewers at home could still relate to each competitor in a different way and attach themselves to the real-life story being told. AEW tells stores like this. Sometimes it goes to a further place and someone will invoke family members or romantic relationships, etc. But it's always coming from the original place of competition - that's the root and it grows from there. WWE is also much clearer in their narrative. They make sure you understand every beat. AEW will be very subtle and *very* long-term in their beats. I actually prefer this, because it feels more realistic and it feels rewarding as a loyal viewer. But the downside is that casual fans can't grasp what's happening. This is why people who tune into Dynamite once in a blue moon, feel like it's just a bunch of matches with no stories. To really understand and emotionally invest in AEW's stories, it's extremely beneficial to be aware of what's been happening the last 4-12 months. WWE conversely, tells stories in a way that a new viewer can latch on and understand within a week or two. Neither one is right or wrong. They're just different. As another comparison, network television series like Ghosts, or ER, or Chicago Fire will tell a mini-story every week within a larger story. This is so long-term watchers don't get disengaged, but new viewers can cling to the one-episode story arc that's happening and still engage in the show. Then there's cable or streaming shows like The Bear, Breaking Bad, etc. These shows aren't really made to be watched one week and not the next. They mean to tell long term stories that reward watching the bulk of the series. If you jump in the middle and expect to understand every beat, you'll be disappointed. You have to keep watching for a minute. WWE is primetime network TV (more popular and accessible, with clearer one-episode beats) while AEW is cable/streaming (more long-term, subtle, and character focused, rewarding their most loyal viewers over those tuning in once or twice). I personally am a way bigger AEW fan at this point. But there's a reason WWE is way more popular and profitable and I'm not saying it's a garbage product - it's just not for me anymore and that's okay. But, as a storyteller, I do resent the idea that AEW doesn't tell stories. I would argue they tell much more complex and rewarding stories. They're just not quite as accessible as WWE's.
As you said, Tony treats his employees with admiration... which is just so frickin' weird. Treating employees with respect is one thing. But to genuinely be a fan of them, and not as part of some sales manager gimmick, is just totally weird in the modern workplace. But also neat.
Good points on the story telling. Essentially, from my casual viewer experience, WWE storytelling works on a one-month to three-months cycle. Wrestler A and B have an issue, it'll get hashed out in the next PLE coming up in a month. If all goes well, there'll be a rematch and then a rubber match. If it bombs, it's just a one month story and if it works, it can get extended with more people getting into the mix. Once the dust clears, everyone goes on with their new dance partners. This was especially the case during the WWE-monopoly era, With Cena have 3 PPV feuds. Hangman vs Swerve is such a massive anomaly, where Hangman logically doesn't let go of his beef with Swerve. Like you said, knowing the background helps a lot. I had little regard for Hangman at first, but he might well be my favorite wrestler of all time now. Because he went from this nameless midcarder trying to (unsuccessfully) hang with legends like Peak AEW Jericho, to becoming the lovable drunk millennial cowboy when he broke from the Elite and hung around with the Dark Order, essentially becoming the main character of AEW, to gaining recognition as a "serious" contender against the likes of Moxley, and now this BLOOD FEUD with Swerve, where now, HE is the petulant child. It's been a 5 year journey and as much as you gotta love Swerve, I'm still rootin' for the cowboy. Same to a lesser degree with Fuego. Even Britt, whom we saw as a lackluster face and a heel who was awkward on the mic, to becoming a top promo gal, and of course, her relationship with Shiovane. This kind of long term, subtle story telling isn't great for hooking in casual fans, which is why you need your bite-sized Ospreay vs MJF type feuds, but gosh are the long storylines great at creating lifelong fandoms.
I watch Dynamite every week, Rampage whenever they have matches I'm interested in (like the one this week on 8/30/24) and Collision when I have free time. If nothing else, I watch the yt clips they post. They also have cage matches but they're different from WWE's. Escaping does nothing. You HAVE to win via pinfall or submission. As far as WWE folk, I hope we can get Seth Rollins for a bit. I think he fits the atmosphere and match type really well. Also, hard love TK. Dude brought wrestling back to life and helped give power to the wrestlers. I like how he's a dork and a die hard fan.
Regarding interesting match rulesets, this isn't exactly a ruleset but I think the Continental Classic is the best thing AEW has ever done is the Continental Classic These tournaments are similar to tournaments only had in Japanese Companies and it was a breath of fresh to see one on weekly western TV. the first one was last year and it was a month long round robin tournament with points 3 points added for a win and 1 point added for a draw (all matches are contested under a rule set of a twenty minute time limit and a very strict rule against outside interference) It featured 12 wrestlers wrestling matches in their "league" (a grouping of 6 wrestlers) who then had a match to determine the league winner. I loved this format for a few reasons 1. It gave a fan a consistent group of wrestlers to follow as the league matches were every week, often with a big roster, AEW struggles with keeping some wrestlers on tv regularly for a regular amount of time 2. It kept people wrestling - This is probably controversial among some fans but I tend to think that the majority of talking in wrestling hurts my immersion and makes me want to watch regular TV, wrestlers are not good actors generally and so it really helps have important matches with clear stakes. (the prize for the tournament last year was 3 championships at once as Eddie Kingston but his two titles on the line in the tournament, in addition to the tournament championship.) The majority of wrestlers are best at telling stories with their body and not with their voice. 3. It allowed multiple stories to be happening at once and interweaving with each other, Danielson had an injured eye, Swerve was a rising star trying to make a name for himself, Eddie was fighting for his life to make good on the gamble he made putting up the titles, and all these stories matter to all the other ones because wins and loses have real stakes that are clear because of the point system. Tony Khan before the tournament said it was a big gamble and asked fans who wanted sports based presentation to "put their money where their month was. At the end he concluded that fans had indeed done that and it was a big ratings success, announcing another for the next year. Although I'm a little bit worried because no announcement has been made so far this year, but I expect it will be in November and build to the December PPV like last year. Hope this gets read, I've basically written the old testament lol.
It's funny that Tony may say or do things online, but they are things Vince would say or do on a raw back in the day taking shots at WCW. To me, Tony is a good dude. It's like there are different coaching styles. Some are Iron Fist rulers, and Some are motivators. No one style is better. He's a promotor, So times I think people forget what promotors actually do. Triple H doesn't have to promote online because of the built-in fan base they already have. Overall if you like the product That's really all that matters. Worrying about the owner/booker is really only a problem for the IWC. Say away from that lol
The closest thing they do to a gimmick ppv is Double or Nothing. They do a Stadium Stampede or Anarchy in the Arena match there every year. They also do a special episode of Dynamite every year called Blood and Guts which is basically Wargames. The Casino Gauntlet is probably their most fun original match type, along with the Stampede/Anarchy matches. They also still do Pure Rules matches in ROH like you saw it that old Nigel vs Joe match on your Patreon.
I commented on one of the responses below, but i wanted to add. Re: gimmick matches. AEW has to walk a fine line here, they have to be innovators but still present something as familiar. For instance if AEW did a royal rumble, nomatter how good it was, all that would be said is "they're just copying WWE". So instead AEW tries to focus on finding a different take. For instance, the casino gauntlet match that was just at All In, it takes the "new entrant every x minutes" from the RR but changed it to a single pinball at any point to win. They have Blood and Guts which is essentially a WarGames match, but using the old JCP format with a roof on the cage and the only way to win is a submission. The Anarchy in the arena and Stadium stamped matches both were born out of their time with an empty arena during COVID. You could argue that their Owen Hart tourney is basically their version of King of the Ring. But i think most fans would agree that they don't want AEW to copy hell in a cell or elimination chamber, HiaC doesn't have much room for innovation and EC is a bit too... WWEish... Overboard production... They haven't done a "lights out" match in a while, so I'd love for them too bring that back again. Thankfully they only did the mimosa mayhem once. I do think they should bring back the barbed wire exploding ring deathmatch, this time with better pyro for the end. One thing i will say about Tony, for the most part you can ignore him as a "character" you aren't missing any storyline or world building if you never read a single tweet he ever makes. The few times he matters to the story will be brief and mostly focused on someone else. He doesn't want to be a character, but in this day and age we don't fall for the "WWF president Jack Tunney" schtick anymore. We know he's the owner, so when an announcement requires his authority he does it, but for storyline he often has someone else do it. The EVPs, the young bucks play authority figures, Christopher Daniels "honorary EVP" is another. Often it's Tony Schiavone saying "I'm being told that Tony Khan has made the match official" or something like that. TK is a wrestling nerd that just wants to entertain us all, but he's also a guy who sometimes gets defensive when he feels that his company is being attacked. Sometimes he goes overboard, but without going into it to deeply, WWE likes to throw it's weight around in ways that aren't always visible to us, and this feel like personal attacks to him.
Tony is a bit of a goober, but he's not an awful person. He's pretty sincere, he's a legit fan of the industry and someone that generally tries to do good by his talent. He isn't perfect by any means, but compared to his contemporaries that have run any of the major promotions over the years he's by and large vastly better as a boss than most. As a booker? Ehh...I think he needs to delegate booking duties to some other people. Trying to book 5 hours of TV every week and with how DEADSET he can be on a story going a certain path, he can end up being his own worst enemy sometimes. He can book some bangers for sure, but you can tell sometimes when he's struggling. As far as WWE themed PPVs that I'd like to see in AEW? I can't really think of any. They kind of already have their own answers to many of them as it is. I think AEW could DEFINITELY use a PPV that focuses primarily on the women's division, so something like Evolution could be great. Be a fun way to get both AEW and ROH sets of women's championships some eyes and talent from both rosters to really let them shine like they deserve. But to answer your question on what you should watch on the weekly? Dynamite is the best choice to keep track of most of the main storylines and feuds. If you have time, then watch Collision as there's also storylines and feuds that happen mainly on there on a week to week basis. Rampage you can generally skip and just check out the spoilers for since it's usually taped directly after Dynamite wraps up. Also there's usually special themed episodes throughout the year for all 3 of the weekly shows. Next month for instance has the two-part special Dynamite: Grand Slam and Collision: Grand Slam. Dynamite: Grand Slam is gonna have a World Title match, so it'll be a must watch come September 25th. So that's something to keep in mind as well.
One of us! I am also a new fan but have gravitated towards AEW over WWE lately. Your assumption is correct -if you can only watch one of the shows, watch Dynamite. The build to All-In would have been a good month to watch all the shows live, I like a lot of the All-Out card but it doesn't have enough time to breath during the build-up and as you said, the PPV's aren't exactly cheap and idk how you feel about another 50 bucks two weeks after All-In. Getting invested in the build-up to wrestledream (oct. 12th.) is my recommendation. Both Danielson and Swerve are going to be on that card barring injury because it is in Tacoma and they are both local and I don't think this Hangman Swerve angle is going to be blown-off at All-Out Tony isn't Vince and without him there wouldn't be a second wrestling promotion on weekly television - for those two things alone he is alright by me. His story lines can be a bit of a mess and he has a habit of sticking too many irons in the fire, but when it's good, it is really good.
The only major criticism I have of Tony Kahn with his booking style is he doesn’t change a storyline when an external force stops it (like when someone gets hurt). It’s either put it on pause or sweep it under the rug until that problem is over. It’s only a few times I’ve seen him adapt to something, but it very rarely happens.
A lot of people have answered already, but I’ll add my two cents: Question 1: Which show to watch? - Dynamite (Wednesday night) is the must-see program every week with most of the big matches and storyline progression. - Rampage (Friday night) is a smaller show - more of a way to give a spotlight to lesser-seen guys and give them a chance to build their character. I usually skip this unless there is something I’m looking forward to on the card - Collision (Saturday night) is the second main show in the week, although I wouldn’t put it as much of a priority as dynamite. It’s usually more wrestling focused than storyline focused. It’s not must-see for me, but check it out if you have the time. Although it isn’t a 1-to-1 mirror of WWE’s programming, I’d equate dynamite to raw, rampage to NXT and collision to smackdown (although AEW doesn’t have a brand split like WWE does). Question 2: When is the next PPV: We have All Out in two weeks (7th Sept) - the gap between All In and All Out is a lot shorter than other gaps in the year. The next PPV after that is Wrestledream (12th Oct), although we have Grand Slam at the end of September which is basically a bigger dynamite show. Question 3: Merch: A reason why people wear AEW merch instead I feel is because AEW has a lot more of a cult following than WWE. AEW is more of the underdog as WWE has really dominated the wrestling market for a good 25 years now, so people are just quite enthusiastic to show off their love for a new company doing well. I think you hit the nail on the head with the whole pride thing. Question 4: Gimmick matches: So there is the dog collar match, casino gauntlet and stadium stampede that you have mentioned. There’s also: Blood and Guts - very similar to WarGames if you’ve watched that. Two rings, in a cage, members of each team come out periodically. Royal Rampage- Similar to a royal rumble, with two rings. The winner of each ring then fights, winner getting a title shot. Casino ladder match and Casino battle royale - happen every year. Have a “Joker” entrant which is usually a good surprise. Question 5: Gimmicky PPV’s: There aren’t really gimmicky PPV’s per se, except for blood and guts which is a dynamite special. There are also tournaments which will culminate at PPV’s such as the Owen Hart cup and the continental classic (although I’m not too sure if that one is going to be a yearly thing or just a one-off). Gimmicky matches happen, but the shows aren’t really as built around it as much as WWE does. Anything in WWE I’d like to see in AEW? I think AEW has done a really good job of having similar events to WWE while still maintaining some originality. The casino gauntlet is looking to be the royal rumble equivalent and blood and guts is very similar to WarGames, so there is nothing I am really desperate for. I’d always enjoy a royal rumble though! Question 6: Tony Khan: Yeah, I understand. I think Tony and the AEW creative team are very good at booking, but he does have a sort of underdog mentality, where he will jab at WWE while WWE just gets on with it - which is only going to alienate new viewers. Tony as a booker is great at building to dream matches on PPV’s and I couldn’t fault him too much as of late. Anyways - hope you enjoy AEW!
Dynamite is the flagship show where the A-stories play out and the main talents are featured regularly. Collision is the B-show with more on an in-ring focus. It also tends to have more of a rotating cast of talents that aren't necessarily used week to week. Big story beats don't happen often on this show, but when they do they usually trickle onto social media fairly soon after the fact. Rampage is honestly just an hour block of 3-4 matches with maybe a backstage interview or two sprinkled in. You will never miss anything major happening on this show, it's kind of just something to put on if you're still jonesing for some more wrestling after Smackdown ends I hope this doesn't come across as tribalistic, but a lot of the hardcore AEW fans wear the generic logo merch because they do find a sense of identity in the brand and take pride in being part of what they consider the counter-culture of the mainstream pro wrestling community Finally, I would describe TK as an eccentric man who's very passionate about his work, and occasionally let's his personal feelings get the better of him which lead him to saying some silly stuff every now and again. He's a well-meaning guy and puts on a great show for the more niche market in wrestling, but he is also the number one reason for the ongoing struggles with AEW's overall perception
Tony Khan needs to step back from being deeply involved in the creative and get off Twitter too. He's a bit of an idiot but not a bad person. Part of the reason why AEW lost momentum is because Vince was punted. Not only was Vince destroying the product, but he is also an absolutely despicable person. Should be in jail tbh.
1. Watch Dynamite because it's the flagship, like RAW. Collision is the B-show, but can sometimes be better, particularly when going up against WWE PPVs. Rampage is entirely skippable for a casual fan, mostly developmental. 2. AEW fans are very grateful for AEW's existence. Wrestling fans groaned for competent competition (so, not TNA) for near 20 years. So, we treasure that AEW exists and thrives. Hence, our love for AEW merch, rather than individual wrestler merch. 3. There are a lot of gimmick matches in AEW, but no PPVs that showcase them yearly, such as a MITB or Rumble. They just happen. As far as I'm aware, two Casino Royale matches have taken place this year. One you watched at All In, the other on a random Dynamite. 4. Tony Khan. Some people don't like his recent booking, but I've enjoyed it and think he's doing a great job running the company, making big signings and putting on stellar PPVs. You can tell he's a wrestling nerd. Some people resent him for that alone. As a fellow wrestling nerd 25+ years deep, I obviously find his approach to wrestling endearing and kind of baffling. He's the Walt Disney of pro wrestling. Has a vision, puts his money where his mouth is, and tries his hardest to give something special and magical to his customers a little tired of the same old fairgrounds. As for his anti-WWE sentiments, I enjoy all the drama. Reminds me of the 90s WCW/WWF beef. Entertaining!
All Out to Wrestledream feels like a great journey to understand what AEW is all about especially with the rumour that Bryan Danielson will drop the title at Wrestledream you'll see the start and culmination of a story arc. You can leave Rampage as thats more showcase matches Dynamite is must watch
D, something I thought you might like to try out: When I first got into wrestling, I picked a random PPV that looked good, and then would start from there & watch every PPV after it, in order. A really quick, fun way to get caught up on the history of things for any wrestling company (without having to watch 100s of weekly TV episodes)! I think Bleacher Report has all of AEW’s PPVs, and of course Peacock has all of the WWE, WCW, and ECW’s PPVs
Rampage is usually closer to Main Event than it is to Raw or Smackdown. Dynamite is the #1 show, Collision is #2 and every week it tends to be a gamble on if the show is important or not, but Rampage is basically never can't-miss. This would actually be a good week to watch Collision, there was a lot that happened at All In and not everything got followed up on Dynamite, so people are thinking Collision will follow up on the other things that got missed. - AEW shirts are more common at live events. At the shows I've been to there's a lot of AEW-centric merch at the merch stands while the more specific stuff you usually have to find online. I think that plays into why you see more AEW logo shirts, especially in crowds where people might go to the merch stand, buy a shirt with the AEW logo on it, and then put it on over the shirt they wore to the show.
For the AEW shirt thing, the logo just looks cool, but also its like a comradery thing. When I wear my AEW shirt, I have so many random people comment or just randomly start talking to me about AEW.
You kinda covered most of the special matches, but I’d say some interesting ones they have are the Texas Death Matches which are basically hardcore matches except you can only win by submission or keeping your opponent down for a ten count, and also the Pure Rules match, though that ones moreso a Ring of Honor match, which has several stipulations including only having 3 rope breaks allowed, no closed fists, and in a title match the belt can change hand by count out or disqualification. As far as gimmick PPVs, there’s none really for AEW, closing thing to that is Blood and Guts which is only a TV special, and there’s also Battle of the Belts which is quarterly and usually is just an hour of various title matches.
speaking as someone who has been on aew since day 1 its important to point out that the state of wrestling when it started was DIRE, Tony is a great guy that might be on the spectrum but none of his shots are ever out of nowhere its basically all in response to petty stuff wwe does during their pressers tc. as for the shows you have 2 main ones being dynamite which is booked by Tony and Omega then you have collision which is booked by Danielson and Tony. lastly the merch is just kinda bad, most of it if its not commissioned from fan artists in the community is really lazy
Dynamite is probably the way to go if you want to dip your toes in. If you want to get a good slice of one of the best AEW story lines, find the "Better Than You Bay Bay" summary from the AEW youtube channel. The aftermath of the FTR match in that storyline was one of the first times Wrestling gave me the feels.
For your question about the AEW branded merch, it'd maybe be better to look more internationally to see the same kind of thing happening in context. For example; In the UK and Japan you'd regularly see people wearing Revpro, Progress, NJPW, AJPW, Noah, Stardom, AEW, (among many other companies) branded merch at shows. And you will often see other brands, and those brands wrestlers' merch being worn at AEW shows. So with AEW's founding being that they were created to bring the spirit of the indie wrestling scene to the world with a bigger stage and budget, AEW fans have tended to be a bit more of the type of wrestling fans who'll partake in (and be influenced by) the broader international pro-wrestling culture. So it's not too suprising that they carry on that culture of supporting and representing the companies that they like, into "AEW culture". Whereas historically a lot of WWE fans who've grown up in the 2000's and 2010's (but obviously not all) tend more likely to be 'one company' fans, primarily because WWE themselves generally wouldn't even acknowledge that the wider world of wrestling was even a thing. So why would you wear promotion branded merch if you're really only into (or maybe even know of) the one promotion? Things at WWE seem to be changing for the better under triple H's leadership, but given that WWE (and to an extent, their fanbase) were so insular with regards to the wider world of wrestling, its no real suprise that they've tend to do things their own way and perhaps haven't meshed as well with the wider culture. I think this is why, now that you're starting to branch out more from WWE into the wider culture of pro-wrestling, this is something that's standing out as a noticeable difference fror you.
Love this episode. Praises and criticisms were well thought out. To answer each question: 5:28 The trend of buying merch just to celebrate a wrestling promotion goes back to ECW in the 90s. BC of its counter-culture reputation, wearing an ECW shirt was a proclamation that you weren't just a wrestling fan, but that you were a hardcore fan (both extremely devoted, and a fan of hardcore wrestling). Having AEW merch is a show of support to the alternative wrestling company looking to make a mark on pop culture. 8:40 Seriously, if you take nothing else from this comment, please Please PLEASE go back and watch a retrospective on Timeless Toni Storm. I think you'll really like it. It's one of the best character arcs of the decade, and you'll get the chin, t*ts, shoe, references. 9:05 AEW will occasionally have matches far more violent than what would be seen on WWE. Arguably the best of these was the Texas Deathmatch between Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. AEW also attempted to do an Exploding Ring Barbwire Deathmatch once, and it was incredible, up until the moment the ring was supposed to explode. 11:58 Overall, I think Tony Khan is a great guy. He very much like any other wrestling fan you'd come across, but his family is worth billions of dollars. (His father used to take him to ECW shows in the 90s when they were performing out of a bingo hall in Philadelphia). But yes, as stated, the one thing he can't seem to help himself from doing is making criticisms of WWE on public forums, and often in a tacky manner. While the company was founded and had great early success by being Anti-WWE (coming off of a decade of dwindling storylines and booking), the time has long since past to let go of only marketing the company by saying "WWE sucks" and they should just focus on their own shows. (Sidebar: To play Devil's advocate, Tony's hatred towards WWE is a bit personal. A couple yrs back, when his mother was deathly ill, WWE used that situation to try and poach talent while he was distracted. While he did allow William Regal to return to WWE conditionally bc his son was still with the promotion, he felt it was beyond distasteful. But I still feel he should take the high road and avoid his tacky criticisms for the very reasons you stated in this great video)
The only match type I can think of that isn’t in WWE is a “Lights Out” match, it’s basically a death match but it always ends the show and AEW “isnt” financially responsible for whatever happens in the match. And they might slightly dim the lights but I’m not completely sure about that.
To give you a quick history of the shows. Dynamite is THE AEW show. it is the show that has been on TV the longest for them and is their "Raw" so to speak (tho it's only 2 hours...it only goes 3 if it's a special event). Collision started last year as the B show, and it was around the time Punk was coming back from "injury". I quote that because I don't think we'll every truly know what all happened. It was originally believed that the show was created specifically to get Punk and the Bucks away from each other. Others believe it was coming anyways and it just happened to play itself into a way to allow them to not be near each other. But at the end of the day, it does feel like a slightly less important show than Dynamite. Rampage used to hold...a little importance. There used to be AEW Dark where dark matches were put on UA-cam. Now Rampage has kind of become the "Dark Match" show. It's taped after Dynamite and not much outside of just lowercard matches happen on it. There are still some good matches on it from time to time, don't get me wrong. But they tend to feel less important more often than not. Overall, I'd start with Dynamite and Collision. If you feel that Collision just isn't it for you, don't feel bad if you stop watching it. It is more match focused than story line focused.
Just watch Dynamite so you don’t burn yourself out 😅 Dynamite has like 90% of the stories Rampage occasionally has a one good must see match Collision does continue storylines but they usually get recapped on the following Dynamite since Collision is more “In Ring” focused kind of like a New Japan Pro Wrestling If you wanna stick to only two tho it’s Dynamite and Collision
@@pleaseshutup7053 I’m talking about AEW’s storylines in specific 90% of the program isn’t taken up by storyline I’m saying 90% of AEW storylines are on Dynamite
I'm glad to see you're interested in the weekly shows. I'm new to your channel, but I really enjoyed your All In video. I've been watching wrestling regularly since 2009. I've watched just about every AEW PPV starting with their debut, and I've caught nearly every Dynamite and Collision since 2022. Here are my two cents: -If you can only watch one, AEW Dynamite is the show to watch. Every major storyline leading up to a Pay-Per-View is covered on Dynamite, and it's also guaranteed to have the biggest matches of the week. It's most comparable to something like RAW. In that regard, Collision is Smackdown. It has a few wrestlers who mostly wrestle on that show, and it's a lot more focused around having a solid collection of matches, and it has several storylines are specific to the weekly show and never make it to Pay-Per-View. Rampage is mainly focused on booking wrestlers who don't make it onto the main two shows. It can be an afterthought at times, but it's usually more important than its closest WWE equivalent, Main Event. -You nailed on the head why people wear AEW shirts. I think there is some element of pride, but it's mostly a conversation starter. You're looking out for other AEW fans, or people who don't know about AEW but are interested in wrestling. I also think that it helps that AEW has a lot less wrestlers who are household names versus WWE, so it's a safer bet that people will have heard of the company over guys like Kenny Omega or Hangman Adam Page. -This one's tough. I feel like the Casino Gauntlet has my favorite aspects of the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, and they already have an equivalent to Money in the Bank with the Face of the Revolution ladder match. I think the only gimmick type I could ask for is a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. I would want Adam Copeland or Christian Cage to be the ones to bring it back, however, so it's up to them if they still want to do those matchtypes. -Not to go to deeply behind the scenes, but I've mostly heard that Tony Khan is really well liked a boss, and I feel like with AEW him, The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega helped wrestling as a whole by forcing a move to consistent salaries. I can't hate the guy. I can understand if people are taken aback by some of his comments, but personally, I like him. He's kind of a nerd, but he's a nerd with a genuine love of pro wrestling and a passion for forcusing on all types of wrestlers and talent, and giving them a platform. I think his 'outbursts' come sometimes out of not wanting to be misconstrued, and most of the time from the fact he's a counterculture wrestling fans. He's outspoken about his love of old-school ECW as a kid, and I can tell you that ECW had a very similar 'we'll put up or shut up' attitude. I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos. 👍
1. Order of importance for the shows are Dynamite/Collision/Rampage. All have at the very least decent wrestling, but dynamite is the flagship show where the major storylines take place. The other 2 shows have storylines as well, but they usually don't get as much attention, primarily because of the day and time they air. The story behind Collision's creation originally involved the rosters kinda being split, but a few months after the premier the reason for that split was fired, so the shows don't really have those same feelings making them distinct from each other anymore. 2. I think AEW offers a lot more merch with the company brand along with their talent's merch, because it is a start up company trying to create traction, and if they're offered, plenty of people are going to buy it (myself included). The more people wear it, the more it's gonna be seen. 3. The Casino Gauntlet match debuted this year, Ospreay won the first 2 to earn a shot at the International and World titles respectively, and it has been met with critical acclaim. At the first Double or Nothing, one of the first matches they had was the Casino Battle Royal, which is similar to the royal rumble, except most of the wrestlers enter in groups instead of one at a time. There was also the Casino Ladder match; as you can imagine, it was a ladder match where wrestlers entered in staggered intervals until one of them grabbed the poker chip and earned a future title shot. AEW loves gambling motifs 😅. They've had some great No DQ matches but i would say their version of the Texas Deathmatch is the best, usually taking ultraviolence to new levels, either on PPV or television. 4. TK has been a wrestling fan for all his life, he's financed the entire promotion, he's surrounded by some of the best people in all levels of the industry, and sometimes people don't agree with him, it's going to happen. While he makes the final decision he does have people advising him on match outcomes. I think the talk of his booking decisions are kinda overplayed, there's a lot of talent on the roster, and most of them have to lose at one point or another in order to bring the best matches to television, and especially to PPV. As for his media presence, he's not the best in front of the camera, that's why he tries to stay off of television as often as he can. I've seen talent like Orange Cassidy and Anthony Bowens do a great job promoting shows in local markets, they're better trained to be in front of a camera.
Tony is a nice guy, weird guy but nice, he’s a good booker not a great booker. Not sure if he’s specifically bad at anything but some stories go well others don’t..some things annoy me others are fantastic.
First of all I am happy to hear that you're interested in watching more AEW. It's a fun product and you'll enjoy yourself. I would suggest starting with Dynamite as it's usually where the main storylines and the biggest names will wrestle. Collision is more wrestling based and will feature talents from ROH or talent that aren't on Dynamite weekly. There are still storylines and you will see the big names from time to time but it's a smaller scale. Rampage is really just a solid hour of wrestling but if you skip it you won't be lost. As for merch, I think AEW fans feel a sense of loyalty and belonging to the brand. It feels like it's our company, TK listens to fans, the entire brand feels more intimate and you get to see the wrestler's personalities more. AEW is the spiritual successor to ECW but on a larger scale. A lot of AEW fans, like myself, are long time (30 years for me) fans who got jades with the WWE product and so we feel welcome in AEW. WWE has always been more of a corporate wrestling company, even before it went public. People have never really identified with the brand in the same way they did with ECW because it's very Hollywood like. And I am not bashing WWE for that, it's just an observation. As for TK. He is a great guy. Ignore the promoter aspect, the human being is an awesome guy who seems to have the best interest of his talent at hand. I like TK as a booker personally. If you want to see how good of a man he is, watch the Brodie Lee tribute show. Remember he is not just the booker, he's the owner so of course he will defend his product and pump it up so you watch, it's his money on the line. He has allowed his talent to be featured on WWE content but clearly not as participants in the show. Back when Steve Austin had his Broken Skull podcast specials on the WWE Network, Chris Jericho was a guest and they showed photos from AEW. Just remember that he is a promoter and he's leaning into what is already happening.
TK is someone whos a booker who swings for the fences. He doesn't go for middle of the road, he always tries to get the most out of everything, whether it be a tweet, a live interview, or a storyline. For better or worse it's led to some of the most engaging wrestling for me in years. Usually for better but definitely has done things that I don't think were great because of that mindset
Great questions! I watched your All In video and liked it a lot and I'm glad you're getting into AEW. Wrestling is just the coolest, right? To weigh in on some of your questions myself: -You hit the nail on the head with the logo shirts. It's something of an underdog pride situation, like wearing a shirt of a band you love. It's a bit of an advertisement since people love spreading the word, and it stems from the independent wrestling that the company was founded upon, where a lot of local promotions have local logo merch to rep your local show pride. -One thing you have to check out for sure when they run it again this year is the Continental Classic. It's two round robin tournaments running simultaneously over weeks of Dynamite and Collision where the winners of the two blocks meet to become the tournament winner and Continental Champion. Last year was some of the most fun to follow AEW programming of the year, because each wrestler constantly had storylines running through the whole thing as they fought for points and wins and it culminated in an awesome win for a wrestler people had been begging to get a massive win for a long time. Another event you have to see is Blood & Guts. It's not a PPV but a major event they have on a regular Dynamite, and it's basically just a particularly violent War Games match. It's followed that same week by the Royal Rampage, which is a two-ring battle royal. I'm not sure if there are any major gimmick matches from WWE I would bring to AEW because I feel like with the Casino Gauntlet they've found their own unique version of the Royal Rumble (which I love) and Money In The Bank, and it was sorely missing before. Maybe they could do their own version of the Iron Survivor match from NXT? That would be cool. -I like Tony Khan a lot. He's someone who grew up around the same era of wrestling fandom as I did, and sometimes it feels like he books things me and others would fantasy book online just to tickle the old guard - no one else would have had CM Punk enter to Miseria Cantare or have Bryan Danielson use The Final Countdown in what could have been his last ever match. The man treats wrestling history with so much respect and because of that he expects the fans to be as detail-oriented as he is. If you're into the details of the show and the history of wrestling, that's a huge plus and makes his booking and storytelling super rewarding, but it certainly can be a little overwhelming. That said, part of the fun of wrestling to me has always been looking up people I'm unfamiliar with or being captivated by a new face, and I think that's his mentality as well. His strengths come also from a deep love of the athletic feats that happen from bell-to-bell. I saw the "trust me" comment as one asking people to enjoy the match from a physical standpoint (and it was absolutely super fun in that regard) while also promising that a major story pivot would happen in the match (and without spoiling too much, it did). Maybe it's because I became a wrestling nerd in high school but I just find him funny. I think he's just trying to say things sometimes to get noticed as the underdog, and he can go a little overboard, but he has a sense of humor about himself and he knows he's a little bit of an awkward nerd. He's not always the most professional but it's very clear he loves what he's doing and has so much respect for the talent on his shows. When he's on fire, he lets the wrestlers fly their flags rather than micromanage them and I think that's awesome. You get a little bit of everything on an AEW show, and All In showed that - blood feuds, party matches, hardcore fights, even comedy in the preshow and emotional athletic storytelling in the main event. I like that Tony is willing to bring in outside sources to shape storylines. He compares it to a football team - he's surrounded by experts in various fields and at various positions and hears them all out, and it's his job to pick what he thinks is the best and what he wants to turn into a TV product. I also like that he is influenced by more than JUST classic wrestling. The recent Toni Storm vs. Mariah May angle was cool because Tony Khan was inspired by the classic movie All About Eve, and he went to Toni and Mariah to discuss the concept with them, and when none of his current booking team understood the references, he spoke with someone in the office who did - RJ City - and together with the wrestlers formed what was honestly the best AEW story possibly ever. All Out is looking amazing, so I hope you get a chance to watch it as well as the setup shows. Like I say, AEW is a wrestling show that rewards investment, and it's exciting to be part of that. Thanks for the fun and understanding, and I hope this reply helped. :)
Enjoyed the video! To answer some questions as an aew day 1 fan: 1. Dynamite is the one to watch followed by collision if you have time, rampage isn't must see but has cool matches sometimes. 2. The merch in my experience going to 5 live shows is pretty weak with variety, so that could be why they simply choose the aew logo. I'd buy online if looking for merch. 3. I'd like the royal rumble to come over. I think that'd be fun. 4. Tony khan i dont mind he is very passionate about wrestling. As someone whose followed the company I honestly stay off social media except threads after aew shows because dynamite or a ppv could be amazing and a majority of people (not aew fans) comment on facebook, x and instagram to crap all over it. So i would say never listen to social media about an aew show, always watch for yourself. And the "wrestling news" seems to always run negative stories, which if I was tony khan would bug me. Sorry for the long explanation.
Dynamite is kinda the Only show I watch on a weekly basis. Collision and Rampage I catch on social media. The t-shirt thing is kinda funny you bring it up because I’m so use to it now that I don’t notice it. I think the reason being is the lack of Merch at the venue. I’ve been to AEW since one of the first few episodes and to one recently. The merch hasn’t really improved so I’m assuming that it would probably be the case. Match types is something that isn’t too different from WWE, but with only a few that are constant like the Casino Battle Royal or the Casino Ladder match which gives you a chance at one of the three major men’s titles. The Exploding Barbwire match has only happened once and might not happen again so not important. The Blood and Guts Aka WarGames match it’s the same as in WWE just with a top to the cage. But just recently as you saw at All In the Casino All In Match is AEW’s first own match type to hit a home run so expect to see it ever year. So about Tony Kahn honestly he is a genuine as it gets. Every show he comes out to the crowd to greet them and tell them how appreciative he is to them showing up and how great the show will be. Tony does get the tendency to be defensive over AEW for the fact of how much unusually amount of hate it gets. We don’t know truly know what happens behind the scenes but WWE has been around for a long time and they have certain tactics to hurt other company’s. It’s honestly not a big problem since they both do it to each other so don’t get hung up on what Tony says. One thing I will say since you’re new. I’ve been a fan of wrestling since 1997. So I fell out of love for it in 2016 in WWE. 2019 was the worst year possible for WWE but then AEW came around. The WWE you fell in love with today has gotten better because of competition that AEW brings. Something that’s been lacking. I’ll always be thankful to the Young Bucks, Omega, Cody, and Tony Kahn for bringing this back to us. So I understand that people don’t like Kahn, but He fell in love with the business just like you and me.
I love to hear this. I've been watching AEW since the first Double or Nothing in 2019. I remember the Being The Elite UA-cam Series leading up to AEW. 1. The 3 shows of Dynamite (2 Hours) / Rampage (1 Hour) / Collision (2 Hours) Dynamite being the primary show and Rampage being initially a bonus show. Collision is just over a year old now but essentially is also a primary show. Rampage used to have better matches than you'd anticipate in an hour long show. Order of importance would be Dynamite, Collision, Rampage 2. Oh I know a thing or 2 about Merch (I have a video on AEW's merch and one coming tomorrow of WWE's) A lot of people's favorite merch would be moreso a reference to their favorite wrestlers or literally have the wrestler on it, but a lot of people have taken a form of pride in being a fan of the #2 Wrestling promotion in the world, the alternative. WWE has logo merch as well, but they have so many hats and it's been so much time it's different. (Both logos are very clean) There are a select few WWE fans that are disgusted at even the existence of AEW though... so they could be rubbing that in their face. NJPW fans also wear logo merch a ton. 3. AEW has forged a gang of their own match types (Casino Battle Royale, Casino Tag Team Royale, Casino Ladder Match, Casino Gauntlet Match, Royal Rampage, Anarchy in the Arena, Stadium Stampede) all with their own specified rules (We don't need to talk about the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match) The Casino Gauntlet is likey the most creative and perfectly fresh new match type in the last few decades (I have a video on the Casino Gauntlet Match as well) Although they don't have any PPVs based around specific matches like Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber or MITB, other than Blood & Guts (which is usually a special Dynamite episode not a PPV) AEW Double or Nothing would typically contain "Casino"-style matches the most (21-man) 4. AEW has been fighting an up-hill battle since it began and WWE's higher-ups have not been helpful. Words from "#2" shouldn't affect anybody from "#1" unless the words are true (which they were). WWE 's been taking shots at AEW since before Wrestlemania 35. When it comes down to it, when 2 competing companies are competing, their competition should not spread to the fans competing, that's a problem the companies have to deal with, not the consumers. I see Tony Khan himself as one of us that has enough money to put on a style of wrestling promotion that a lot of people have wanted to see for a long time in America so he took it into his own hands. I can only respect him for that. He's overall a very positive and nice dude but when the odds are against him he's not gonna stand down. Being the bigger person hasn't always worked for him. For the most part he stays completely out of the way, and he's not on-screen most of the time, unless he has an announcement. People were like "woah what is this" because they don't want to see Chris Jericho, I don't mind him at all. That match was fun and good to me. The show was good but the crowd wasn't great. Every booker makes odd decisions sometimes but it is hard to not have faith in the person who got us this far. He may have booked Worlds End but he also booked both All In London events, Every Revolution, Full Gear, Dynasty, Double or Nothing. A bad booker wouldn't have made it this far booking 4 shows for 5 years with 3 on television.
I think most of the questions are alredy well answered i just want to add a comment about Tony Khan that a very few people adresses, I am a day 1 AEW fan and i totally get the perspective of a non AEW fan (and some AEW fans too) could have about him with just a few information about him and the behavior he shows sometimes, clearly the guy often has a socially strange behavior sometimes more subtle than others we can notice it in interviews, segments, speeches or his interactions with other wrestlers or people in general (his rants on social media also) in my perspective and with my understanding of the topic, he shows characteristics of some type of neurodivergence (I am a psychology student and I am diagnosed with ADHD) that could explain some of his behaviors (also his sometimes "weird" way of booking but he is not the only one booking) MAYBE is ONE of his reasons for the appreciation for guys like Osprey or MJF who are allegedly also diagnosed with types of neurodivergence (obviously the big factor is that they are arguably his bigger stars) and also explains his constant promotion of mental health and neurodivergency mentions in promos (MJF vs Osprey promo for example) but I am speculating on this examples. The problem is that neurodivergence isn't a very common topic of conversation in society and also the factor that exist this stereotype of this "classic" billonaries, so culturally it makes more sense to see a billionaire acting socially awkward and being very euphoric and passionate about his things and think "Oh yeah Tony Khan is a coke head" and I am not saying that he don't have behaviors to fix or to be blamed for but I'm just saying that most of the people who harash him without understanding that MAYBE his brain is in "that doesn't work for me brother" type of attitude... Jokes aside I hope I have explained myself clearly i'm not a native so hope i did, i like your open mind to enjoy different types of wrestling new subscriber!! cheers!!
Dynamite is the main show and most important. Rampage is just 1 hour and mostly matches only... somtimes a minor angle. Anarchy in the Arena/Stadium Stampede are AEW only Gimmicks. Other than that, they show a huge variety of hardcore and more brutal matches than WWE. Tony Khan is a rich Nerd who loves Wrestling and happens to be a Billionaire. He runs AEW just for the love of Wrestling. Sure, he makes mistakes... but he works his ass off to keep AEW running and i can't be mad at him for this. Some say he collects his favourite Wrestlers, like other people collect merchandise xD
Tony Khan was a lifelong wrestling fan at heart. he genuinely just wants to help wrestling as a whole and doing what he can to defend the overwhelming wwe toxicity. hes constantly been on the defensive from the much larger corporate wwe that tries to stamp out other wrestling promotions unfortunately. we love TK and hes young and hes doing the impossible, making a long lasting competitor brand. the man should be commended.
1) Basically Dynamite is the primary show and Collision is #2. Rampage is sort of a, for lack of a better word, a Dark Match collection sometimes the matches matter, sometimes it’s just a way to get some wrestlers on tv in some form or fashion for the week, especially if they aren’t currently in a storyline. 2) AEW’s merch thing has been a bone of contention for a lot of fans, early on they were great, mostly because they were primarily going through Pro Wrestling Tees, but of late they’ve been lacking. One other issue specifically at the shows people have criticized them for has been available to buy merch at the shows. Though they recently partnered up with a bunch of designers which hopefully means we’re gonna see an uptick in merch that people want. 3) Casino Gauntlet and Stadium Stampede/Anarchy In The Arena are two notable gimmicks that AEW introduced. They used to do a Casino Battle Royal that was more similar to the Royal Rumble than the Gauntlet is, though instead of coming out 1 by 1, they came out in groups which was distinguished by playing card suits. Really aside from that most match types have been ones that’ve existed in other promotions. The Exploding ring match in particular was a thing more commonly seen in Japan. AEW doesn’t really have a Gimmick based ppv yet, the closest is Forbidden Door which they do with NJPW. They do have a few matches that they seem to have tied to a specific time of year, SS/AitA in particular is sort of tied to Double or Nothing, while they also have their own version of War Games called Blood and Guts which is sort of been July based so far. Another thing they recently started that does have a connection to a pay per view is the Continental Classic which is a sort of League Style tournament similar to NJPW’s G1 Climax, with the first final taking place at World’s End last year. I would like to see them build a PPV around the Casino Gauntlet match as it’s probably the most interesting and unique new match type in years. The only problem with it is the abrupt nature with which the finish has. So it being the main event would work. But having it start the ppv or be in the middle could work. 4) Tony is a diehard wrestling fan. And really it’s a blessing and a curse because him being a wrestling fan means he’s definitely thinking about what the fans want. But also there are times where he’s booking like he’s playing WWE 2K GM mode and what he wants to see. For a lot of AEW fans he’s well loved, but everyone acknowledges that he is absolutely not without his faults and sometimes those faults harms AEW even if accidentally. The tweet you reference a lot of the complaints for the match were in reference to people being tired of Chris Jericho’s over saturated presence on AEW programming, and the desire for Hook in particular to not be in a feud with Jericho anymore(he’s been feuding with Chris for almost the entire year and has basically been in the exact same place the entire time). Hope these answers help.
Love the Deadlock D in the background. You should watch DPW! I’m going to their next show this weekend and their biggest show ever, “Super Battle” is October 13th! DPW RULES
Casino Gauntlet is a new match type they just came up with this year. There is the Royal Rampage match. Its 2 rings, 40 men. Final person in the blue and red rings go at it in the end. So if one finishes early, they can get a rest until the other ring is being settled. The big match types are the Stadium Stampede which came out during the pandemic which was insane. Blood & Guts is kinda like NXT's war games. 2 teams with 5 guys each in a steel cage. Winner only by pin or submission. There is often street fight / parking lot brawls. Basically no DQs. A really fun one that they brought over from New Japan is the Continental Classic. 2 blocks. Every person in the block fights everyone else at some point. You get points for wins. Less for ties. 20 minutes. No outside interference. This is a very sports match. Tony Khan is a total wrestling mark. Very awkward and loveable. For live shows he usually comes out at the end to say something off camera. He seems to be pretty good at booking. He books Dynamite. There are a group of guys who book Collision. He also owns Ring of Honour/ROH. Which is like they're lesser brand. Sometimes guys from ROH pop up in AEW. Or you'll see guys carrying around ROH belts in an AEW show. AEW is only barely over 5 years and is cemented as the #2. They offer a different style of wrestling. So people like to support that. Plus the AEW logo is pretty nice in and of itself. Some of the gimmick merchandise... doesn't age well with time. The AEW logo will be good as long as the promotion is around.
Haven't they just done the ONE Continental Classic though? They have the belt which is defended(or is supposed to be defended) in matches as you mentioned though.
Oh wait. You're right. I thought they had the 2nd one but I guess that's coming up soon. Tony Khan also just loves tournaments. AEW is more sports. When people end up dropping belts for whatever reason. They usually have a tournament to determine the one champion. Generally they treat their staff pretty well and respectfully. Sting is the prime example of how they treat a legend right. They have done tributes to wrestlers who have passed away. Even promotions outside of their own like New Japan and even WWE. They had a retirement tribute to a lady in wardrobe who's been making wrestling gear for decades. They usually work well with sponsors too. As you noted with the Assassin Creed tie in with Will Ospreay. They had one gimmick sponsor match, it involved some horror game with Leatherhead. It was super gimmicky but you couldn't really complain about it because AEW donated the proceeds to provide relief to ...Florida I think which had just been hit by a hurricane.
The only thing i will add to this discussion as most people have covered all the topics very well is that one of the best things AEW brings to the table is tournaments. Specifically, the C2 or Continental Classic (of which Okada currently holds the belt for) is a round robin style tournament with points awarded based on wins/ties (there is a 20 min time limit for matches). Last year was the first one and it had a really great storyline throughout with multiple different wrestlers interwoven very well into it. Even though the matches are just normal matches, the stakes of the tournament elevate it, and the next one will be coming up soon in the next few months.
Awesome news! Glad to hear you've been enjoying AEW and discovering more wrestling! You're definitely not alone in wanting to get more into AEW after All In, a few of my friends have been doing the same. I'm sure you've gotten the answers to your questions, but here's my $.02, sorry for the novel :) Question 1: Dynamite is the must-see. It's their main show, with all of the most important matches/happenings. It tends a bit toward the storytelling aspect and has more promo segments. It feels the most like WWE in terms of style. Collision is divisive, to put it mildly. I really like it because it has more matches to enjoy, but they're not always the A-tier stars. You might see a new team debuting, or an up-and-coming talent, or a match to build storyline. Another draw of Collision is Nigel on commentary, it's a hoot to see what out of pocket stuff he'll come up with. Rampage is 1 hour, and it's 3-4 short matches, usually building the midcard storylines. TLDR: If you just want to follow the most important PPV storylines, Dynamite and Collision would be your best bets. Question 2: The next PPV is actually pretty soon! All Out is on September 7th, which is in less than 2 weeks. I think you may want to start your watchalong after All Out and through to WrestleDream on October 12. Question 3: The "AEW" merch designs are available pretty much everywhere, fairly cheap and easy to find at shows themselves, and they like to do city-based variations (Chicago, Toronto, LA, etc). If you go to AEW shows, one thing that's annoying is that they don't have much merch available at the venue beyond 3-4 designs. I find that a lot of fans pick up those company shirts to commemorate shows they've been to, and then maybe they'll get wrestler merch later. It's also, like you said, a pride thing. It's a way to easily signal that you support the company and get other fans talking. Question 4: The only matches unique to AEW are the Casino variation matches where the winner gets a title shot: Casino Battle Royale (21 stars, 4 suits + 1 Joker, similar to a Royal Rumble), Casino Ladder (8 entrants, maybe a Joker), and the Casino Gauntlet (which you saw at All In). AEW also has Blood and Guts, but it's the exact same thing as War Games (2 rings + steel cage + teams with staggered entry). Strap matches, No DQ, Street Fights, etc, they're present everywhere. What I think you might be looking for is a Pure Rules match, which are native to Ring of Honor, but have taken place in AEW sometimes. They have 3 rope breaks, no closed-fist punches, no outside interference, no weapons allowed, and rely mostly on technical wrestling. If you haven't gotten to it yet, check out any of Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia's Pure matches from the past year for a good intro. Question 5: AEW does not have PPVs that are dedicated to a single match type. Blood and Guts is an episode of Dynamite dedicated to that match, but the rest of the PPVs have all match types mixed together. Question 6: I'd love to see what I consider a better example of a Gauntlet match in AEW. Gauntlet matches in WWE traditionally require the winner to beat a series of opponents in 6-8 matches, one right after another, and so you can tell stories like someone *truly* running a gauntlet and having to beat all 7 opponents if they drew the #1 or #2 spot. A great one to check out is the tag team gauntlet from 2019 where the New Day earned Kofi his WrestleMania spot. Question 7: Tony Khan is a fan with a lot of money, but he loves the wrestling business. He's a very good businessman and brought competition back to a stagnant industry, and he's given a lot of people jobs. When it comes to writing/booking, he's great at paying tribute to legends and famous wrestlers/stories (comparing how WWE treated Sting - awfully, using him to elevate their own talent and diminishing his work - and how AEW treated Sting - like the legend he is, speaks volumes) and writing long-term storylines. He's very good at creating a competitive environment and allowing his workers to make more decisions for themselves.
Hey man, first of all thank you for the effort of watching another companies product even though you already have your hands full, it really means a lot. I also wanted to say thank you for wanting to watch AEW as soon as possible but I think I should advise you otherwise. I think the right time to get into AEW’s weekly programming would be between mid October and early December just for a reason: The Continental Classic. The C2 actually brings some advantages when getting into AEW. First of all, duration. Each wrestler has to have 5 matches, one match a week, plus 2 semifinals plus the final, probably at Worlds End, so you have 6 weeks ending with a PPV. It’s over the month you said you want to make, but not by a long shot. Choosing the program. The tournament works like this: 2 groups, or “leagues”, one happening in Dynamite and the other in Collision. Last year, the blue league had most of its matches in Dynamite with people like Swerve, Jay White and Jon Moxley while the gold league happened in Collision with guys like Bryan Danielson, Andrade and Eddie Kingston. You could wait to see what wrestlers will be in each group and based on that choose the program where the most interesting group will happen. At the end of the day, all this is about enjoying wrestling and, at least personally, I think I would enjoy more a video of you watching Dynamite or Collision because that’s what catched your eye instead of watching because someone told you “that’s the must see program and the rest is just fodder” or something. And quality. It’s been said a lot, almost to the point where I would say it’s part of AEW’s identity, that it is a company more focused on the in ring side of the business. It only makes sense that the right time to watch that kind of company would be when their whole programming revolves around a tournament.
Aew fan that has a t shirt and a hoodie with the aew logo on it here. For me it's a mix of pride in aew, wanting to advertise for aew, and looking for fellow fans in the wild. When I wear them out I'll usually get one or more comments from strangers. "Nice shirt, did you see dynamite this week?" "Aew what's that is it like wwe?" Etc. and it gets conversations going. It's really nice. Luckily I haven't been like confronted by any angry wwe fans or anything yet.
Tony Khan is the reason I'm watching wrestling again after almost two decades of not watching wrestling at all. Competition drives creativity. Thanks to their partnership with New Japan, I started watching NJPW in early 2020 (Wrestle Kingdom 14) and that's the company I'm the biggest fan of now.
If you like random merch and collectables. I recommend looking the All Elite Crate. It’s a box of merch, two shirts and a wrestlers autograph. They ship quarterly. This sounds like a ad but just really like it.
Tony Khan is a die-hard wrestling fan. He's done what many of us wishes we could do but didn't have the means to do - he started his own wrestling company to be ran the way he wanted, with an emphasis on wrestling and not sports entertainment. I respect that! He seems to be a lovable dork who just loves wrestling from all over the globe. Yes, I wish he would keep his mouth shut sometimes, and he seems to have done that lately, but all in all, he seems to be well liked by those he employs. AEW is just a different animal altogether, and Tony is a different kind of booker from the norm. I love it but I can see why some don't gravitate toward it. As far as merch, I own a few AEW logo shirts but nothing in terms of individual wrestlers. While I love several wrestlers (MJF, Will Ospreay, Jay White ...), I love the company as a whole more than any one wrestler. Plus, the AEW logo shirts just look clean and cool.
The main show and show I mainly watch is Dynamite. I will tune into Collision on Saturday if I am home with nothing going on or just remember that it's on Saturday night. But for me, it's NOT a must watch. As for Rampage, I honestly stopped watching that looong ago and I don't feel it has had any impact on story telling.
And regarding how I feel about Tony Khan...He is a salesman. He is trying to sell his product. Sometimes it's cringy, sometimes it works. I take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt. If you look on his twitter during Dynamite, you will see the same types of promo tweets from a company I feel. Everything is the best, I see this a lot "justified 'insert chant"". For me, he can be annoying and he needs to learn to trust his advisors regarding stories. But I can see that there is some slow growth from him. There are singers I hate on music bands I love, but I still listen to the bands music because I like it. Same thing with Tony, I can live without his presence on social media, but it won't stop me from watching AEW.
Lifelong wrestling fan here! 1. Dynamite is the main show, and Rampage a more secondary show if you want to put your time into watching the best weekly AEW. Collision is there too, but not much happens there (in my personal experience) 2. AEW being a newer company has struggled with merchandizing and for a lot of people's favorite wrestlers or some of the most over guys don't necessarily have some of the better designs, so most fans just opt for the show logo. It seems they're getting the hang of it now, but it was a pretty consistent problem. 3. The Casino Ladder Match. It's a Royal Rumble meets Money In the Bank. 4. Whew boy. Tony Khan is someone who's pretty polarizing due to the way he is when it comes to his job. You might hear it sometimes out on the internet but 2021 TK is not 2024 TK. Tony Khan is someone who honestly gets on my nerves sometimes as a fan of AEW as WELL as WWE who jumped ship once Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson did. It feels like his inconsistent booking and outright bad choices for storylines and matches which will be followed up with some of the best TV you can watch is what makes him frustrating. There's of course the big dream WWE X AEW pay per view that probably WONT happen simply because of Tony Khan cheerleading a little too hard for himself. I think he needs more writers to get things back on track, cause start/stop pushes and faaaar too many inside baseball storylines is where Tony Khan in particular, struggles.
If you ever get a chance to go to an aew show, i highly recommend it. Usually after the show, Tony and some wrestlers would come out and take pictures with fans. Ive been to 2 aew shows, and plan on going to all in 2025, they have been incredibly fun
Day 1 AEW fan (and someone who genuinely views it as his favorite wrestling company ever): 1. Dynamite is the flagship show and the first weekly TV AEW had. It’s the one that most of the big story beats and angles will happen. Rampage is the second show that came along a couple years in, originally it was seen as a solid B show with some promise but quickly became the fun, one hour pseudo developmental show. It essentially gets some of the talent not in any big storylines or the younger talent they see as potential big players in the future a place to still get some experience but is otherwise pretty skipable. Collision is the newest show and is solidly the B show, featuring a lot of the higher workrate talent in matches that focus much more on that than developing a long term storyline. If you had to watch only two, it’s Dynamite and Collision, if it’s only one a week it’s definitely Dynamite. 2. The biggest thing about AEW is that it was a place that a lot of the fans who were burnt out by the WWE style of show and storytelling could get the fix of what they wanted out of wrestling on a large scale (that being extremely high workrate matches with a much more serious tone and more nuanced storytelling) and thus it made for an extremely loyal fanbase that really wants to show their support for AEW. After WCW and ECW went under, WWE had a strong stranglehold on American wrestling and AEW was the first legitimate alternative on that scale (TNA had a diehard fanbase as well but had nowhere near the financial backing or production value that AEW has). 3. The main AEW gimmicks are the Casino family of matches. The Casino Gauntlet, Casino Battle Royale, Casino Ladder Match. There’s also the Blood & Guts match (AEW’s equivalent to WWE/WCW’s WarGames match), Stadium Stampede and Anarchy in the Arena (which are basically the same except that one takes place in a typical arena and the other is for when they are in a large stadium), the Lights Out match which is just an unsanctioned anything goes match reserved for the most heated of feuds, and then you get other match types that originated in other wrestling promotions decades ago that WWE just won’t do. Dog Collar matches, any form of the Deathmatch (including the Barbed Wire Exploding Deathmatch). Other than that there are the occasional gimmick matches for something (sorta like how WWE has Money in the Bank) in the Face of the Revolution ladder match or the Dynamite Diamond Dozen Battle Royal. AEW doesn’t do them super often but they’ve done more than one of each of those so it’s not impossible that you’d see them if you started watching today. 4. Tony Khan is an interesting guy to say the least. Above anything else, he is passionate about wrestling and is eager and loyal about his product. Even if it isn’t always a hit, you can tell he is genuinely doing this out of a pure passion for what he does and not just to fill for time on his shows. Sometimes he gets it wrong, but he almost always learns from that and gets better at handling those sorts of things. People kept memeing his “big announcements” on tv until a vocal part of the audience just grew sick of seeing him do them, which is why now he’s rarely ever seen on tv. Sometimes he gets very over excited about something and has lead to outbursts on Twitter but he seems to have toned that down a bit as time has gone on. Overall he’s a really passionate and knowledgeable guy when it comes to wrestling history who is in a place where he’s able to make his fantasy booking a reality but is still extremely new to actually booking real shows. When he’s doing something great it’s exceptional stuff, but when he has a misstep he isn’t the kind of booker to just drop a storyline out of nowhere and so it just amplifies how much it doesn’t work for the audience. I’m in the camp of genuinely really respecting and appreciating TK, he’s loyal to his roster and (outside of the one time he did release a batch of talent) will honor their contracts until the day they expire. He lets his talent work outside of AEW to some degree and still uses them on his product even if it’s clear they aren’t staying around in quite a few cases. He’s not perfect and certainly I don’t always agree with his choices or opinions, but he’s also doing a great job at something that’s a lot easier to do on paper than it is in practice.
1. Putting it in WWE terms, Dynamite is like RAW. It's the show you need to watch where most stories take place and are developed. Collision is like Smackdown, where stories are still developed, but it's not their number one show. Then, Rampage is like NXT Level Up, a good match here or there, but you could definitely skip it and look for results online since it's pretaped every week. 2. I don't know why for most people, but my best guess is a lot of AEW merch isn't great and can't be worn anywhere other than an AEW show. The AEW logo is a shirt that you can wear out in public and not be looked at as if you're wearing an Acclaimed shirt that says "Scissor Me Daddy A$$" 3. They have a MITB equivalent in the casino gauntlet match, but they don't do gimmick ppvs. To answer the first part, you'll see a lot more violent matches in AEW like true street fights and deathmatches that you won't see in WWE because of the PG rating 4. For me personally, I don't mind Tony going and talking online, but I can definitely see where people do. As a booker, he definitely has his flaws, but every booker does. But with AEW's roster, it's hard to book a terrible show, so his flaws won't truly bring a show down.
It's nice to see a potential new Fan's perspective on AEW and the various small hurdles to get into it. I think AEW's biggest flaw in getting new viewers is their 3 different shows. When I got into AEW a couple years ago there was Dynamite, Rampage, and Dark (don't worry about learning what Dark was), with news about Collision's debut eventually coming out and the only thing I had to compare it to was WWE's shows. When Collision first debuted, it felt like AEW was trying to make it's own version of a SmackDown and Raw. At the time, MJF was world champion but CM Punk claimed that he was actually still world champion, as he had never lost the belt, only vacating it due to injury, and they were setting up these shows so that MJF's belt would be the top prize of Dynamite while CM Punk's belt would be the top prize for Collision. However, CM Punk would go through the "Real Glass" incident during ALL IN 2023 and would be let go from AEW, leaving Collision to feel fairly misguided since then. Most of us kinda view Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage as an "A" show, "B" show, and "C" show, now, respectively, despite it not feeling like that was the original intention. Anyways, Dynamite is where a majority of the storylines will progress and if anything plot significant is happening on Rampage or Collision they will usually advertise it during Dynamite. Rampage is typically more of an "impressive wrestling showcase" than a typical episode of Dynamite, Raw, or SmackDown. And (from my perspective) Collision is still a show without guidance that walks the line between the type of content seen on Dynamite and Rampage, seemingly still trying to find it's own identity. Also AEW Dark was like Rampage but were post-show dark matches only available on UA-cam(I think, maybe it was on their website, idk, Dark ended 2 weeks before I started watching AEW)
Dynamite is your must watch. Collision is your should watch. Rampage is fun, but rarely moves storylines forward. Rampage is fun because it lets their B and C tier wrestlers really go wild. The logo merch tends to be more popular in AEW because AEW is more counter culture than WWE, so it is absolutely a pride thing, and AEW fans are a bit more likely to call each other out, give each other "Too Sweet" motions, etc. The other thing is that a lot of AEW merch doesn't look like wrestling merch, but tends to look more like band merch. So a lot of people are wearing AEW shirts that you don't instantly recognize as "wrestling merch." Gimmick matches: Casino Gauntlet, Stadium Stampede, Anarchy in the Arena, Blood and Guts (basically War Games), are unique to AEW. Parking Lot Fights happen more in AEW than WWE. I'd love to see AEW bring in a Money in the Bank type scenario. I love Tony Khan. He's a genuine, great dude. He's awkward and goofy at times, but he has decades of history as a wrestling fan, and it's so sick getting to see him in the crowd of things like ECW One Night Stand, etc. I think he was truly upset when WWE tried to bury him when he was starting AEW, and understandable took it personally. He's also one of the smartest wrestling historians to ever exist.
Patreon: www.patreon.com/dporticus
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/dporticus
Discord: discord.com/invite/MnzWwAccEY
I recomend to watch dynamite every weds thats where all the main stories happen in aew not much happens on collision and rampage I recomend for them 2 watch UA-cam clips UA-cam very good way to keep up with aew content but the most to watch dynamite that's like wwes raw there biggest Weekley show
Watch dynamite and if there are matches that interest you on collision watch that. Rampage never has a story, it’s just matches to build people up or for the crowd to see wrestlers that didn’t wrestle at dynamite
To answer your questions, Dynamite is the must watch. it's the show with the longest history, and is more promo and segment heavy than Collision. Collison is more wrestling based and you would get the backstage segs here and there Rampage is the c show. it's not bad but pretty skippable. i typically watch Rampage when I attend Dynamite live because they tape Rampage after Dynamite goes off the air. 2. i dont owe merch that strictly says AEW. i own a Darby Allin sticker, an Omega shirt, a Young Bucks shirt, a Punk shirt, and a Revolution 2020 poster signed by Mox. 3. the most unique match type AEW has is the Anarchy in the Arena and the Casino Battle Royal which they haven't had in a while. the former is a 4 on 4 brawl around the arena. the latter is like a rumble but it's 5 ppl coming in at fixed intervals instead of one. the last entrant is the Joker card. 4. No AEW doesn't have gimmick ppvs technically Blood and Guts is one but it's a tv special. 5 I'd love to see Nakamura in AEW or in the women's case, i'd love to see Tegan Nox in AEW. tag team wise? probably DIY. 6. I like TK. I don't really hate him. his strongest points as a booker is that he gives wrestlers more of a free reign to do stuff on their own creative wise like Vince did in the 90s. but WWE is more micromanaged. idk if it's still like that in the Triple H era tho. TK's weakest points as a booker is that more often than not, wrestlers are still in the same spot that they were months ago. Hook is a prime example of this. while the FTW title is cool, it has a shelf life to it. Darby is still fighting for the TNT title, a belt he has held like 3 times already.
The fact that so many people are commenting essays trying to help this guy get into aew really warms my heart glad to see the non toxic side of wrestling fandom online when so much of it is negative
And here I am having dinner, reading almost every single one. We're building up a cozy corner in the IWC that I really love.
@@Dporticus yeah man I really hope you gain more traction and viewers bc this type of genuine positivity without any sarcasm layered into it is much needed especially on UA-cam
Day 1 AEW fan here:
1. Dynamite is the A show where more stories tend to unfold and is the "can't-miss" flagship program. Collision is the supplement to Dynamite. You could miss Collision on any given week and still be up to date on most ongoing stories. Rampage is honestly skippable, and mostly serves as a vessel for just entertaining wrestling matches.
2. Why are we wearing brand t-shirts? AEW fans are very LOYAL, and like you said, prideful. We are also made up of a lot of fans who likely became jaded of the style of programming WWE was offering during WWE's monopoly era. So we know how important having a strong alternative is to pro wrestling, because before 2019, WWE was more or less the only mainstream option for 18 years (TNA was never remotely as big as AEW is now). If you're a fan that prefers more of an in-ring focused product with nuanced storytelling, and a dose of violence sprinkled on top, WWE during the 2010s wasn't for you. That's not a knock on WWE, that's just a preference. So as fans, we truly appreciate that AEW exists, and will wear merch to show as such.
3. Gimmick matches: They did do a Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match, which was made famous in Japan. The AEW version was good, though the "explosion" left a lot to be desired and well, it's worth a watch for a good chuckle. Otherwise, aside from Blood & Guts, Stadium Stampede, and Anarchy in the Arena, the Casino Battle Royale, and the new Gauntlet Battle Royale, there isn't anything more with gimmick matches that comes to mind immediately. I wouldn't say AEW does themed PPVs either, at least not at this point. But it's an interesting idea.
4. Tony Khan was that uber-wrestling nerd folks probably made fun of as a kid. He grew up loving it; he fantasy booked it; went to shows, etc. The difference is that he happens to be the son of a billionaire, and was able to work towards funding AEW's beginnings. Legends like Jim Ross, Schiavone, and others, have praised Khan for his vast wrestling knowledge, as he truly loves and appreciates the pro wrestling business and its history.
My honest guess based on his interviews, that he probably has some form of anxiety diagnosis. That is why he probably rubs people the wrong way at times, and has his random outbursts on X in the past. However, even though I don't condone those, I will say that he's been pretty mild on social media for most of this year. I think he's learned a lot from his past mistakes, but I don't think he'll ever be the "suit" that people expect when thinking of a boss like McMahon or even Levesque. It's just not his style, and I know that some don't like that -- but some (like myself) have grown to appreciate it. He was a big ECW fan growing up, which was the renegade brand run by Paul Heyman. I'm speaking to the original ECW during the mid-late 90s which is largely the reason why wrestling had a boom period in that time (but that's a much longer conversation). So i think he sometimes parrots that "maverick" attitude, if that makes sense.
4a. TK does have a team of writers/bookers that already works with him. He recently hired Jennifer Pepperman early this year, who was a big part of the May/Storm storyline. While he always has the final say, he does have a team shooting him ideas and working with him. I think it's a case of patience. Khan has booked some great stories in AEW history, from Omega/Page, MJF/Punk, Cody/Jericho, etc. These all happened under his watch. I think with any company, be it AEW or WWE, you're going to have creative droughts and misses here and there. 2023 is a good example of that, as a lot didn't hit for me in AEW for 2023. But he's learning, and constantly gaining experience, and I think AEW is on an upswing right now creatively.
Also re: writers, Pepperman was brought in on the recommendation of Mercedes Moné. Others who have helped book / write / produce in the past are RJ City, Sonjay Dutt, Bryan Danielson, and I believe Dustin Rhodes and Kenny Omega with the women. Folks like Jericho and MJF also have a lot of creative freedom.
I was gonna write a whole response to the video, but tbh you said everything I would have said, so... Ditto.
I will say one thing regarding the merch, a lot of the AEW merch is not as blatantly branded, so it can be hard to spot. For instance I'm currently wearing my Danhausen button up, which has his face on it a bunch but not a single AEW logo. I have a closet full of wrestling shirts, most for AEW, but almost none of them even have the AEW logo and many you wouldn't even recognize as a wrestler shirt. I have 1 AEW hat though.
I highly recommend one of the crates, whether AEW crate, or pwcrate. They all have exclusive shirts that you can't get elsewhere and I've only once or twice for a shirt I didn't like.
@@ryanlargent9320 That's right! Thanks for adding that in.
@@archwayportraits Hell yeah. Loot creates are where it's at. Last month's was really good, especially when it comes to shirts.
Day 1 AEW fan too and I agree with most of this comment, just want to add a complementary comment about tony khan, Clearly he often has a socially strange behavior sometimes more subtle than others we can notice it in interviews, segments, speeches or his interactions with other wrestlers or people in general (his rants on social media also) in my perspective and with my understanding of the topic, he shows characteristics of neurodivergence (I am a psychology student and I am diagnosed with ADHD) that could explain some of his behaviors (also his way of booking) and MAYBE is ONE of his reasons for the appreciation for guys like Osprey or MJF who are allegedly also diagnosed with types of neurodivergence (obviously the big factor is that they are arguably his bigger stars) and also explains his constant promotion of mental health and neurodivergency mentions in promos (MJF vs Osprey promo for example) but I am speculating on this examples. The problem is that neurodivergence isn't a very common topic of conversation in society and also the factor that exist this stereotype of this "classic" billonaries, so culturally it makes more sense to see a billionaire acting socially weird and being very euphoric and passionate about his things and think "Oh yeah Tony Khan is a coke head"
and I am not saying that he don't have behaviors to fix or to be blamed for but I'm just saying that most of the people who harash him without understanding that MAYBE his brain is in "that doesn't work for me brother" type of attitude... jokes aside I hope I have explained myself clearly im not a native, cheers and Enjoy wrestling!!!
Dynamite tends to be more story focused, Collision tends to be more workrate focused, Rampage often features high-fliers and tag team stuff
😂😂
@@pleaseshutup7053 I mean, he's not wrong
Story focused? 🤣
@@pleaseshutup7053what’s funny about it?
@@pleaseshutup7053 Yeah, because there's a story told through the matches, mate. How ISN'T it story focused?
Dynamite's the must watch, Collision's the secondary show, watch when you can but you can miss some and you'll usually be alright. Rampage is an hour long and you don't have to watch it, it's typically just banger matches and less focus on story (or the stories aren't that *big*), you can miss it and be fine.
-
I don't own any AEW clothing but I'd assume that people wear the logo just to get the company in the public eye, as WWE is ultimately THE mainstream wrestling company.
Wear my AEW gear with pride‼️
I have this AEW hoodie that me wife might be getting tired of 😂
@@StudioDoom that's cool
@@StudioDoom You let your wife throw out your clothes?😂
@@nworder4life No, it's just a reference to how often I wear it.
Dynamite = Main weekly show narratively
Collision = B show with other dangling narrative bits
Rampage = Just a fun time, but zero consequences most of the time
Tony Khan is a good man who created a rival company that provides hundreds of jobs in the wrestling industry. The impact that AEW caused WWE to improve is astronomical. Better pay, better negotiating, easier schedule and a better product.
He is also a very awkward person who lets his frustrations get the best of him sometimes and has caused his company some embarrassing moments. Him wanting to be a wrestler's friend as apposed to their boss has led to some taking advantage of him and of course the entire CM Punk debacle.
His issues with the WWE stem as far back as when Dynamite debuted and the Wednesday Night Wars occurred with NXT debuting on USA on the same night two weeks before.
When all is said and done, my advice to you is "just enjoy wrestling".
I think this recent episode of dynamite has a good example of how differently aew tells their stories. Back in March Swerve, Hangman and Samoa Joe had a triple threat for the title which ended with Samoa Joe getting Hangman to tap out. Since wrestlers usually don't tap to Joe's choke and instead usually tap out a lot of people assumed (along with speculation from the commentators) that hangman tapped so that he could be sure that swerve wouldn't win the championship. Nobody on screen except the commentators mentioned the possibility that hangman tapped for that reason until last night's episode when swerve and hangman were face to face swerve accused hangman of this and hangman's face told us that he was right. And then swerve mentioned that he was so pissed at hangman for this that he drove to his house and saw hangman leaving to go to the hospital with his pregnant wife. Revealing the birth of hangman's second child, a piece of news that hangman had not been public about. We know that for many different reasons (all valid btw) WWE would have told these moments differently. I personally prefer this type of storytelling in wrestling. It's as subtle as you can get in a not so subtle form of entertainment
Damn I just be typing sometimes lol my bad for the essay
Are you diplomatically saying that WWE would keep reminding you off those details to the point it's condescending? 😂
@@markmayhew69 No they absolutely did imply that hangman tapped out to cost swerve the chance to win the title, I watched the match I remember commentary suggest it.
@@sadboi88 I'm not not implying that 🤣. But seriously it's not always condescending and they have definitely told stories in a more subtle manner in the past. Just in general their show is structured in a way that makes less sense to do so
@@nworder4life yes I mentioned as such
Bro I feel like we have had the same journey, I started watching wwe 5 years ago, and after 2 years I was a full time aew viewer aswell.
14:03 Triple H is far from innocent as he was known to be selfish as a talent. He's ok as a booker but still follows the WWE formula that's happened for decades.
Tony Khan is not the best at times, because he does a lot of impulse booking. But certain characters do influence his decisions and that leads to some good long term storytelling. Toni Storm, Bryan Danielson, Swerve, MJF are a few examples of this, which you'll discover for yourself.
Yeah, Triple H is far from innocent. I remember back in the day when stories of wrestlers' drama would leak on a near daily basis and it was clear that Triple H was an office politician. Then there's the story of Triple H re-signing Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows by bringing up how staying with WWE would provide for their families' security, causing the Good Brothers to renege on a deal with AEW... only to fire them just weeks/months later, after they had already burned that bridge. Now, it probably wasn't Triple H who made the call, but it's still not a good look.
Not replying aggressively, just giving my side of it and I gotta disagree, I've been watching for 29 years and this WWE feels completely different to what's been going on for the past decade, way more cohesive storytelling, wrestlers you love getting over, fans being listened to, and the shows are worth watching again, just 4 years ago I would have told everyone to just check the highlights, 5 years ago I was telling everyone to watchout for AEW taking over
@@MetalThrashingMan13 I think it's a bit of column A and column B. WWE is certainly better than it was just a year or two ago and way better than pre-AEW. But there are certain formulas that work for either them specifically or wrestling as a whole. That said, now they've had to adapt those formulas.
You are just a wrestling fan, and that’s a great thing! As a long time fan, I follow wrestlers more than companies. Of course, I started as a child watching WWF as a hulkamaniac. But as I learned more, I see these guys working all over. Now I follow my favorites and try to watch whatever program I can when I have time. My favorite show is always changing based on the roster changes.
I think compared to HHH or Vince most people don't have a strong opinion on Tony Khan, they'll critisize certain decisions, or certain bad habbits, but mostly people just think of him as "a big nerd with a lot of money", that sometimes has strokes of genius and sometimes won't let go of a bad idea because of either ego or some dumb statistic.
i think is less about ego and more about him being so naively empathetic to ideas from wrestlers that he doesnt have it in him to cut a program short or remove from tv a bad performer that is getting paid a lot of money.
@@gsuave4293 That could be true, but nobody really knows his motives other than him.
@@pleaseshutup7053 That's an inspiration, I'm talking about the motives behind specific actions.
The only reason people are fond of Triple H is because of NXT Black & Gold. Prior to that, most fans hated him and claimed he used to bury talent that those very same fans felt as worth of a push.
I disagree with you. A lot of people who dislike AEW have a very strong opinion of Tony Khan. Now when I say "a lot of people" I mean the IWC. The general public probably has no idea who Tony is.
Gonna try my best to not make the comment too long, but I wanna help you on the things I know.
1) Dynamite is the main show. Collision is also good and sometimes storylines and clips from it show on Dynamite. But usually it's a bit of its own thing at times. Rampage is pretty Skipable most of the time, so no worries on watching clips unless something crazy happens.
2) For fallout fans, the Fallout classic collection is free right now on epic games if you are interested ❤
3) People wearing the company's logo is not a super rare thing, but they usually go for wrestler designs or just wear casual clothes. It's not too crazy, but if one does get over (Like bullet club back in the day) You'll see it a lot.
4)I recommend checking out Anarchy in the arena and Blood & Guts. No other speculation matches come to mind right now, but those two have been fun. Both this year and last year's were fun. Think of blood & Guts as Wargames and Anarchy in the Arena is more of a freak show, but so far no PPV fully revolved around a stipulation.
5) Tony Khan is a weird fella. Overall he is a super nice guy, but tends to get easily drawn into criticism and can't resist not responding to it at times.
He is a fan of wrestling and let's himself go with the whole tribalism thing. He is childish on some regards, but I can't be more thankful of people with power like him with care for his wrestlers and their families to exist, specially during the whole Vince era and constant releases of talent.
The FTR/Bullet Club Gold best 2 out of 3 match is probably one of the best matches ever in AEW. Its not a super crazy stipulation but they used it to craft a really interesting and suspenseful match.
Rampage is more of a C show, Collision is a B show but stuff still does happen. Dynamite is the A show😊
Dynamite is the A show, Rampage is a fun hr long sprint, Collision is the 2nd A show 😊
Collision is a b show realistically
@@joshuaelder8983 in WWE terms.. Dynamite is AEW's RAW and Collision is Smackdown. Rampage is Main Event (just better).
@@majinpvegetaRampage is the 3rd hour of Raw
@@ryanlargent9320its main event or velocity/heat from back in the day. It’s a nothing show, definitely not a third hour of raw. Maybe when it started but there’s nothing going on anymore
First: I appreciate your perspective and your attempt to listen more to fans who enjoy what they watch than the ones who pick it apart. Boy, that's tough to find on the internet these days.
Second: Always Dynamite, often Collision, sometimes Rampage. For example, this week's Rampage has a four-way match that should KILL, and I'm sure I'll catch up on it Saturday morning.
Third: Tony Khan is one of us. Grew up a fan, fantasy booked as a kid, continued to watch as an adult doing business things in the wider world, and suddenly had a genuine opportunity to make the company happen when The Elite came available and his dad decided not to make Tony and his sister, Shanna, wait to inherit. He has some really youthful qualities, gets excited about his company, the folks he works with, and wrestling in general. He claps back sometimes when he thinks a criticism is unfair. He bends a little too far now and then when he really likes someone, and often gives them one or two chances more than he maybe should. I'm A-OK with his being the head of the company; he enjoys a lot of the wrestling I enjoy, and he built a business around giving it to us.
Fourth: Holy cow, are things more enjoyable as a whole if one watches the shows, enjoys chatting about the shows with buddies who also enjoyed them, and leaves social media the ever-loving hell OUT OF IT. Like, if a big story breaks, it'll show up in your Discord. If a great clip is making the rounds, it'll show up on your Discord/in your community. Trying to keep up with all the minor, pointless animosities, "gotcha"s, etc. IS what some people enjoy, annnnd I really wish those folks would find ANY other hobby, because EVERY possible hobby is a hotbed for it. The way they talk, it quickly comes clear that THEIR hobby is juicing adrenaline by blowing things out of proportion.
Fifth: The next PPV is a literal week from now. 😅WrestleDream, after All Out, is in October; please consider watching THAT build instead of calling the experiment done with All Out.
Oh, right: One of Tony's biggest strengths is essentially "vibe check"-ing his entire roster and putting together teams/stables that quickly get over with the audience. It ain't always perfect, but as a long-time fan who saw plenty of "Odd Couple" pairings over the years, he has a knack for it.
Ultimate X from TNA has produced some absolute bangers.
dude, you have got to be the best wrestling content creator on youtube. you’re so genuine with it, you may convince me to start keeping up with AEW now
Couldn't hurt to give it a shot right? And thank you lol
Tony khan gets too much hate. Basically he’s like us wrestling fans he tries to book and make things he knows fans would love. He sometimes lets his fandom of wrestling get the best of him and he gets very defensive. Overall he’s a great guy though I’ve had a couple interactions with him at shows.
He's not like us. He IS us.... albeit with a ton of cash. He's doing what every wants to do, but can't
On the AEW merch topic & why people wear AEW logos in particular; It's multi-faceted, certainly. All of the reasons you've mentioned in the video (I want to let people know I like this specific wrestling promotion and the style it affords, I want to promote AEW because I believe in the mission to offer an alternative/different type of wrestling. I think it is a good thing for ALL of wrestling to have many places where wrestlers can go to be successful, it is a good thing for wrestlers to be able to choose the style of wrestling and management that they prefer, etc.) but I think it's also important to call out that WWE have, for many years, have established themselves as a heel company (the Authority, corporatism, literally booked as bad guys in programs against beloved babyface talent, etc). WWE is not a beloved company as much as the content they produce being beloved (at least by a large segment of wrestling fans who have known mostly or only WWE and/or for whom their love is a generationally inherited fandom, etc.) Wearing AEW merch lets others know you are part of a subculture of wrestling fandom (much like nerds who wear very niche merch for non-mainstream nerd fandoms or people who, like me, love punk/hardcore music and wear band merch only others 'in the scene' will truly appreciate fully.
On which shows to prioritize; Dynamite is the most important, by far. Rampage is pre-taped so the good thing is that if there is going to be a big/important match on Rampage that Friday, they will announce it/set it up on Dynamite so you know it's coming on Friday and can tune in for it, if you like. Otherwise you can just catch the highlights of Rampage. It's only a 1 hour show, so it's okay to skip and just see what happened later. Collision is, I think, more worth tuning in for, especially as you are getting to know the roster/the mechanics of AEW because it isn't trying to be the same as WWE, which is something I think a lot of fans trying to crossover don't understand -- often you will hear criticisms solely based on expecting WWE-style storytelling, booking, house style of performing, etc etc and AEW is built on not being that as an ideology. There will, of course, be commonalities, but some things are meant to be different and appreciated on their own without comparison/correlation to WWE's methodology, so I recommend keeping that in mind.
Lastly, as a massive *wrestling fan* (I am not loyal to any specific company/promotion, I simply like the wrestling programming & events that I like and I don't spend time worrying too much about other options out there that just aren't for me anymore -- I love AEW, I love indie promotions, I love NJPW, etc., I was a massive WWE fan/enjoyer when it was the only option on tv regularly where I live but in 2016-2018, I was truly falling out of love with wrestling watching WWE programming and only finding joy in wrestling when I went to indie shows, which hurt my heart. I felt like I had seen most everything WWE had to offer, it felt repetitive, it felt like filler, it felt homogenized -- I wanted to see different styles, I wanted different characters and stories, I wanted to stop being spoon-fed how to feel about wrestlers or programs. And that is okay. Not everything has to be *for me* forever. I got so much joy from WWE for many years, but now I needed more of the kind of wrestling that still brought me joy, and AEW came around at the right time to give me that. I care about preserving wrestling for a long, long time to come -- I could give dissertation on wrestling being the closest thing we have to Shakespearean theater. It is an art and it deserves a wide, wonderful array of ways to enjoy it.
And that, finally, leads me to Tony Khan. I think you will find that many AEW fans have a deep love for Tony as he truly, deeply *loves* wrestling. The joy and awkward giddiness and contagious revelry in nerding out that Tony exudes when it comes to wrestling is beautiful. Now, I don't believe billionaires should exist as a rule, but Tony gets a lot of shit for simply being a nepo baby whose father gave him a wrestling company, when in reality, Tony is a decorated, degreed sports statistician. He was passionate about football (not the american kind!) so he went to the UK/Europe and worked for football clubs. He worked his way up from statistics to management to council to owner. He loves sports, and wrestling is just one of those sports for him. You can easily find video & photo evidence of him nerding out for WWE for many, many years. But he had a dream to start a wrestling promotion and at that time, Cody Rhodes was in the market for potential investors to do a massive independent wrestling show with friends he made in the indies and Japan, and Tony and The Elite plus Cody + Brandy saw from the success of the first All In in Chicago that they could do it. They could become a new wrestling promotion, by wrestlers/wrestling fans *for* wrestlers/wrestling fans. They sought to be an alternative to the only wrestling company in America considered the big leagues. They wanted to offer a different type of wrestling programming AND support some of the most hideous ways that wrestlers are exploited by companies like WWE. Whether you love or hate them, their contract employment system is horrendous. Their anti-union, mega-right wing ideology is harmful. Wrestlers put their bodies, their brains, their mental and emotional well-being, their valuable time away from their family, friends, and homes on the line for us to be entertained, and they deserve to be compensated fairly, to be treated with respect at work, to have paid time off and work reasonable hours, to have access to healthcare outside of sports injuries, etc etc etc, and AEW sought to invest in providing that. They also invested in employing diverse people, and celebrating LGBTQ+ and minority wrestlers, staff, and fans in a way that was missing in mainstream wrestling. Now, are they perfect at these things and other lofty ideals? No, of course not! But they have ideals, they want to make wrestling a place where everyone can have opportunity, support, and feel safe to enjoy this thing we love. And Tony is no small part in this. He believes it, you can tell not by the things he says, but by the things he does. The way he has supported, quietly, roster members and their families when in need, the way he has allowed talent to work outside of AEW as long as they are being safe & responsible, the way he purchased ROH even though it was, objectively, not a great business decision in that specific moment, because the roster and their families were being left to fend for themselves, scared for their futures and the future of this critically important wrestling promotion, no matter how small it may be compared to WWE, in terms of its historical impact. Should, perhaps, someone take Twitter away from Tony sometimes? Sure. But he is constantly being attacked & demeaned & mocked (calling him a cokehead constantly bc he's awkward in an on-the-spectrum sense and gets excited about wrestling? constantly rooting for AEW to fail? racism because his family isn't white? and yes, even WWE as a company interfering -- contract tampering, employing wrestlers & staff to watch AEW and report on what they're doing/working toward so WWE can try to beat them to storylines & events, etc. -- this isn't hearsay or gossip, it's been publicly acknowledged and confirmed). So yeah, sometimes he gets feisty to defend AEW. So what? And lest we forget, wrestling is and has historically been a carny business built on the camp and drama of it all. The McMahons built an empire on this (and shady business practices but whatever, that's capitalism for you), so I don't really subscribe to judging Tony to some angelic standard. That's unfair. And even Paul (HHH) has been quite quick to lash out at AEW, at their talent, at their ideals, at any criticism of WWE recently. Maybe not in the same always-visible on social media way as Tony, but they are in competition -- at least for now -- so I think people should offer some grace to Tony and try to see the positive he does more often than obsessing over his mistakes. No one's perfect.
Anyway, that's a lot, sorry for writing a novel but I do hope that you (and maybe others with you!) will give AEW a real chance because even if you are a massive WWE fan, there's room in the world for all the wrestling, and we all win when wrestling is successful, no need for tribalism beyond having preferences, legitimate discourse, and in-good-faith jokes here and there.
I'd say Dynamite is the only show that is 100% required viewing. I miss a Collision every now and then and it's fine, and I haven't watched Rampage in forever.
as far as gimmick PPVs, AEW doesn't really do that - they have a loose tradition at Double or Nothing where they do an Anarchy in the Arena/Stadium Stampede but that's it. they have gimmick TV Specials however, like Blood & Guts.
as for how we feel about Tony Khan... I mean it's always going to be mixed. nobody is a perfect Booker. nobody can please everyone. but I do have a level of trust in him that I wasn't expecting. especially for how he handled the pandemic, that showed me a lot. and the respect he has for the wrestlers and for the business is very apparent, from the Brodie Lee tribute show to the Owen Hart Cup and everything else. and at the end of the day he's made a show that has reignited my passion for pro wrestling and seems generally like a nice guy, so I like Tony. he can be goofy. he can go off sometimes. though it's not often he goes after WWE. he's praised them way more than he's slandered them. but yeah. overall, I like the guy.
At “blood and guts” aew has a WarGames match except the cage has a roof. And it’s also an “I quit” stipulation
And the following Rampage is usually a Royal Rampage
Proper wargames.
Technically AEW does wargames and WWE does wargames without a roof
@@Nathan-w5b2h yeah Teams can forfeit in wwe
AEW's version is the true version
1 more thing I think the reason a lot of people THINK AEW has no stories is because they do a lot of storytelling in and during matches. where WWE relies more on promo's and backstage segments.
The stories in AEW are there but more nuanced.
For example in WWE they would have Tiffany stare at the belt for a bit before giving it to Nia.
Where in AEW they would tell that same story by have Mariah glance at the title or put her hand on it while it is resting on Toni's shoulder during a promo.
They also have a lot of foreshadowing, like having the devil mask by Adam Cole's background and so forth. Some might say we're reaching with these "foreshadowing", but it happens on such a regular basis that they probably insert them in, even if the foreshadowing never pay off.
When it comes to merch, you don't see people repping WWE as an overall brand because WWE as often portrayed the corporation as the heel within their own stories in the past, and as the forerunner brand WWE doesn't represent anything more than "I like wrestling". AEW as a brand however has a specific association "I like indie outsider wrestling and enjoy seeing it brought to an international television audience." AEW has also never been the villain in an onscreen story. It doesn't portray itself as a corporate villain but rather as an inviting whollistic platform for every kind of wrestling one could want.
With the stipulations, AEW doesn't do gimmick branded pay per views the way WWE does. The nearest thing is that Double or Nothing since pandemic has always had a Stadium Stampede or Anarchy in the Arena match, and they do a early television special for their War Games style match, Blood & Guts. They've also made passes at giving other pay per views a specific match type but nothing has really stuck yet, the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing and the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match being notable among those.
The exploding ring match you saw was an Exploding Barbwire Deathmatch, and will likely never happen again. It was a love letter to a specific style of Japanese hard-core match pushed by the love Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega share for that legacy. With the fact that the final explosion actually had a technical failure and the climax of the match turned into a bit of a wet fart because of it, I don't see them trying the stip again. They also did that during pandemic, don't know if they would run those explosions in proximity to a full crowd.
Other stips to look out for: title Eliminator matches, where a challenger must beat a title holder or top contender for a shot at a belt; Continental Title matches have all seconds/managers barred from ringside; ROH Pure Title/Division matches have aired on Dynamite in the past. The Pure division limits each wrestler to 3 rope breaks in a match, with the ref unable to call for a break after the 3rd time a wrestler in a submission has gone to the ropes, and a wrestler is disqualified for using more than one closed fist punch.
The one big stip that feels very AEW is the Lights Out match. It's been a while since they've done a proper one, but it's their super hard core one on one match that is billed as not being sanctioned by the promotion.
Personally I would love to see a Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and Briefcase Cash In style opportunity in AEW.
Tony Khan is a traditional smart mark, with a strong history of being involved in the Internet Wrestling Community and old forums/BBS environments. His attitude toward WWE is informed by decades of being involved in communities where his present attitude would have been a calm even handed approach to WWE, and what he perceives as professional disrespect with WWE attempting contract tampering and refusing to recognize his company as legitimate. I personally don't care about the shots fired and am just presenting this to give some perspective on where the guy is coming from.
With regard to Tony's booking, I think he needs to be less swayed by the people he is a fan of and trust his gut more. Whenever we've had booking decisions that are clearly Tony doing something cool that is a novel idea of his, or a dream match, dream booking of his, it's turned out amazingly well. But in the instances that it feels like top wrestlers have been in Tony's ear advocating for themselves over the interests of the promotion, the shit goes flat. Which is better than what has happened in other promotions with bookers listening to top talent, but it does seem to suck a lot of air out of the room even if Tony doesn't go full WCW or Dixie Carter and give top talent their own creative control.
8:35 back in the attitude era, there was a decent 'Raw is War" logo t-shirt.
Wednesday Night Dynamite is the only must-watch every week for me. Collision & Rampage are secondary shows and I catch up on those later. The big things will happen on Dynamite.
Tony Khan is learning this business as he goes. He’s been a diehard fan for most of his life and his passion is cool, but there is an element of inexperience and immaturity that comes with that. As a whole, as we look back to the 2019 Tony khan and the Tony khan of today, things are on the up and although he may continue to be somewhat immature, he knows far better how to run his company and use all the tools in his toolkit.
He needs to care more about women’s wrestling though, that part is somewhat inexcusable. It’s far better right now than it has been the last number of years, but it’s still not at all where it could be.
Ah, Toni Storm's catch phrase: "Chin up, tits out, and watch for the shoe!" She's definitely one of my favorite. One of the interesting matches that I've seen, not sure if other promotions did it, but at Blood And Guts it was two rings pushed together in a sort of "double cage". That was a fun one to watch.
Tony Khan is an amazing person who has taken the time to come out and thank the fans for attending at every live AEW event I’ve attended. He’s growing as a boss, I think sometimes he can be disorganized, with almost a perception of “too many cooks in the kitchen”
@@pleaseshutup7053 if you noticed in the comment you responded to I never called him a good boss. I said he’s growing as a boss. Still new to this just like the company. I appreciate your opinion but read what you respond to before pressing send, cause you look kinda silly right now.
Tony never killed anyone unlike Vince McMahon
@@pleaseshutup7053so you’re going based of what one wrestler has said?
@@pleaseshutup7053 so do you believe the shit you're talking. Or do you want to be the cool virgin?
@@pleaseshutup7053 you’re definitely a WWE fan and it shows lol
I found your channel after All In and I absolutely love your vibe, no tribalism just a wrestling fan. EZ FOLLOW.
Welcome home!
Game Changer Wrestling is having a show in Detroit on September 14th. Tickets are $35 for GA and it is so worth it. As a wrestling fan you will love it even if you know nothing about it. They are the spiritual successor to ECW in that they are now the premiere indie/hardcore wrestling company. I went to my first show and it was one of the best experiences because I was so close to the the action and hardcore wrestling is fun.
I’d caution that if you don’t like blood (I think you’ve mentioned such before) that it might be slightly jarring.
I read this and thought "Wow, a company I have not heard of" then saw the ECW comparison and thought "Huh, who are these guys?", then I realized it's GCW and I felt stupid lol. I don't think I have seen it spelled out before, I always just see "GCW"! I don't think I had know clue what the company was actually called!
I actually think AEW is the spiritual successor to ECW in terms of wrestling focused, very layered stories that develop slowly over time. I have nothing against GCW btw, it's not a criticism, but I think people think of ECW as just hardcore wrestling when it was so much more. Paul Heyman even said that if AEW had survived it would have changed into basically early ROH. Which isn't surprising given Gabe Sapolsky is a Heyman protégé
About Tony, overall i like Tony Khans booking. I think it’s inconsistent at times, but can be great at others. About all his actions regarding WWE, I don’t like it, at all.
but i realized that i can separate that from enjoying the very enjoyable product his company produces
Blood and guts is pretty unique in that it's a team cage match where the objective isn't escape or even a pin fall, it's "submit or surrender" you need to get your opponent to either say I quit or tap out.
It's not unique at all! It's just WarGames from back in the day that they changed the name for because WWE owns the WarGames name! There's also WWE WarGames that is a copy of the old WarGames but apparently(I have not paid attention until reading comments pointing it out) has no roof.
Dynamite > Collision > Rampage
I would suggest to see only Dynamite for a while, because as a new fan all of it would become overwhelming.
The last few weeks of Collision have actually been fun! It gave me a WCW Saturday Night vibe, with the smaller venue, but it is soley focused on the wrestling. Dynamite is more story driven, though it still have plenty of wrestling. It depends what you look for more... the story aspect of wrestling, or just to see some good ol fashion rasslin matches.
My take is that Tony Khan is one of the more decent human beings who's ever been in charge of a wrestling company. Any fair criticisms of him are focused around how he's not a "boss" or doesn't always make the right business decision. Personally, this doesn't bother me. In America we've been inundated with this idea that somehow business acumen is a moral value. I like the idea that Tony treats his employees with respect and admiration instead of trying to hold power and money over them for more authority. I think this world could use more of that, even if it means slightly less profits in the long run.
For anyone who wants to take 3 minutes: As a screenwriter I also wanted comment on AEW vs WWE's focus on storytelling...
There is this idea that WWE is more story focused than AEW. I don't think that's entirely accurate. They just tell different kinds of stories in a different way. How I would put it is this: WWE tells more dramatic prime-time television-like stories in a more up front manner. AEW tells organic and "sports" focused stories, in a subtle way. A WWE feud may commonly center around something like a romantic relationship (judgment day) or family drama/honor (like the bloodline). The McMahon family storylines used to be WAY over the top at times (IMO) and one time WWE did a custody battle ladder match for Dominik Mysterio. AEW's stories feel a little more organic and sport-like. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady had a rivalry in the NFL; as time went on each of their matchups kind of told a different story. This wasn't because one of them attacked the other's family or slept with their wife. It was just because the competition led them to that place. But viewers at home could still relate to each competitor in a different way and attach themselves to the real-life story being told. AEW tells stores like this. Sometimes it goes to a further place and someone will invoke family members or romantic relationships, etc. But it's always coming from the original place of competition - that's the root and it grows from there. WWE is also much clearer in their narrative. They make sure you understand every beat. AEW will be very subtle and *very* long-term in their beats. I actually prefer this, because it feels more realistic and it feels rewarding as a loyal viewer. But the downside is that casual fans can't grasp what's happening. This is why people who tune into Dynamite once in a blue moon, feel like it's just a bunch of matches with no stories. To really understand and emotionally invest in AEW's stories, it's extremely beneficial to be aware of what's been happening the last 4-12 months. WWE conversely, tells stories in a way that a new viewer can latch on and understand within a week or two. Neither one is right or wrong. They're just different.
As another comparison, network television series like Ghosts, or ER, or Chicago Fire will tell a mini-story every week within a larger story. This is so long-term watchers don't get disengaged, but new viewers can cling to the one-episode story arc that's happening and still engage in the show. Then there's cable or streaming shows like The Bear, Breaking Bad, etc. These shows aren't really made to be watched one week and not the next. They mean to tell long term stories that reward watching the bulk of the series. If you jump in the middle and expect to understand every beat, you'll be disappointed. You have to keep watching for a minute. WWE is primetime network TV (more popular and accessible, with clearer one-episode beats) while AEW is cable/streaming (more long-term, subtle, and character focused, rewarding their most loyal viewers over those tuning in once or twice).
I personally am a way bigger AEW fan at this point. But there's a reason WWE is way more popular and profitable and I'm not saying it's a garbage product - it's just not for me anymore and that's okay. But, as a storyteller, I do resent the idea that AEW doesn't tell stories. I would argue they tell much more complex and rewarding stories. They're just not quite as accessible as WWE's.
As you said, Tony treats his employees with admiration... which is just so frickin' weird. Treating employees with respect is one thing. But to genuinely be a fan of them, and not as part of some sales manager gimmick, is just totally weird in the modern workplace. But also neat.
Good points on the story telling. Essentially, from my casual viewer experience, WWE storytelling works on a one-month to three-months cycle. Wrestler A and B have an issue, it'll get hashed out in the next PLE coming up in a month. If all goes well, there'll be a rematch and then a rubber match. If it bombs, it's just a one month story and if it works, it can get extended with more people getting into the mix. Once the dust clears, everyone goes on with their new dance partners. This was especially the case during the WWE-monopoly era, With Cena have 3 PPV feuds.
Hangman vs Swerve is such a massive anomaly, where Hangman logically doesn't let go of his beef with Swerve. Like you said, knowing the background helps a lot. I had little regard for Hangman at first, but he might well be my favorite wrestler of all time now. Because he went from this nameless midcarder trying to (unsuccessfully) hang with legends like Peak AEW Jericho, to becoming the lovable drunk millennial cowboy when he broke from the Elite and hung around with the Dark Order, essentially becoming the main character of AEW, to gaining recognition as a "serious" contender against the likes of Moxley, and now this BLOOD FEUD with Swerve, where now, HE is the petulant child. It's been a 5 year journey and as much as you gotta love Swerve, I'm still rootin' for the cowboy.
Same to a lesser degree with Fuego. Even Britt, whom we saw as a lackluster face and a heel who was awkward on the mic, to becoming a top promo gal, and of course, her relationship with Shiovane.
This kind of long term, subtle story telling isn't great for hooking in casual fans, which is why you need your bite-sized Ospreay vs MJF type feuds, but gosh are the long storylines great at creating lifelong fandoms.
I watch Dynamite every week, Rampage whenever they have matches I'm interested in (like the one this week on 8/30/24) and Collision when I have free time. If nothing else, I watch the yt clips they post.
They also have cage matches but they're different from WWE's. Escaping does nothing. You HAVE to win via pinfall or submission.
As far as WWE folk, I hope we can get Seth Rollins for a bit. I think he fits the atmosphere and match type really well.
Also, hard love TK. Dude brought wrestling back to life and helped give power to the wrestlers. I like how he's a dork and a die hard fan.
Regarding interesting match rulesets, this isn't exactly a ruleset but I think the Continental Classic is the best thing AEW has ever done is the Continental Classic These tournaments are similar to tournaments only had in Japanese Companies and it was a breath of fresh to see one on weekly western TV. the first one was last year and it was a month long round robin tournament with points 3 points added for a win and 1 point added for a draw (all matches are contested under a rule set of a twenty minute time limit and a very strict rule against outside interference)
It featured 12 wrestlers wrestling matches in their "league" (a grouping of 6 wrestlers) who then had a match to determine the league winner.
I loved this format for a few reasons
1. It gave a fan a consistent group of wrestlers to follow as the league matches were every week, often with a big roster, AEW struggles with keeping some wrestlers on tv regularly for a regular amount of time
2. It kept people wrestling - This is probably controversial among some fans but I tend to think that the majority of talking in wrestling hurts my immersion and makes me want to watch regular TV, wrestlers are not good actors generally and so it really helps have important matches with clear stakes. (the prize for the tournament last year was 3 championships at once as Eddie Kingston but his two titles on the line in the tournament, in addition to the tournament championship.) The majority of wrestlers are best at telling stories with their body and not with their voice.
3. It allowed multiple stories to be happening at once and interweaving with each other, Danielson had an injured eye, Swerve was a rising star trying to make a name for himself, Eddie was fighting for his life to make good on the gamble he made putting up the titles, and all these stories matter to all the other ones because wins and loses have real stakes that are clear because of the point system.
Tony Khan before the tournament said it was a big gamble and asked fans who wanted sports based presentation to "put their money where their month was. At the end he concluded that fans had indeed done that and it was a big ratings success, announcing another for the next year. Although I'm a little bit worried because no announcement has been made so far this year, but I expect it will be in November and build to the December PPV like last year.
Hope this gets read, I've basically written the old testament lol.
For a WWE comparison:
Dynamite is Raw
Collision is Smackdown
Rampage is Main Event
Ring of Honor is NXT
It's funny that Tony may say or do things online, but they are things Vince would say or do on a raw back in the day taking shots at WCW. To me, Tony is a good dude. It's like there are different coaching styles. Some are Iron Fist rulers, and Some are motivators. No one style is better. He's a promotor, So times I think people forget what promotors actually do. Triple H doesn't have to promote online because of the built-in fan base they already have. Overall if you like the product That's really all that matters. Worrying about the owner/booker is really only a problem for the IWC. Say away from that lol
The closest thing they do to a gimmick ppv is Double or Nothing. They do a Stadium Stampede or Anarchy in the Arena match there every year.
They also do a special episode of Dynamite every year called Blood and Guts which is basically Wargames.
The Casino Gauntlet is probably their most fun original match type, along with the Stampede/Anarchy matches.
They also still do Pure Rules matches in ROH like you saw it that old Nigel vs Joe match on your Patreon.
Good on you to point out Pure Rules, hadn’t thought of that one when I made my comment.
I commented on one of the responses below, but i wanted to add. Re: gimmick matches. AEW has to walk a fine line here, they have to be innovators but still present something as familiar. For instance if AEW did a royal rumble, nomatter how good it was, all that would be said is "they're just copying WWE". So instead AEW tries to focus on finding a different take. For instance, the casino gauntlet match that was just at All In, it takes the "new entrant every x minutes" from the RR but changed it to a single pinball at any point to win. They have Blood and Guts which is essentially a WarGames match, but using the old JCP format with a roof on the cage and the only way to win is a submission. The Anarchy in the arena and Stadium stamped matches both were born out of their time with an empty arena during COVID. You could argue that their Owen Hart tourney is basically their version of King of the Ring. But i think most fans would agree that they don't want AEW to copy hell in a cell or elimination chamber, HiaC doesn't have much room for innovation and EC is a bit too... WWEish... Overboard production...
They haven't done a "lights out" match in a while, so I'd love for them too bring that back again.
Thankfully they only did the mimosa mayhem once.
I do think they should bring back the barbed wire exploding ring deathmatch, this time with better pyro for the end.
One thing i will say about Tony, for the most part you can ignore him as a "character" you aren't missing any storyline or world building if you never read a single tweet he ever makes. The few times he matters to the story will be brief and mostly focused on someone else. He doesn't want to be a character, but in this day and age we don't fall for the "WWF president Jack Tunney" schtick anymore. We know he's the owner, so when an announcement requires his authority he does it, but for storyline he often has someone else do it. The EVPs, the young bucks play authority figures, Christopher Daniels "honorary EVP" is another. Often it's Tony Schiavone saying "I'm being told that Tony Khan has made the match official" or something like that.
TK is a wrestling nerd that just wants to entertain us all, but he's also a guy who sometimes gets defensive when he feels that his company is being attacked. Sometimes he goes overboard, but without going into it to deeply, WWE likes to throw it's weight around in ways that aren't always visible to us, and this feel like personal attacks to him.
Tony is a bit of a goober, but he's not an awful person. He's pretty sincere, he's a legit fan of the industry and someone that generally tries to do good by his talent. He isn't perfect by any means, but compared to his contemporaries that have run any of the major promotions over the years he's by and large vastly better as a boss than most. As a booker? Ehh...I think he needs to delegate booking duties to some other people. Trying to book 5 hours of TV every week and with how DEADSET he can be on a story going a certain path, he can end up being his own worst enemy sometimes. He can book some bangers for sure, but you can tell sometimes when he's struggling.
As far as WWE themed PPVs that I'd like to see in AEW? I can't really think of any. They kind of already have their own answers to many of them as it is. I think AEW could DEFINITELY use a PPV that focuses primarily on the women's division, so something like Evolution could be great. Be a fun way to get both AEW and ROH sets of women's championships some eyes and talent from both rosters to really let them shine like they deserve.
But to answer your question on what you should watch on the weekly? Dynamite is the best choice to keep track of most of the main storylines and feuds. If you have time, then watch Collision as there's also storylines and feuds that happen mainly on there on a week to week basis. Rampage you can generally skip and just check out the spoilers for since it's usually taped directly after Dynamite wraps up.
Also there's usually special themed episodes throughout the year for all 3 of the weekly shows. Next month for instance has the two-part special Dynamite: Grand Slam and Collision: Grand Slam. Dynamite: Grand Slam is gonna have a World Title match, so it'll be a must watch come September 25th. So that's something to keep in mind as well.
congrats on 10k subs!
thank you!
One of us! I am also a new fan but have gravitated towards AEW over WWE lately. Your assumption is correct -if you can only watch one of the shows, watch Dynamite.
The build to All-In would have been a good month to watch all the shows live, I like a lot of the All-Out card but it doesn't have enough time to breath during the build-up and as you said, the PPV's aren't exactly cheap and idk how you feel about another 50 bucks two weeks after All-In. Getting invested in the build-up to wrestledream (oct. 12th.) is my recommendation. Both Danielson and Swerve are going to be on that card barring injury because it is in Tacoma and they are both local and I don't think this Hangman Swerve angle is going to be blown-off at All-Out
Tony isn't Vince and without him there wouldn't be a second wrestling promotion on weekly television - for those two things alone he is alright by me. His story lines can be a bit of a mess and he has a habit of sticking too many irons in the fire, but when it's good, it is really good.
The only major criticism I have of Tony Kahn with his booking style is he doesn’t change a storyline when an external force stops it (like when someone gets hurt). It’s either put it on pause or sweep it under the rug until that problem is over. It’s only a few times I’ve seen him adapt to something, but it very rarely happens.
A lot of people have answered already, but I’ll add my two cents:
Question 1: Which show to watch?
- Dynamite (Wednesday night) is the must-see program every week with most of the big matches and storyline progression.
- Rampage (Friday night) is a smaller show - more of a way to give a spotlight to lesser-seen guys and give them a chance to build their character. I usually skip this unless there is something I’m looking forward to on the card
- Collision (Saturday night) is the second main show in the week, although I wouldn’t put it as much of a priority as dynamite. It’s usually more wrestling focused than storyline focused. It’s not must-see for me, but check it out if you have the time.
Although it isn’t a 1-to-1 mirror of WWE’s programming, I’d equate dynamite to raw, rampage to NXT and collision to smackdown (although AEW doesn’t have a brand split like WWE does).
Question 2: When is the next PPV:
We have All Out in two weeks (7th Sept) - the gap between All In and All Out is a lot shorter than other gaps in the year. The next PPV after that is Wrestledream (12th Oct), although we have Grand Slam at the end of September which is basically a bigger dynamite show.
Question 3: Merch:
A reason why people wear AEW merch instead I feel is because AEW has a lot more of a cult following than WWE. AEW is more of the underdog as WWE has really dominated the wrestling market for a good 25 years now, so people are just quite enthusiastic to show off their love for a new company doing well. I think you hit the nail on the head with the whole pride thing.
Question 4: Gimmick matches:
So there is the dog collar match, casino gauntlet and stadium stampede that you have mentioned.
There’s also:
Blood and Guts - very similar to WarGames if you’ve watched that. Two rings, in a cage, members of each team come out periodically.
Royal Rampage- Similar to a royal rumble, with two rings. The winner of each ring then fights, winner getting a title shot.
Casino ladder match and Casino battle royale - happen every year. Have a “Joker” entrant which is usually a good surprise.
Question 5: Gimmicky PPV’s:
There aren’t really gimmicky PPV’s per se, except for blood and guts which is a dynamite special. There are also tournaments which will culminate at PPV’s such as the Owen Hart cup and the continental classic (although I’m not too sure if that one is going to be a yearly thing or just a one-off). Gimmicky matches happen, but the shows aren’t really as built around it as much as WWE does.
Anything in WWE I’d like to see in AEW? I think AEW has done a really good job of having similar events to WWE while still maintaining some originality. The casino gauntlet is looking to be the royal rumble equivalent and blood and guts is very similar to WarGames, so there is nothing I am really desperate for. I’d always enjoy a royal rumble though!
Question 6: Tony Khan:
Yeah, I understand. I think Tony and the AEW creative team are very good at booking, but he does have a sort of underdog mentality, where he will jab at WWE while WWE just gets on with it - which is only going to alienate new viewers. Tony as a booker is great at building to dream matches on PPV’s and I couldn’t fault him too much as of late.
Anyways - hope you enjoy AEW!
Dynamite is the flagship show where the A-stories play out and the main talents are featured regularly.
Collision is the B-show with more on an in-ring focus. It also tends to have more of a rotating cast of talents that aren't necessarily used week to week. Big story beats don't happen often on this show, but when they do they usually trickle onto social media fairly soon after the fact.
Rampage is honestly just an hour block of 3-4 matches with maybe a backstage interview or two sprinkled in. You will never miss anything major happening on this show, it's kind of just something to put on if you're still jonesing for some more wrestling after Smackdown ends
I hope this doesn't come across as tribalistic, but a lot of the hardcore AEW fans wear the generic logo merch because they do find a sense of identity in the brand and take pride in being part of what they consider the counter-culture of the mainstream pro wrestling community
Finally, I would describe TK as an eccentric man who's very passionate about his work, and occasionally let's his personal feelings get the better of him which lead him to saying some silly stuff every now and again. He's a well-meaning guy and puts on a great show for the more niche market in wrestling, but he is also the number one reason for the ongoing struggles with AEW's overall perception
Tony Khan needs to step back from being deeply involved in the creative and get off Twitter too. He's a bit of an idiot but not a bad person.
Part of the reason why AEW lost momentum is because Vince was punted. Not only was Vince destroying the product, but he is also an absolutely despicable person. Should be in jail tbh.
1. Watch Dynamite because it's the flagship, like RAW. Collision is the B-show, but can sometimes be better, particularly when going up against WWE PPVs. Rampage is entirely skippable for a casual fan, mostly developmental.
2. AEW fans are very grateful for AEW's existence. Wrestling fans groaned for competent competition (so, not TNA) for near 20 years. So, we treasure that AEW exists and thrives. Hence, our love for AEW merch, rather than individual wrestler merch.
3. There are a lot of gimmick matches in AEW, but no PPVs that showcase them yearly, such as a MITB or Rumble. They just happen. As far as I'm aware, two Casino Royale matches have taken place this year. One you watched at All In, the other on a random Dynamite.
4. Tony Khan. Some people don't like his recent booking, but I've enjoyed it and think he's doing a great job running the company, making big signings and putting on stellar PPVs. You can tell he's a wrestling nerd. Some people resent him for that alone. As a fellow wrestling nerd 25+ years deep, I obviously find his approach to wrestling endearing and kind of baffling. He's the Walt Disney of pro wrestling. Has a vision, puts his money where his mouth is, and tries his hardest to give something special and magical to his customers a little tired of the same old fairgrounds. As for his anti-WWE sentiments, I enjoy all the drama. Reminds me of the 90s WCW/WWF beef. Entertaining!
All Out to Wrestledream feels like a great journey to understand what AEW is all about especially with the rumour that Bryan Danielson will drop the title at Wrestledream you'll see the start and culmination of a story arc. You can leave Rampage as thats more showcase matches Dynamite is must watch
D, something I thought you might like to try out:
When I first got into wrestling, I picked a random PPV that looked good, and then would start from there & watch every PPV after it, in order.
A really quick, fun way to get caught up on the history of things for any wrestling company (without having to watch 100s of weekly TV episodes)!
I think Bleacher Report has all of AEW’s PPVs, and of course Peacock has all of the WWE, WCW, and ECW’s PPVs
This is the best time to do it, the Dynamite after All In is building up new stories for their All Out ppv
Rampage is usually closer to Main Event than it is to Raw or Smackdown. Dynamite is the #1 show, Collision is #2 and every week it tends to be a gamble on if the show is important or not, but Rampage is basically never can't-miss. This would actually be a good week to watch Collision, there was a lot that happened at All In and not everything got followed up on Dynamite, so people are thinking Collision will follow up on the other things that got missed.
-
AEW shirts are more common at live events. At the shows I've been to there's a lot of AEW-centric merch at the merch stands while the more specific stuff you usually have to find online. I think that plays into why you see more AEW logo shirts, especially in crowds where people might go to the merch stand, buy a shirt with the AEW logo on it, and then put it on over the shirt they wore to the show.
For the AEW shirt thing, the logo just looks cool, but also its like a comradery thing. When I wear my AEW shirt, I have so many random people comment or just randomly start talking to me about AEW.
You kinda covered most of the special matches, but I’d say some interesting ones they have are the Texas Death Matches which are basically hardcore matches except you can only win by submission or keeping your opponent down for a ten count, and also the Pure Rules match, though that ones moreso a Ring of Honor match, which has several stipulations including only having 3 rope breaks allowed, no closed fists, and in a title match the belt can change hand by count out or disqualification. As far as gimmick PPVs, there’s none really for AEW, closing thing to that is Blood and Guts which is only a TV special, and there’s also Battle of the Belts which is quarterly and usually is just an hour of various title matches.
I was waiting for someone to mention Texas Death Matches. That Hangman vs Swerve match at Full Gear 2023 was insane
speaking as someone who has been on aew since day 1 its important to point out that the state of wrestling when it started was DIRE, Tony is a great guy that might be on the spectrum but none of his shots are ever out of nowhere its basically all in response to petty stuff wwe does during their pressers tc. as for the shows you have 2 main ones being dynamite which is booked by Tony and Omega then you have collision which is booked by Danielson and Tony. lastly the merch is just kinda bad, most of it if its not commissioned from fan artists in the community is really lazy
Dynamite is probably the way to go if you want to dip your toes in. If you want to get a good slice of one of the best AEW story lines, find the "Better Than You Bay Bay" summary from the AEW youtube channel. The aftermath of the FTR match in that storyline was one of the first times Wrestling gave me the feels.
This is my favorite arc on this channel: watching dporticus slowly become an AEW fan… love to see it !!!
For your question about the AEW branded merch, it'd maybe be better to look more internationally to see the same kind of thing happening in context. For example; In the UK and Japan you'd regularly see people wearing Revpro, Progress, NJPW, AJPW, Noah, Stardom, AEW, (among many other companies) branded merch at shows. And you will often see other brands, and those brands wrestlers' merch being worn at AEW shows.
So with AEW's founding being that they were created to bring the spirit of the indie wrestling scene to the world with a bigger stage and budget, AEW fans have tended to be a bit more of the type of wrestling fans who'll partake in (and be influenced by) the broader international pro-wrestling culture. So it's not too suprising that they carry on that culture of supporting and representing the companies that they like, into "AEW culture".
Whereas historically a lot of WWE fans who've grown up in the 2000's and 2010's (but obviously not all) tend more likely to be 'one company' fans, primarily because WWE themselves generally wouldn't even acknowledge that the wider world of wrestling was even a thing. So why would you wear promotion branded merch if you're really only into (or maybe even know of) the one promotion?
Things at WWE seem to be changing for the better under triple H's leadership, but given that WWE (and to an extent, their fanbase) were so insular with regards to the wider world of wrestling, its no real suprise that they've tend to do things their own way and perhaps haven't meshed as well with the wider culture.
I think this is why, now that you're starting to branch out more from WWE into the wider culture of pro-wrestling, this is something that's standing out as a noticeable difference fror you.
Love this episode. Praises and criticisms were well thought out. To answer each question:
5:28 The trend of buying merch just to celebrate a wrestling promotion goes back to ECW in the 90s. BC of its counter-culture reputation, wearing an ECW shirt was a proclamation that you weren't just a wrestling fan, but that you were a hardcore fan (both extremely devoted, and a fan of hardcore wrestling). Having AEW merch is a show of support to the alternative wrestling company looking to make a mark on pop culture.
8:40 Seriously, if you take nothing else from this comment, please Please PLEASE go back and watch a retrospective on Timeless Toni Storm. I think you'll really like it. It's one of the best character arcs of the decade, and you'll get the chin, t*ts, shoe, references.
9:05 AEW will occasionally have matches far more violent than what would be seen on WWE. Arguably the best of these was the Texas Deathmatch between Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. AEW also attempted to do an Exploding Ring Barbwire Deathmatch once, and it was incredible, up until the moment the ring was supposed to explode.
11:58 Overall, I think Tony Khan is a great guy. He very much like any other wrestling fan you'd come across, but his family is worth billions of dollars. (His father used to take him to ECW shows in the 90s when they were performing out of a bingo hall in Philadelphia). But yes, as stated, the one thing he can't seem to help himself from doing is making criticisms of WWE on public forums, and often in a tacky manner. While the company was founded and had great early success by being Anti-WWE (coming off of a decade of dwindling storylines and booking), the time has long since past to let go of only marketing the company by saying "WWE sucks" and they should just focus on their own shows. (Sidebar: To play Devil's advocate, Tony's hatred towards WWE is a bit personal. A couple yrs back, when his mother was deathly ill, WWE used that situation to try and poach talent while he was distracted. While he did allow William Regal to return to WWE conditionally bc his son was still with the promotion, he felt it was beyond distasteful. But I still feel he should take the high road and avoid his tacky criticisms for the very reasons you stated in this great video)
The only match type I can think of that isn’t in WWE is a “Lights Out” match, it’s basically a death match but it always ends the show and AEW “isnt” financially responsible for whatever happens in the match. And they might slightly dim the lights but I’m not completely sure about that.
To give you a quick history of the shows.
Dynamite is THE AEW show. it is the show that has been on TV the longest for them and is their "Raw" so to speak (tho it's only 2 hours...it only goes 3 if it's a special event).
Collision started last year as the B show, and it was around the time Punk was coming back from "injury". I quote that because I don't think we'll every truly know what all happened. It was originally believed that the show was created specifically to get Punk and the Bucks away from each other. Others believe it was coming anyways and it just happened to play itself into a way to allow them to not be near each other. But at the end of the day, it does feel like a slightly less important show than Dynamite.
Rampage used to hold...a little importance. There used to be AEW Dark where dark matches were put on UA-cam. Now Rampage has kind of become the "Dark Match" show. It's taped after Dynamite and not much outside of just lowercard matches happen on it. There are still some good matches on it from time to time, don't get me wrong. But they tend to feel less important more often than not.
Overall, I'd start with Dynamite and Collision. If you feel that Collision just isn't it for you, don't feel bad if you stop watching it. It is more match focused than story line focused.
Just watch Dynamite so you don’t burn yourself out 😅 Dynamite has like 90% of the stories
Rampage occasionally has a one good must see match
Collision does continue storylines but they usually get recapped on the following Dynamite since Collision is more “In Ring” focused kind of like a New Japan Pro Wrestling
If you wanna stick to only two tho it’s Dynamite and Collision
@@pleaseshutup7053 yeah Dynamite has most of the AEW storylines
@@pleaseshutup7053 I’m talking about AEW’s storylines in specific
90% of the program isn’t taken up by storyline
I’m saying 90% of AEW storylines are on Dynamite
I'm glad to see you're interested in the weekly shows. I'm new to your channel, but I really enjoyed your All In video. I've been watching wrestling regularly since 2009. I've watched just about every AEW PPV starting with their debut, and I've caught nearly every Dynamite and Collision since 2022. Here are my two cents:
-If you can only watch one, AEW Dynamite is the show to watch. Every major storyline leading up to a Pay-Per-View is covered on Dynamite, and it's also guaranteed to have the biggest matches of the week. It's most comparable to something like RAW.
In that regard, Collision is Smackdown. It has a few wrestlers who mostly wrestle on that show, and it's a lot more focused around having a solid collection of matches, and it has several storylines are specific to the weekly show and never make it to Pay-Per-View. Rampage is mainly focused on booking wrestlers who don't make it onto the main two shows. It can be an afterthought at times, but it's usually more important than its closest WWE equivalent, Main Event.
-You nailed on the head why people wear AEW shirts. I think there is some element of pride, but it's mostly a conversation starter. You're looking out for other AEW fans, or people who don't know about AEW but are interested in wrestling. I also think that it helps that AEW has a lot less wrestlers who are household names versus WWE, so it's a safer bet that people will have heard of the company over guys like Kenny Omega or Hangman Adam Page.
-This one's tough. I feel like the Casino Gauntlet has my favorite aspects of the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, and they already have an equivalent to Money in the Bank with the Face of the Revolution ladder match. I think the only gimmick type I could ask for is a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. I would want Adam Copeland or Christian Cage to be the ones to bring it back, however, so it's up to them if they still want to do those matchtypes.
-Not to go to deeply behind the scenes, but I've mostly heard that Tony Khan is really well liked a boss, and I feel like with AEW him, The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega helped wrestling as a whole by forcing a move to consistent salaries. I can't hate the guy. I can understand if people are taken aback by some of his comments, but personally, I like him. He's kind of a nerd, but he's a nerd with a genuine love of pro wrestling and a passion for forcusing on all types of wrestlers and talent, and giving them a platform. I think his 'outbursts' come sometimes out of not wanting to be misconstrued, and most of the time from the fact he's a counterculture wrestling fans. He's outspoken about his love of old-school ECW as a kid, and I can tell you that ECW had a very similar 'we'll put up or shut up' attitude.
I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos. 👍
1. Order of importance for the shows are Dynamite/Collision/Rampage. All have at the very least decent wrestling, but dynamite is the flagship show where the major storylines take place. The other 2 shows have storylines as well, but they usually don't get as much attention, primarily because of the day and time they air. The story behind Collision's creation originally involved the rosters kinda being split, but a few months after the premier the reason for that split was fired, so the shows don't really have those same feelings making them distinct from each other anymore.
2. I think AEW offers a lot more merch with the company brand along with their talent's merch, because it is a start up company trying to create traction, and if they're offered, plenty of people are going to buy it (myself included). The more people wear it, the more it's gonna be seen.
3. The Casino Gauntlet match debuted this year, Ospreay won the first 2 to earn a shot at the International and World titles respectively, and it has been met with critical acclaim. At the first Double or Nothing, one of the first matches they had was the Casino Battle Royal, which is similar to the royal rumble, except most of the wrestlers enter in groups instead of one at a time. There was also the Casino Ladder match; as you can imagine, it was a ladder match where wrestlers entered in staggered intervals until one of them grabbed the poker chip and earned a future title shot. AEW loves gambling motifs 😅. They've had some great No DQ matches but i would say their version of the Texas Deathmatch is the best, usually taking ultraviolence to new levels, either on PPV or television.
4. TK has been a wrestling fan for all his life, he's financed the entire promotion, he's surrounded by some of the best people in all levels of the industry, and sometimes people don't agree with him, it's going to happen. While he makes the final decision he does have people advising him on match outcomes. I think the talk of his booking decisions are kinda overplayed, there's a lot of talent on the roster, and most of them have to lose at one point or another in order to bring the best matches to television, and especially to PPV. As for his media presence, he's not the best in front of the camera, that's why he tries to stay off of television as often as he can. I've seen talent like Orange Cassidy and Anthony Bowens do a great job promoting shows in local markets, they're better trained to be in front of a camera.
Tony is a nice guy, weird guy but nice, he’s a good booker not a great booker. Not sure if he’s specifically bad at anything but some stories go well others don’t..some things annoy me others are fantastic.
First of all I am happy to hear that you're interested in watching more AEW. It's a fun product and you'll enjoy yourself. I would suggest starting with Dynamite as it's usually where the main storylines and the biggest names will wrestle.
Collision is more wrestling based and will feature talents from ROH or talent that aren't on Dynamite weekly. There are still storylines and you will see the big names from time to time but it's a smaller scale. Rampage is really just a solid hour of wrestling but if you skip it you won't be lost.
As for merch, I think AEW fans feel a sense of loyalty and belonging to the brand. It feels like it's our company, TK listens to fans, the entire brand feels more intimate and you get to see the wrestler's personalities more. AEW is the spiritual successor to ECW but on a larger scale. A lot of AEW fans, like myself, are long time (30 years for me) fans who got jades with the WWE product and so we feel welcome in AEW. WWE has always been more of a corporate wrestling company, even before it went public. People have never really identified with the brand in the same way they did with ECW because it's very Hollywood like. And I am not bashing WWE for that, it's just an observation.
As for TK. He is a great guy. Ignore the promoter aspect, the human being is an awesome guy who seems to have the best interest of his talent at hand. I like TK as a booker personally. If you want to see how good of a man he is, watch the Brodie Lee tribute show. Remember he is not just the booker, he's the owner so of course he will defend his product and pump it up so you watch, it's his money on the line. He has allowed his talent to be featured on WWE content but clearly not as participants in the show. Back when Steve Austin had his Broken Skull podcast specials on the WWE Network, Chris Jericho was a guest and they showed photos from AEW. Just remember that he is a promoter and he's leaning into what is already happening.
TK is someone whos a booker who swings for the fences. He doesn't go for middle of the road, he always tries to get the most out of everything, whether it be a tweet, a live interview, or a storyline. For better or worse it's led to some of the most engaging wrestling for me in years. Usually for better but definitely has done things that I don't think were great because of that mindset
Dyanmite is the must watch. Collison is much more of a straight wrestling show. Rampage is just an extra hour of Collison on a friday.
Great questions! I watched your All In video and liked it a lot and I'm glad you're getting into AEW. Wrestling is just the coolest, right?
To weigh in on some of your questions myself:
-You hit the nail on the head with the logo shirts. It's something of an underdog pride situation, like wearing a shirt of a band you love. It's a bit of an advertisement since people love spreading the word, and it stems from the independent wrestling that the company was founded upon, where a lot of local promotions have local logo merch to rep your local show pride.
-One thing you have to check out for sure when they run it again this year is the Continental Classic. It's two round robin tournaments running simultaneously over weeks of Dynamite and Collision where the winners of the two blocks meet to become the tournament winner and Continental Champion. Last year was some of the most fun to follow AEW programming of the year, because each wrestler constantly had storylines running through the whole thing as they fought for points and wins and it culminated in an awesome win for a wrestler people had been begging to get a massive win for a long time.
Another event you have to see is Blood & Guts. It's not a PPV but a major event they have on a regular Dynamite, and it's basically just a particularly violent War Games match. It's followed that same week by the Royal Rampage, which is a two-ring battle royal.
I'm not sure if there are any major gimmick matches from WWE I would bring to AEW because I feel like with the Casino Gauntlet they've found their own unique version of the Royal Rumble (which I love) and Money In The Bank, and it was sorely missing before. Maybe they could do their own version of the Iron Survivor match from NXT? That would be cool.
-I like Tony Khan a lot. He's someone who grew up around the same era of wrestling fandom as I did, and sometimes it feels like he books things me and others would fantasy book online just to tickle the old guard - no one else would have had CM Punk enter to Miseria Cantare or have Bryan Danielson use The Final Countdown in what could have been his last ever match. The man treats wrestling history with so much respect and because of that he expects the fans to be as detail-oriented as he is. If you're into the details of the show and the history of wrestling, that's a huge plus and makes his booking and storytelling super rewarding, but it certainly can be a little overwhelming. That said, part of the fun of wrestling to me has always been looking up people I'm unfamiliar with or being captivated by a new face, and I think that's his mentality as well. His strengths come also from a deep love of the athletic feats that happen from bell-to-bell. I saw the "trust me" comment as one asking people to enjoy the match from a physical standpoint (and it was absolutely super fun in that regard) while also promising that a major story pivot would happen in the match (and without spoiling too much, it did).
Maybe it's because I became a wrestling nerd in high school but I just find him funny. I think he's just trying to say things sometimes to get noticed as the underdog, and he can go a little overboard, but he has a sense of humor about himself and he knows he's a little bit of an awkward nerd. He's not always the most professional but it's very clear he loves what he's doing and has so much respect for the talent on his shows. When he's on fire, he lets the wrestlers fly their flags rather than micromanage them and I think that's awesome. You get a little bit of everything on an AEW show, and All In showed that - blood feuds, party matches, hardcore fights, even comedy in the preshow and emotional athletic storytelling in the main event.
I like that Tony is willing to bring in outside sources to shape storylines. He compares it to a football team - he's surrounded by experts in various fields and at various positions and hears them all out, and it's his job to pick what he thinks is the best and what he wants to turn into a TV product. I also like that he is influenced by more than JUST classic wrestling. The recent Toni Storm vs. Mariah May angle was cool because Tony Khan was inspired by the classic movie All About Eve, and he went to Toni and Mariah to discuss the concept with them, and when none of his current booking team understood the references, he spoke with someone in the office who did - RJ City - and together with the wrestlers formed what was honestly the best AEW story possibly ever.
All Out is looking amazing, so I hope you get a chance to watch it as well as the setup shows. Like I say, AEW is a wrestling show that rewards investment, and it's exciting to be part of that. Thanks for the fun and understanding, and I hope this reply helped. :)
Enjoyed the video! To answer some questions as an aew day 1 fan: 1. Dynamite is the one to watch followed by collision if you have time, rampage isn't must see but has cool matches sometimes. 2. The merch in my experience going to 5 live shows is pretty weak with variety, so that could be why they simply choose the aew logo. I'd buy online if looking for merch. 3. I'd like the royal rumble to come over. I think that'd be fun. 4. Tony khan i dont mind he is very passionate about wrestling. As someone whose followed the company I honestly stay off social media except threads after aew shows because dynamite or a ppv could be amazing and a majority of people (not aew fans) comment on facebook, x and instagram to crap all over it. So i would say never listen to social media about an aew show, always watch for yourself. And the "wrestling news" seems to always run negative stories, which if I was tony khan would bug me. Sorry for the long explanation.
Dynamite is kinda the Only show I watch on a weekly basis. Collision and Rampage I catch on social media. The t-shirt thing is kinda funny you bring it up because I’m so use to it now that I don’t notice it. I think the reason being is the lack of Merch at the venue. I’ve been to AEW since one of the first few episodes and to one recently. The merch hasn’t really improved so I’m assuming that it would probably be the case. Match types is something that isn’t too different from WWE, but with only a few that are constant like the Casino Battle Royal or the Casino Ladder match which gives you a chance at one of the three major men’s titles. The Exploding Barbwire match has only happened once and might not happen again so not important. The Blood and Guts Aka WarGames match it’s the same as in WWE just with a top to the cage. But just recently as you saw at All In the Casino All In Match is AEW’s first own match type to hit a home run so expect to see it ever year. So about Tony Kahn honestly he is a genuine as it gets. Every show he comes out to the crowd to greet them and tell them how appreciative he is to them showing up and how great the show will be. Tony does get the tendency to be defensive over AEW for the fact of how much unusually amount of hate it gets. We don’t know truly know what happens behind the scenes but WWE has been around for a long time and they have certain tactics to hurt other company’s. It’s honestly not a big problem since they both do it to each other so don’t get hung up on what Tony says. One thing I will say since you’re new. I’ve been a fan of wrestling since 1997. So I fell out of love for it in 2016 in WWE. 2019 was the worst year possible for WWE but then AEW came around. The WWE you fell in love with today has gotten better because of competition that AEW brings. Something that’s been lacking. I’ll always be thankful to the Young Bucks, Omega, Cody, and Tony Kahn for bringing this back to us. So I understand that people don’t like Kahn, but He fell in love with the business just like you and me.
I love to hear this. I've been watching AEW since the first Double or Nothing in 2019. I remember the Being The Elite UA-cam Series leading up to AEW.
1. The 3 shows of Dynamite (2 Hours) / Rampage (1 Hour) / Collision (2 Hours)
Dynamite being the primary show and Rampage being initially a bonus show.
Collision is just over a year old now but essentially is also a primary show.
Rampage used to have better matches than you'd anticipate in an hour long show.
Order of importance would be Dynamite, Collision, Rampage
2. Oh I know a thing or 2 about Merch (I have a video on AEW's merch and one coming tomorrow of WWE's)
A lot of people's favorite merch would be moreso a reference to their favorite wrestlers or literally have the wrestler on it, but a lot of people have taken a form of pride in being a fan of the #2 Wrestling promotion in the world, the alternative. WWE has logo merch as well, but they have so many hats and it's been so much time it's different. (Both logos are very clean) There are a select few WWE fans that are disgusted at even the existence of AEW though... so they could be rubbing that in their face. NJPW fans also wear logo merch a ton.
3. AEW has forged a gang of their own match types (Casino Battle Royale, Casino Tag Team Royale, Casino Ladder Match, Casino Gauntlet Match, Royal Rampage, Anarchy in the Arena, Stadium Stampede) all with their own specified rules (We don't need to talk about the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match)
The Casino Gauntlet is likey the most creative and perfectly fresh new match type in the last few decades (I have a video on the Casino Gauntlet Match as well)
Although they don't have any PPVs based around specific matches like Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber or MITB, other than Blood & Guts (which is usually a special Dynamite episode not a PPV)
AEW Double or Nothing would typically contain "Casino"-style matches the most (21-man)
4. AEW has been fighting an up-hill battle since it began and WWE's higher-ups have not been helpful. Words from "#2" shouldn't affect anybody from "#1" unless the words are true (which they were). WWE 's been taking shots at AEW since before Wrestlemania 35.
When it comes down to it, when 2 competing companies are competing, their competition should not spread to the fans competing, that's a problem the companies have to deal with, not the consumers.
I see Tony Khan himself as one of us that has enough money to put on a style of wrestling promotion that a lot of people have wanted to see for a long time in America so he took it into his own hands. I can only respect him for that. He's overall a very positive and nice dude but when the odds are against him he's not gonna stand down. Being the bigger person hasn't always worked for him. For the most part he stays completely out of the way, and he's not on-screen most of the time, unless he has an announcement.
People were like "woah what is this" because they don't want to see Chris Jericho, I don't mind him at all. That match was fun and good to me. The show was good but the crowd wasn't great.
Every booker makes odd decisions sometimes but it is hard to not have faith in the person who got us this far. He may have booked Worlds End but he also booked both All In London events, Every Revolution, Full Gear, Dynasty, Double or Nothing. A bad booker wouldn't have made it this far booking 4 shows for 5 years with 3 on television.
I think most of the questions are alredy well answered i just want to add a comment about Tony Khan that a very few people adresses, I am a day 1 AEW fan and i totally get the perspective of a non AEW fan (and some AEW fans too) could have about him with just a few information about him and the behavior he shows sometimes, clearly the guy often has a socially strange behavior sometimes more subtle than others we can notice it in interviews, segments, speeches or his interactions with other wrestlers or people in general (his rants on social media also) in my perspective and with my understanding of the topic, he shows characteristics of some type of neurodivergence (I am a psychology student and I am diagnosed with ADHD) that could explain some of his behaviors (also his sometimes "weird" way of booking but he is not the only one booking) MAYBE is ONE of his reasons for the appreciation for guys like Osprey or MJF who are allegedly also diagnosed with types of neurodivergence (obviously the big factor is that they are arguably his bigger stars) and also explains his constant promotion of mental health and neurodivergency mentions in promos (MJF vs Osprey promo for example) but I am speculating on this examples.
The problem is that neurodivergence isn't a very common topic of conversation in society and also the factor that exist this stereotype of this "classic" billonaries, so culturally it makes more sense to see a billionaire acting socially awkward and being very euphoric and passionate about his things and think "Oh yeah Tony Khan is a coke head"
and I am not saying that he don't have behaviors to fix or to be blamed for but I'm just saying that most of the people who harash him without understanding that MAYBE his brain is in "that doesn't work for me brother" type of attitude... Jokes aside I hope I have explained myself clearly i'm not a native so hope i did, i like your open mind to enjoy different types of wrestling new subscriber!! cheers!!
Dynamite is the main show and most important.
Rampage is just 1 hour and mostly matches only... somtimes a minor angle.
Anarchy in the Arena/Stadium Stampede are AEW only Gimmicks. Other than that, they show a huge variety of hardcore and more brutal matches than WWE.
Tony Khan is a rich Nerd who loves Wrestling and happens to be a Billionaire. He runs AEW just for the love of Wrestling. Sure, he makes mistakes... but he works his ass off to keep AEW running and i can't be mad at him for this.
Some say he collects his favourite Wrestlers, like other people collect merchandise xD
Tony Khan was a lifelong wrestling fan at heart. he genuinely just wants to help wrestling as a whole and doing what he can to defend the overwhelming wwe toxicity. hes constantly been on the defensive from the much larger corporate wwe that tries to stamp out other wrestling promotions unfortunately. we love TK and hes young and hes doing the impossible, making a long lasting competitor brand. the man should be commended.
Agreed with others, Dynamite is the one to watch.
1) Basically Dynamite is the primary show and Collision is #2. Rampage is sort of a, for lack of a better word, a Dark Match collection sometimes the matches matter, sometimes it’s just a way to get some wrestlers on tv in some form or fashion for the week, especially if they aren’t currently in a storyline.
2) AEW’s merch thing has been a bone of contention for a lot of fans, early on they were great, mostly because they were primarily going through Pro Wrestling Tees, but of late they’ve been lacking. One other issue specifically at the shows people have criticized them for has been available to buy merch at the shows. Though they recently partnered up with a bunch of designers which hopefully means we’re gonna see an uptick in merch that people want.
3) Casino Gauntlet and Stadium Stampede/Anarchy In The Arena are two notable gimmicks that AEW introduced. They used to do a Casino Battle Royal that was more similar to the Royal Rumble than the Gauntlet is, though instead of coming out 1 by 1, they came out in groups which was distinguished by playing card suits. Really aside from that most match types have been ones that’ve existed in other promotions. The Exploding ring match in particular was a thing more commonly seen in Japan. AEW doesn’t really have a Gimmick based ppv yet, the closest is Forbidden Door which they do with NJPW. They do have a few matches that they seem to have tied to a specific time of year, SS/AitA in particular is sort of tied to Double or Nothing, while they also have their own version of War Games called Blood and Guts which is sort of been July based so far. Another thing they recently started that does have a connection to a pay per view is the Continental Classic which is a sort of League Style tournament similar to NJPW’s G1 Climax, with the first final taking place at World’s End last year.
I would like to see them build a PPV around the Casino Gauntlet match as it’s probably the most interesting and unique new match type in years. The only problem with it is the abrupt nature with which the finish has. So it being the main event would work. But having it start the ppv or be in the middle could work.
4) Tony is a diehard wrestling fan. And really it’s a blessing and a curse because him being a wrestling fan means he’s definitely thinking about what the fans want. But also there are times where he’s booking like he’s playing WWE 2K GM mode and what he wants to see. For a lot of AEW fans he’s well loved, but everyone acknowledges that he is absolutely not without his faults and sometimes those faults harms AEW even if accidentally. The tweet you reference a lot of the complaints for the match were in reference to people being tired of Chris Jericho’s over saturated presence on AEW programming, and the desire for Hook in particular to not be in a feud with Jericho anymore(he’s been feuding with Chris for almost the entire year and has basically been in the exact same place the entire time).
Hope these answers help.
I miss AEW Dark on UA-cam! I wish it was still around!
Love the Deadlock D in the background. You should watch DPW! I’m going to their next show this weekend and their biggest show ever, “Super Battle” is October 13th! DPW RULES
Casino Gauntlet is a new match type they just came up with this year. There is the Royal Rampage match. Its 2 rings, 40 men. Final person in the blue and red rings go at it in the end. So if one finishes early, they can get a rest until the other ring is being settled. The big match types are the Stadium Stampede which came out during the pandemic which was insane. Blood & Guts is kinda like NXT's war games. 2 teams with 5 guys each in a steel cage. Winner only by pin or submission. There is often street fight / parking lot brawls. Basically no DQs. A really fun one that they brought over from New Japan is the Continental Classic. 2 blocks. Every person in the block fights everyone else at some point. You get points for wins. Less for ties. 20 minutes. No outside interference. This is a very sports match.
Tony Khan is a total wrestling mark. Very awkward and loveable. For live shows he usually comes out at the end to say something off camera. He seems to be pretty good at booking. He books Dynamite. There are a group of guys who book Collision.
He also owns Ring of Honour/ROH. Which is like they're lesser brand. Sometimes guys from ROH pop up in AEW. Or you'll see guys carrying around ROH belts in an AEW show.
AEW is only barely over 5 years and is cemented as the #2. They offer a different style of wrestling. So people like to support that. Plus the AEW logo is pretty nice in and of itself. Some of the gimmick merchandise... doesn't age well with time. The AEW logo will be good as long as the promotion is around.
Haven't they just done the ONE Continental Classic though? They have the belt which is defended(or is supposed to be defended) in matches as you mentioned though.
Oh wait. You're right. I thought they had the 2nd one but I guess that's coming up soon.
Tony Khan also just loves tournaments. AEW is more sports. When people end up dropping belts for whatever reason. They usually have a tournament to determine the one champion.
Generally they treat their staff pretty well and respectfully. Sting is the prime example of how they treat a legend right. They have done tributes to wrestlers who have passed away. Even promotions outside of their own like New Japan and even WWE. They had a retirement tribute to a lady in wardrobe who's been making wrestling gear for decades. They usually work well with sponsors too. As you noted with the Assassin Creed tie in with Will Ospreay. They had one gimmick sponsor match, it involved some horror game with Leatherhead. It was super gimmicky but you couldn't really complain about it because AEW donated the proceeds to provide relief to ...Florida I think which had just been hit by a hurricane.
The only thing i will add to this discussion as most people have covered all the topics very well is that one of the best things AEW brings to the table is tournaments. Specifically, the C2 or Continental Classic (of which Okada currently holds the belt for) is a round robin style tournament with points awarded based on wins/ties (there is a 20 min time limit for matches). Last year was the first one and it had a really great storyline throughout with multiple different wrestlers interwoven very well into it. Even though the matches are just normal matches, the stakes of the tournament elevate it, and the next one will be coming up soon in the next few months.
Awesome news! Glad to hear you've been enjoying AEW and discovering more wrestling! You're definitely not alone in wanting to get more into AEW after All In, a few of my friends have been doing the same.
I'm sure you've gotten the answers to your questions, but here's my $.02, sorry for the novel :)
Question 1: Dynamite is the must-see. It's their main show, with all of the most important matches/happenings. It tends a bit toward the storytelling aspect and has more promo segments. It feels the most like WWE in terms of style. Collision is divisive, to put it mildly. I really like it because it has more matches to enjoy, but they're not always the A-tier stars. You might see a new team debuting, or an up-and-coming talent, or a match to build storyline. Another draw of Collision is Nigel on commentary, it's a hoot to see what out of pocket stuff he'll come up with. Rampage is 1 hour, and it's 3-4 short matches, usually building the midcard storylines.
TLDR: If you just want to follow the most important PPV storylines, Dynamite and Collision would be your best bets.
Question 2: The next PPV is actually pretty soon! All Out is on September 7th, which is in less than 2 weeks. I think you may want to start your watchalong after All Out and through to WrestleDream on October 12.
Question 3: The "AEW" merch designs are available pretty much everywhere, fairly cheap and easy to find at shows themselves, and they like to do city-based variations (Chicago, Toronto, LA, etc). If you go to AEW shows, one thing that's annoying is that they don't have much merch available at the venue beyond 3-4 designs. I find that a lot of fans pick up those company shirts to commemorate shows they've been to, and then maybe they'll get wrestler merch later. It's also, like you said, a pride thing. It's a way to easily signal that you support the company and get other fans talking.
Question 4: The only matches unique to AEW are the Casino variation matches where the winner gets a title shot: Casino Battle Royale (21 stars, 4 suits + 1 Joker, similar to a Royal Rumble), Casino Ladder (8 entrants, maybe a Joker), and the Casino Gauntlet (which you saw at All In). AEW also has Blood and Guts, but it's the exact same thing as War Games (2 rings + steel cage + teams with staggered entry). Strap matches, No DQ, Street Fights, etc, they're present everywhere.
What I think you might be looking for is a Pure Rules match, which are native to Ring of Honor, but have taken place in AEW sometimes. They have 3 rope breaks, no closed-fist punches, no outside interference, no weapons allowed, and rely mostly on technical wrestling. If you haven't gotten to it yet, check out any of Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia's Pure matches from the past year for a good intro.
Question 5: AEW does not have PPVs that are dedicated to a single match type. Blood and Guts is an episode of Dynamite dedicated to that match, but the rest of the PPVs have all match types mixed together.
Question 6: I'd love to see what I consider a better example of a Gauntlet match in AEW. Gauntlet matches in WWE traditionally require the winner to beat a series of opponents in 6-8 matches, one right after another, and so you can tell stories like someone *truly* running a gauntlet and having to beat all 7 opponents if they drew the #1 or #2 spot. A great one to check out is the tag team gauntlet from 2019 where the New Day earned Kofi his WrestleMania spot.
Question 7: Tony Khan is a fan with a lot of money, but he loves the wrestling business. He's a very good businessman and brought competition back to a stagnant industry, and he's given a lot of people jobs. When it comes to writing/booking, he's great at paying tribute to legends and famous wrestlers/stories (comparing how WWE treated Sting - awfully, using him to elevate their own talent and diminishing his work - and how AEW treated Sting - like the legend he is, speaks volumes) and writing long-term storylines. He's very good at creating a competitive environment and allowing his workers to make more decisions for themselves.
thanks for the great read!
Hey man, first of all thank you for the effort of watching another companies product even though you already have your hands full, it really means a lot. I also wanted to say thank you for wanting to watch AEW as soon as possible but I think I should advise you otherwise. I think the right time to get into AEW’s weekly programming would be between mid October and early December just for a reason: The Continental Classic.
The C2 actually brings some advantages when getting into AEW.
First of all, duration. Each wrestler has to have 5 matches, one match a week, plus 2 semifinals plus the final, probably at Worlds End, so you have 6 weeks ending with a PPV. It’s over the month you said you want to make, but not by a long shot.
Choosing the program. The tournament works like this: 2 groups, or “leagues”, one happening in Dynamite and the other in Collision. Last year, the blue league had most of its matches in Dynamite with people like Swerve, Jay White and Jon Moxley while the gold league happened in Collision with guys like Bryan Danielson, Andrade and Eddie Kingston. You could wait to see what wrestlers will be in each group and based on that choose the program where the most interesting group will happen. At the end of the day, all this is about enjoying wrestling and, at least personally, I think I would enjoy more a video of you watching Dynamite or Collision because that’s what catched your eye instead of watching because someone told you “that’s the must see program and the rest is just fodder” or something.
And quality. It’s been said a lot, almost to the point where I would say it’s part of AEW’s identity, that it is a company more focused on the in ring side of the business. It only makes sense that the right time to watch that kind of company would be when their whole programming revolves around a tournament.
Aew fan that has a t shirt and a hoodie with the aew logo on it here.
For me it's a mix of pride in aew, wanting to advertise for aew, and looking for fellow fans in the wild.
When I wear them out I'll usually get one or more comments from strangers. "Nice shirt, did you see dynamite this week?" "Aew what's that is it like wwe?" Etc. and it gets conversations going. It's really nice. Luckily I haven't been like confronted by any angry wwe fans or anything yet.
Tony Khan is the reason I'm watching wrestling again after almost two decades of not watching wrestling at all. Competition drives creativity.
Thanks to their partnership with New Japan, I started watching NJPW in early 2020 (Wrestle Kingdom 14) and that's the company I'm the biggest fan of now.
If you like random merch and collectables. I recommend looking the All Elite Crate. It’s a box of merch, two shirts and a wrestlers autograph. They ship quarterly. This sounds like a ad but just really like it.
Congrats on the 10k my guy :) see ya at the big hundo!
Tony Khan is a die-hard wrestling fan. He's done what many of us wishes we could do but didn't have the means to do - he started his own wrestling company to be ran the way he wanted, with an emphasis on wrestling and not sports entertainment. I respect that! He seems to be a lovable dork who just loves wrestling from all over the globe. Yes, I wish he would keep his mouth shut sometimes, and he seems to have done that lately, but all in all, he seems to be well liked by those he employs. AEW is just a different animal altogether, and Tony is a different kind of booker from the norm. I love it but I can see why some don't gravitate toward it. As far as merch, I own a few AEW logo shirts but nothing in terms of individual wrestlers. While I love several wrestlers (MJF, Will Ospreay, Jay White ...), I love the company as a whole more than any one wrestler. Plus, the AEW logo shirts just look clean and cool.
The main show and show I mainly watch is Dynamite. I will tune into Collision on Saturday if I am home with nothing going on or just remember that it's on Saturday night. But for me, it's NOT a must watch. As for Rampage, I honestly stopped watching that looong ago and I don't feel it has had any impact on story telling.
And regarding how I feel about Tony Khan...He is a salesman. He is trying to sell his product. Sometimes it's cringy, sometimes it works. I take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt. If you look on his twitter during Dynamite, you will see the same types of promo tweets from a company I feel. Everything is the best, I see this a lot "justified 'insert chant"". For me, he can be annoying and he needs to learn to trust his advisors regarding stories. But I can see that there is some slow growth from him. There are singers I hate on music bands I love, but I still listen to the bands music because I like it. Same thing with Tony, I can live without his presence on social media, but it won't stop me from watching AEW.
Lifelong wrestling fan here!
1. Dynamite is the main show, and Rampage a more secondary show if you want to put your time into watching the best weekly AEW. Collision is there too, but not much happens there (in my personal experience)
2. AEW being a newer company has struggled with merchandizing and for a lot of people's favorite wrestlers or some of the most over guys don't necessarily have some of the better designs, so most fans just opt for the show logo. It seems they're getting the hang of it now, but it was a pretty consistent problem.
3. The Casino Ladder Match. It's a Royal Rumble meets Money In the Bank.
4. Whew boy.
Tony Khan is someone who's pretty polarizing due to the way he is when it comes to his job. You might hear it sometimes out on the internet but 2021 TK is not 2024 TK.
Tony Khan is someone who honestly gets on my nerves sometimes as a fan of AEW as WELL as WWE who jumped ship once Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson did. It feels like his inconsistent booking and outright bad choices for storylines and matches which will be followed up with some of the best TV you can watch is what makes him frustrating. There's of course the big dream WWE X AEW pay per view that probably WONT happen simply because of Tony Khan cheerleading a little too hard for himself. I think he needs more writers to get things back on track, cause start/stop pushes and faaaar too many inside baseball storylines is where Tony Khan in particular, struggles.
If you ever get a chance to go to an aew show, i highly recommend it. Usually after the show, Tony and some wrestlers would come out and take pictures with fans. Ive been to 2 aew shows, and plan on going to all in 2025, they have been incredibly fun
11:42 AJ Styles and Kevin Steen should jump to AEW. I know you asked about shows/events but those 2 names just came to mind.
Day 1 AEW fan (and someone who genuinely views it as his favorite wrestling company ever):
1. Dynamite is the flagship show and the first weekly TV AEW had. It’s the one that most of the big story beats and angles will happen. Rampage is the second show that came along a couple years in, originally it was seen as a solid B show with some promise but quickly became the fun, one hour pseudo developmental show. It essentially gets some of the talent not in any big storylines or the younger talent they see as potential big players in the future a place to still get some experience but is otherwise pretty skipable. Collision is the newest show and is solidly the B show, featuring a lot of the higher workrate talent in matches that focus much more on that than developing a long term storyline. If you had to watch only two, it’s Dynamite and Collision, if it’s only one a week it’s definitely Dynamite.
2. The biggest thing about AEW is that it was a place that a lot of the fans who were burnt out by the WWE style of show and storytelling could get the fix of what they wanted out of wrestling on a large scale (that being extremely high workrate matches with a much more serious tone and more nuanced storytelling) and thus it made for an extremely loyal fanbase that really wants to show their support for AEW. After WCW and ECW went under, WWE had a strong stranglehold on American wrestling and AEW was the first legitimate alternative on that scale (TNA had a diehard fanbase as well but had nowhere near the financial backing or production value that AEW has).
3. The main AEW gimmicks are the Casino family of matches. The Casino Gauntlet, Casino Battle Royale, Casino Ladder Match. There’s also the Blood & Guts match (AEW’s equivalent to WWE/WCW’s WarGames match), Stadium Stampede and Anarchy in the Arena (which are basically the same except that one takes place in a typical arena and the other is for when they are in a large stadium), the Lights Out match which is just an unsanctioned anything goes match reserved for the most heated of feuds, and then you get other match types that originated in other wrestling promotions decades ago that WWE just won’t do. Dog Collar matches, any form of the Deathmatch (including the Barbed Wire Exploding Deathmatch). Other than that there are the occasional gimmick matches for something (sorta like how WWE has Money in the Bank) in the Face of the Revolution ladder match or the Dynamite Diamond Dozen Battle Royal. AEW doesn’t do them super often but they’ve done more than one of each of those so it’s not impossible that you’d see them if you started watching today.
4. Tony Khan is an interesting guy to say the least. Above anything else, he is passionate about wrestling and is eager and loyal about his product. Even if it isn’t always a hit, you can tell he is genuinely doing this out of a pure passion for what he does and not just to fill for time on his shows. Sometimes he gets it wrong, but he almost always learns from that and gets better at handling those sorts of things. People kept memeing his “big announcements” on tv until a vocal part of the audience just grew sick of seeing him do them, which is why now he’s rarely ever seen on tv. Sometimes he gets very over excited about something and has lead to outbursts on Twitter but he seems to have toned that down a bit as time has gone on. Overall he’s a really passionate and knowledgeable guy when it comes to wrestling history who is in a place where he’s able to make his fantasy booking a reality but is still extremely new to actually booking real shows. When he’s doing something great it’s exceptional stuff, but when he has a misstep he isn’t the kind of booker to just drop a storyline out of nowhere and so it just amplifies how much it doesn’t work for the audience. I’m in the camp of genuinely really respecting and appreciating TK, he’s loyal to his roster and (outside of the one time he did release a batch of talent) will honor their contracts until the day they expire. He lets his talent work outside of AEW to some degree and still uses them on his product even if it’s clear they aren’t staying around in quite a few cases. He’s not perfect and certainly I don’t always agree with his choices or opinions, but he’s also doing a great job at something that’s a lot easier to do on paper than it is in practice.
Dynamite , collision, rampage. In that order. The one I watch forsure is dynamite and I’m pretty much inform on everything that’s going on.
1. Putting it in WWE terms, Dynamite is like RAW. It's the show you need to watch where most stories take place and are developed. Collision is like Smackdown, where stories are still developed, but it's not their number one show. Then, Rampage is like NXT Level Up, a good match here or there, but you could definitely skip it and look for results online since it's pretaped every week.
2. I don't know why for most people, but my best guess is a lot of AEW merch isn't great and can't be worn anywhere other than an AEW show. The AEW logo is a shirt that you can wear out in public and not be looked at as if you're wearing an Acclaimed shirt that says "Scissor Me Daddy A$$"
3. They have a MITB equivalent in the casino gauntlet match, but they don't do gimmick ppvs. To answer the first part, you'll see a lot more violent matches in AEW like true street fights and deathmatches that you won't see in WWE because of the PG rating
4. For me personally, I don't mind Tony going and talking online, but I can definitely see where people do. As a booker, he definitely has his flaws, but every booker does. But with AEW's roster, it's hard to book a terrible show, so his flaws won't truly bring a show down.
It's nice to see a potential new Fan's perspective on AEW and the various small hurdles to get into it.
I think AEW's biggest flaw in getting new viewers is their 3 different shows. When I got into AEW a couple years ago there was Dynamite, Rampage, and Dark (don't worry about learning what Dark was), with news about Collision's debut eventually coming out and the only thing I had to compare it to was WWE's shows. When Collision first debuted, it felt like AEW was trying to make it's own version of a SmackDown and Raw. At the time, MJF was world champion but CM Punk claimed that he was actually still world champion, as he had never lost the belt, only vacating it due to injury, and they were setting up these shows so that MJF's belt would be the top prize of Dynamite while CM Punk's belt would be the top prize for Collision. However, CM Punk would go through the "Real Glass" incident during ALL IN 2023 and would be let go from AEW, leaving Collision to feel fairly misguided since then. Most of us kinda view Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage as an "A" show, "B" show, and "C" show, now, respectively, despite it not feeling like that was the original intention.
Anyways, Dynamite is where a majority of the storylines will progress and if anything plot significant is happening on Rampage or Collision they will usually advertise it during Dynamite.
Rampage is typically more of an "impressive wrestling showcase" than a typical episode of Dynamite, Raw, or SmackDown.
And (from my perspective) Collision is still a show without guidance that walks the line between the type of content seen on Dynamite and Rampage, seemingly still trying to find it's own identity.
Also AEW Dark was like Rampage but were post-show dark matches only available on UA-cam(I think, maybe it was on their website, idk, Dark ended 2 weeks before I started watching AEW)
Dynamite is your must watch. Collision is your should watch. Rampage is fun, but rarely moves storylines forward. Rampage is fun because it lets their B and C tier wrestlers really go wild.
The logo merch tends to be more popular in AEW because AEW is more counter culture than WWE, so it is absolutely a pride thing, and AEW fans are a bit more likely to call each other out, give each other "Too Sweet" motions, etc. The other thing is that a lot of AEW merch doesn't look like wrestling merch, but tends to look more like band merch. So a lot of people are wearing AEW shirts that you don't instantly recognize as "wrestling merch."
Gimmick matches: Casino Gauntlet, Stadium Stampede, Anarchy in the Arena, Blood and Guts (basically War Games), are unique to AEW. Parking Lot Fights happen more in AEW than WWE. I'd love to see AEW bring in a Money in the Bank type scenario.
I love Tony Khan. He's a genuine, great dude. He's awkward and goofy at times, but he has decades of history as a wrestling fan, and it's so sick getting to see him in the crowd of things like ECW One Night Stand, etc. I think he was truly upset when WWE tried to bury him when he was starting AEW, and understandable took it personally. He's also one of the smartest wrestling historians to ever exist.
I would watch Dynamite and Collision if you can, live or recorded but prioritize Dynamite if you must pick one