AEW 5 YEAR REPORT CARD - give your letter grade of AEW as a promotion to date

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

Spoiler: a retrospective by double talk with an argument

So...5 years later. Grade AEW as a promotion.

and in replies, compare it to the following if you watched:

TNA 2002-2007 (TNA PPV episode 1 - Slammiversary 07)
ECW 1994-1999 (shane throws the belt - November to remember 99)
Ring of Honor 2002 - 2007 (The Era of Honor Begins - Respect is earned 07)

 

[MenacingMonk]

But I thought AEW wouldn’t make it 5 years?

Anyways, a legit number 2 is good for wrestling and I’ve been entertained. None of these promotions are perfect, none have ever been, but TK has given so much for wrestling fans.

It’s weird how dudes obsess so much over this shyt and take sides or complain so much over fukkin play fighting. Let’s see how long it takes before the tribal warriors enter this thread and turn it into another pointless back and forth.

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

But I thought AEW wouldn’t make it 5 years?

Anyways, a legit number 2 is good for wrestling and I’ve been entertained. None of these promotions are perfect, none have ever been, but TK has given so much for wrestling fans.

It’s weird how dudes obsess so much over this shyt and take sides or complain so much over fukkin play fighting. Lets see how long it takes before the tribal warriors enter this thread.

it appears they already have

 

[MenacingMonk]

it appears they already have

You don’t even watch AEW yet making threads about them.

-Where else would you see another promotion link up with NJPW and throw on PPVs together?

-talent from different promotions and the indies getting a chance to get on cable tv.

-Sting getting a proper retirement run.

-Omega, Okada, Shibata, Ospreay on weekly programming in the US.

-old timers like Christian, Jericho (even if he is now), and likely Edge getting better character work done at their age.

-a platform for talent like Thunder Rosa, Starks and Cargill to shine when they were passed on in the past by the E.

-Toni Storm and Swerve getting more shine than they did under the E.

-good matches month after month.

Take Triple H’s cum off your eyes and see things with a clear perspective.

 

[LordDeathwatch]

it appears they already have

The irony

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

Take Triple H’s cum off your eyes

You went to a wild place real quick

 

[MenacingMonk]

You went to a wild place real quick

You’re out here giving basic E matches the Meltzer 5 star treatment. Don’t try to deny your love for the E.

I bet the only reason you started this thread was to see more drama unfold.

 

[born of fire]

i voted d+. this is coming from someone who attended revolution 23 and a rampage/collision live taping.

like other posters have mentioned, as a whole aew has contributed to wrestling in a way i can appreciate. sting’s perfect retirement run. christian’s old man heel run. jade cargill’s launchpad. interesting young talent being showcased across the board in different styles of wrestling. keeping wrestlers employed.

but the show itself? the product? mediocre as hell. people say tony treats his wrestlers like action figures and i agree. he cannot put together a good wrestling show as a whole, week to week. he can’t build. the argument that “it’s not story based its just real wrestling!” doesn’t work on me. he likes stories too. i’d say to some extent, all fans of pro wrestling do. stories arent just promos and backstage segments. they’re what the wrestlers themselves do in the ring. but either way, i don’t think tony knows how to capitalize on that in a meaningful way. he needs an outside voice, a head booker separate from him. but he would never want to give that control up. it’s all just playing a little game for him.

he doesn’t have the business mind. he doesn’t have the cutthroat drive. it shows week to week and overall for aew as promotion. he’s resting on what little laurels he’s got. for that he deserves a D+. he could really cook with grease if he wanted to. but he won’t. and for that he doesn’t even deserve a C grade

also, they aren’t number 2 by any stretch of the imagination. there’s wwe, then there’s nothing else to the average person. they don’t know about aew or tna. wwe is synonymous with pro wrestling in the united states (not saying that’s good). any other promotion you will receive an “oh… okay, sure” generally.

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

You’re out here giving basic E matches the Meltzer 5 star treatment. Don’t try to deny your love for the E.

I bet the only reason you started this thread was to see more drama unfold.

Breh you're literally the only person out here doing some partisan wars here. Nobody else is. I made absolutely no value judgment in this thread, nor have other replies.

 

[NoMorePie]

My dumbass accidentally put A+

I meant to put A- for providing a solid alternative and whipping WWE into shapez even though they have since stagnated

 

[MenacingMonk]

Breh you're literally the only person out here doing some partisan wars here. Nobody else is. I made absolutely no value judgment in this thread, nor have other replies.

It’s not hard to see how things will turn out when you see it regularly. You just started it off by taking my comment and running with it. You’re not slick and now you wanna act innocent. p*ssy shyt.

 

[get my pool]

D+

Early dynamites were fun shows. shyt had a lot of variety. All kinda random matchups and style clashes, random indie guys getting showcased, the dark order leader storyline, hangman’s self-doubt arc etc. Then the punk era was cool even though it was brief

shyt kinda went off the rails around the time Cody left and it’s just gotten progressively worse. Idk if it was his booking influence or what but him leaving is when they lost their way

 

[Wolfpac]

B-. They were fun to watch the 1st couple years, especially in '21 which I think was easily their best year, but they've stagnated the past 2 years or so creatively. PPV's are still fire tho.

 

[Kidd Dibiase]

B

Highs are fantastic

Lows are abysmal

 

[mannyrs13]

B-. Sure things could be better but its not a complete mess and they have the talent and potential to improve. They have accomplished so much in 5 years, with 3 weekly television programs, plus like what 9 PPVs a year. Including partnerships with other promotions such as joint ppvs or just letting their stars make appearances elsewhere.

Given so many wrestlers the opportunity to showcase their skills & be on national tv on a consistent basis. Many who would not be in the position they are in if not for AEW. Including those that formerly were in WWE.

Understand there are complaints about the booking but they have some good stars and no company is perfect when it comes to their booking. They have their ways that they are happy with and the ones who mostly complain are the ones who don't watch anyways. Still only been 5 years so a fairly new company with potential for growth.