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

[Art Barr]

Easily an a+


Anyone saying different never ranted not one match.

A much better continuation of the best wrasslin programming ever.
in the roh tv on directv.
before the wwf raid.




Art Barr

 

[The Rainmaker]

Do I have to beat the game in less than 3 hours to unlock the S rank?

 

[El Cocodrilo]

I'm giving them a C.

C is a decent, passing grade but overall they are not excellent or must-watch.

They have a lot of talent on the roster I'm a big fan of, but they need better booking that actually drives you to want to see what's going to happen next segment, what's going to happen next week.
There's no sense of urgency, there's nothing at stake, there's just talented guys doing athletics; that's great but you know you can miss weeks of programming and you won't really miss anything.

 

[Dipsey Doo]

AEW is a viable 2nd promotion that gives fans chances to see wrestlers they typically wouldn't see in WWE

For that it's an A.

Now as far as the creative and business indicators - it's a D.

 

[br82186]

C+ middle of the road, PPV's have been an A, but the main reason for the C+ is hit or miss weekly shows and not reinforcing backstage personel sooner.

 

[AKM-95]

I gave them a B they were able to become a competitor to WWE ( and make them care again) they signed and created some stars launched multiple wrestling and media programs
They also purchased ROH while being able to have dope shows.

Although there been some lows in there ultimately Tony Kahn should get some props and people need to realize it's probably never going to be WCW or some main stream product under Tony. his promotion is going to be his love letter to pro wrestling that at times will have some appeal to casual fans but will ultimately cater to hardcore's for better or for worst.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

I went with B. Prior to 2023 it would have probably been an A-

The early era of ROH mentioned in the OP, the Golden Era as I like to call it, I have a lot of sentimental attachment to that. Ain't anything ever touching that for me. That's an A+ for me even though if I looked at it objectively there's likely no way it's an A+.

Never watched TNA, frankly don't remember enough about ECW to be able to compare the two.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

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

Going to die any day now

 

[StatUS]

#2 promotion in the world with a good tv deal after 5 years is unprecedented really. TNA's quality peak was 2006 imo and it wasn't close. ROH was great from the jump but the HDNet show was basically the blueprint for NXT Black and Gold and Lucha Underground. That wasn't until 2010. ECW is hard because technically it might have been more popular but they never got the same TV deal or presence. Can't front on the influence but I'll go with AEW.

A+ for the PPVs. No company in history has had this run of quality big shows.

C for the ups and down of the weekly shows. Which honestly is due to in one part to WBD wanting Collision and forcing them to dump the Darks. TK putting ROH stuff on main TV during the beginning of his purchase. Inability to pivot story lines when injuries occur. And of course WWE weeklies becoming hotter and more interesting after Vince's departure.

All said it's a B+.

 

[RammerJammer]

A solid B, had a decent rise, a fantastic peak, and now that the honeymoon period is over, they don’t have the media on their side anymore and they’re trying to manage to get back on track, and they have in some aspects. Only thing holding them back is inconsistent creative, contrary to popular belief, AEW does create stars and they do a very good job of that but they can’t maintain the momentum of some of those stars at all.

Still though, they’re by far the most successful US promotion since WCW, and their flagship show will soon outlive Nitro. I never thought I’d see a #2 US promotion draw like AEW has, far beyond whatever TNA was drawing in arenas.

 

[Brad Piff]

5 years later.. the state of AEW..

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

5 years later.. the state of AEW..

The before and after as wwe got hot post pandemic leading to hhh taking over, as aew’s roster got bloated and the lack of story telling and leaning on match quality whether that delivered or not on tv, has held them back and slowly caused aew to degredade. Combined with terrible backstage shenanigans being more compelling than their actual shows, and actually talented wrestlers treading water over the evp friends…it’s not good, Because of that, i cant imagine giving them anything more than a C+ at best or a B- if you just don’t care about stories. Personally, i still wouldnt touch anything above a C-

That said, the replies (all but one bozo) have supported their reasons and it’s all preference

 

[KFBF]

What are the highlights of their five year run? When the retrospective inevitably comes, what are going to be the angles that are referred to as being great? Who are the legitimate stars that they built?

Are they getting credit for Cody? Sammy Guava is a bum. Jungle Boy is a bum. Omega was already a star. MJF? I don't get it. But maybe PG-13 Miz just isn't for me.

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

ECW first five years are significantly more entertaining to me. More interesting unique wrestlers…some mind-blowing and pioneering matches that are shockingly influential today (rvd vs jerry lynn basically created today’s main event style, and konnan and rey brought lucha to america thru ecw)…plus they have countless memorable moments and stories compared to aew or tna’s first five.

AEW first five years = tna first five years just in reverse to me

 

[StatUS]

ECW first five years are significantly more entertaining

AEW first five years = tna first five years just in reverse to me

You think AEW is as bad as 2002-2004 TNA right now?