AEW hustling backwards.
They forgot to do the work, ironically.
If the Elite come in crushing everybody, looking strong, but also having the Inner Circle fukking with them but not actively competing against them so the people don't actually know whose better - they just see both groups wracking up wins - then when Omega, or the Bucks, or Cody lose, it means something.
(It means nothing to beat Adam Page. Not Sorry)
But instead, they came in here thinking they could start at the 'putting other people over' point, without first showing their work by letting the people watch and be shown/reminded of how good they can be, how easily they can put people down... and it didn't help anyone. Private Party looked good beating the Bucks because it was unexpected, and then what? People already cooling on them. The Cody stipulation woulda meant way more if dude had been rolling on some 2 month win streak shyt while Jericho ducked him, dodged him and generally acted chickenshyt to face him. So when Cody finally got the title match, just for MJF to throw in the towel, it woulda been a gut-punch, stip or not. Doubly so with it.
It's a goddamned shame, because if this was Kenny's mentality, then he should know that he benefits someone much more by looking strong until the moment of defeat, than playing some storyline about him being off his game. No one wins by beating a Kenny Omega who gets beat 2-out-of-3 matches. And the person he manages to beat that third time looks doubly as bad. He woulda done a lot of people more favors being booked strong, but sporadically, and letting someone work their way to a match with him, and get a win.
If he'd been sat there putting people down for the most part since the first show, and then say... Jungle Boy manages to get a Kenny Omega match for himself, with a week of build, and that Jericho-match training montage to make it look like a big deal... then he goes over? Oh look. You made someone.
Some of these guys got so counter-culture with the mentality of how wrestling is, that they've thrown the baby out with the bathwater as far as understanding some basic truths in not just wrestling, but storytelling. No one gets over beating someone people are used to watching lose, in a 12 minute match, no matter how good the match.
They forgot to do the work, ironically.
If the Elite come in crushing everybody, looking strong, but also having the Inner Circle fukking with them but not actively competing against them so the people don't actually know whose better - they just see both groups wracking up wins - then when Omega, or the Bucks, or Cody lose, it means something.
(It means nothing to beat Adam Page. Not Sorry)
But instead, they came in here thinking they could start at the 'putting other people over' point, without first showing their work by letting the people watch and be shown/reminded of how good they can be, how easily they can put people down... and it didn't help anyone. Private Party looked good beating the Bucks because it was unexpected, and then what? People already cooling on them. The Cody stipulation woulda meant way more if dude had been rolling on some 2 month win streak shyt while Jericho ducked him, dodged him and generally acted chickenshyt to face him. So when Cody finally got the title match, just for MJF to throw in the towel, it woulda been a gut-punch, stip or not. Doubly so with it.
It's a goddamned shame, because if this was Kenny's mentality, then he should know that he benefits someone much more by looking strong until the moment of defeat, than playing some storyline about him being off his game. No one wins by beating a Kenny Omega who gets beat 2-out-of-3 matches. And the person he manages to beat that third time looks doubly as bad. He woulda done a lot of people more favors being booked strong, but sporadically, and letting someone work their way to a match with him, and get a win.
If he'd been sat there putting people down for the most part since the first show, and then say... Jungle Boy manages to get a Kenny Omega match for himself, with a week of build, and that Jericho-match training montage to make it look like a big deal... then he goes over? Oh look. You made someone.
Some of these guys got so counter-culture with the mentality of how wrestling is, that they've thrown the baby out with the bathwater as far as understanding some basic truths in not just wrestling, but storytelling. No one gets over beating someone people are used to watching lose, in a 12 minute match, no matter how good the match.
