AEW is exactly what the wrestling world needs, but has been over hyped

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) put on its first pay-per-view show, Double or Nothing, on Saturday night and likely changed the wrestling world in the process.

Before I get too critical, let me say that All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing PPV was a massive success. AEW put on several great matches, giving fans what they have been asking for out of wrestling for years now: good wrestling.

There were surprises, big moments and storytelling in the ring. AEW did not need outlandish gimmicks or confusing storylines to push the narrative. The stories were simple, and turned complex in the ring. Each match was its own style, and each succeeded at what it was trying to do.

Bret Hart showed up to unveil the AEW Championship and Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose in WWE) showed up at the end of the show to a massive pop.

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Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes had the match of the night and set up an exciting tag match against The Young Bucks, who retained the AAA World Tag Team Championships in an entertaining spot-fest match against the Lucha Brothers.

The PPV was a success. It generated buzz in the wrestling community and sent a message to WWE that AEW is here to stay. And that is great. Not only is it a nice thing to have entertaining competition, but that competition will drive WWE to be better, which should be what every wrestling fan wants.

However, since AEW is being viewed as the “savior” to wrestling fans and even took jabs at WWE (which included a cringe-worthy shot at Triple H from Cody Rhodes), it has fallen victim to the hype train.

Most wrestling fans probably won’t realize this, but not everything AEW did was groundbreaking.

I mean, just look at specific moments from the PPV itself and how it was viewed. Tommy Dreamer entered into the Casino Battle Royale with his signature trash can, gaining a huge pop from the crowd.

If WWE booked that EXACT SAME moment in the Royal Rumble they would be criticized for relying on nostalgia and not using that entrant spot for young talent.

Double or Nothing had several of these mundane moments that were elevated by the crowd. And while there is nothing wrong with booking those moments, it is strange how they got away with some of the same things that WWE would get criticized for.

And this might upset a lot of wrestling fans (and that is fair, let me hear it) but the Jon Moxley moment was not as groundbreaking as I think people are promoting it as.

Was it a big deal? Absolutely. AEW landed a big-name wrestler who just left WWE in a way similar to what WCW was doing in the late 90s. However, this was no Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall or Kevin Nash. Moxley was generally a mid-card talent in WWE, who was a PG version of his current gimmick.

It was a big moment and perhaps people were cheering for what it meant as a message. But again, WWE has booked very similar moments with Moxley in his WWE career and it was considered repetitive.

Why is this considered groundbreaking other than the fact that he confirmed the rumors true?

The show was great, I cannot deny that. However, the entire anti-WWE narrative (which AEW has denied but obviously fed into) has caused some wrestling fans to get a little too over-excited. It is like when you get a new car: you think everything about it is spectacular, but eventually, that new car scent will wear off.

Let’s not pretend that everything AEW did on Saturday was revolutionary. If we look at AEW under the same fine microscope as we do WWE, then both products will undoubtedly be better.