How WWE let me down and why I’m moving on to AEW

Being a wrestling fan, I’m guessing you watched WWE Hell In A Cell on Sunday night? You did? Alright, what were your thoughts on the show?

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks put on a magnificent performance for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship. Charlotte Flair became a 10-time champion, defeating Bayley for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship. Okay, good start thus far.

Those two matches, along with the Tornado Tag Team Match and WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match were looked at as solid matches. That’s nice. What about the rest of the show?

Well, they waited until a mere HOURS before to announce the other half of the card. The fans in Sacramento were treated to yet another match between Natalya and Lacey Evans. Then, a third contest between Baron Corbin and Chad Gable, in which Gable finally won, only for Corbin to annihilate him later after a post-match interview backstage. The other matches are filler, but let’s be honest, you’re just looking for my opinion on the main event at this point.

This is the only video “highlight” on the WWE’s YouTube page of the main event. In this bizarre WWE Universal Championship match, Seth Rollins hit his opponent Bray Wyatt with a ladder, chair and used his stomp finisher about a dozen times only for ‘The Fiend’ to kick out at one following every pin attempt.

Later on, in an attempt to keep Wyatt down, Rollins hit Bray with a sledgehammer. This sledgehammer caused the referee to call for a disqualification. A disqualification in a Hell in a Cell Match! Are you bleeping kidding me?

https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/1181038558036934656

If you click on the video above, the fans are booing vociferously and rightfully so.

Kofi Kingston won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania over Daniel Bryan. It was one of the best feel good stories they’ve produced in the last five years. Of course, five years ago was when Daniel Bryan took down the machine and defeated the hand-picked corporate champion Randy Orton.

Kofi Kingston had a lengthy six-month run with the WWE Championship, looking strong in the process. In the end, Brock Lesnar defeated Kingston in a 10-second match with one F5 on the debut of SmackDown On Fox.

Kingston fought insurmountable odds to get in the door and win the title. He endured a tremendous amount of punishment in numerous contests. Only to rally and retain his title. It’s just as (if not more) anti-climactic as CM Punk’s 434 day run with the WWE Championship ending with after a People’s Elbow from a returning Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

Anti-climactic, yet so typical of main roster booking. Giving you a few brief moments of satisfaction, before they go back to what Vince McMahon wants. Roman Reigns was forced down fans throats for years despite the fans visibly getting tired of watching Roman win match after match with a ‘thrilling comeback’ each time. All while Vince smiles, because it’s his company and he runs it how he sees fit.

You often hear fans threatening on social media to boycott WWE main roster programming when incidents like these happen. Yet, they’ll likely come back and watch RAW or SmackDown because of a lack of an alternative company on a national television station.

Great news wrestling fans, you now have alternatives!

AEW now exists and in the infancy of their company, are attempting to serve you, the wrestling fans! How exactly? All Elite Wrestling is treating their company like a sport.

The performers have win-loss records that get acknowledged onscreen. There was a 5-minute hype video for the opening match of AEW Dynamite between Cody and Sammy Guevara. The flow of the show was crisp. No long promos and quick vignettes to introduce new characters to the audience at home. The in-ring action was very good and while it wasn’t perfect by any stretch, it was a very good presentation for an opening offering on cable television.

You can see that AEW is going to be patient with their stories and protect their big matches for a Pay-Per-View. With that said, you can argue that the winner of Jimmy Havoc vs Darby Allin on this week’s episode of Dynamite should not be granted a shot at the AEW Champion Chris Jericho on the following week’s television offering. I understand where the new age fan is coming from as neither man seems “worthy” of a AEW title shot just yet given their records and their build up so far in AEW. I’ll give you what I see happening.

Look no further than the old school NWA promotion from the 1980’s. Ric Flair would have amazing television matches with mid-card performers on a monthly basis. He would be put in the ring with the likes of Ricky Morton and Ronnie Garvin on a smaller show. The match would go 20-60 minutes and Flair would make both men seem like worthy adversaries. Thus improving fan’s views of Morton and Garvin respectively.

Attempting to build new stars by putting them in the ring with one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and holding their own. Flair was credited for his 45 minute draw in 1988 with a relative unknown wrestler named Sting. Due to the amazing response of that match, Sting was pushed properly and has become one of the biggest living legends of pro wrestling.

Patience with big match bouts such as Chris Jericho vs Cody and Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley will pay off in a major way. You can build the animosity up on AEW Dynamite, leaving the fans wanting more each week. Then, about a month down the road, you get these bouts on a grand stage in front of a Pay-Per-View audience. That is how you book a feud and make every match feel important, as well as ultimately, making the company more profitable and popular among new and old wrestling fans, which is something WWE often loses sight of outside of their NXT brand.

You can criticize AEW for putting the inaugural World Championship on Chris Jericho, a former WWE Superstar. The idea being that in the infancy stages of a company, you want to have a known commodity holding the belt to get the company rolling on the right foot. However, with the title on a familiar face, AEW now has the time to build contenders and create new stars that some mainstream WWE fans may not know. Ask an average WWE fan if they know who Kenny Omega is? Odds are they may not.

Darby Allin? Who is that? The Lucha Bros? Will an average fan have heard of Pentagon and Rey Fenix? It’s AEW’s job to show you just who these talented individuals are. Give their character’s direction. They should make you want to buy their merchandise and watch them perform on a regular basis.

Similar to New Japan Pro Wrestling, AEW is all about consistent booking. These storylines can take months, even years to develop. In the end, the payoff is usually executed brilliantly and leaves the fans wanting more. Not a rushed presentation, which can lead you to be confused as to why the WWE went with their plan in the first place?

I’m not standing for the same old, same old anymore. I’m very disheartened that the WWE is continuing to mistreat their fans and leave them disappointed time after time.

A part of me is sulking. WWE has been apart of my life for almost 20 years. They have one of the best talent rosters ever assembled on their respective main roster brands. I want to love the WWE as much as I did when in 1996 when Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were at the top of their games.

Yet, I see the writing on the wall. The WWE is becoming WCW in 2000 with the way their shows end . You all remember how that ended don’t you?

This all feels like a slowly, sinking ship and I’m finally hopping off the main roster boat. I feel you should do the same.

Unless you enjoy watching your WWE Universal Champion overcome the odds and play the hero once again, but I’ve seen that movie too many times. I know how it ends, but I won’t spoil it for you though.