AEW Hot Takes of the Week: There are too many similar factions

3. The Librarians Are Making Their Gimmick Work

I feel like, whether they hate or love the product, all fans agree that The Librarians (Peter Avalon and Leva Bates) is a terrible gimmick, and it has no place on the show. At least, that is all I’m reading on the ole Twitter machine.

The “Librarian” gimmick started out as a bit on Being The Elite (The Young Bucks’ YouTube series) where The Elite members had to, per Tony Khan, find someone to play a librarian for AEW. After a long search, Kenny and Cody picked Peter Avalon, and The Bucks picked Leva Bates.

It was a pretty funny storyline, but the small segments on a YouTube show didn’t seem to carry over too well with the mainstream audience, as their first few appearances were met with befuddlement from the crowd.

These first crowd reactions immediately caused everyone to sour (if they weren’t already) on the gimmick. However, while everyone seemingly gave up hope on the gimmick’s success, Avalon and Bates have been slowly coming into their own to make the gimmick work and actually provide sound entertainment on AEW Dynamite.

The contrast between the two is what makes their dynamic so entertaining. Leva, a naive librarian with a passion for learning just wants to share that passion with everyone, while Avalon is the bitter and pretentious librarian who thinks he is better than everyone because he reads.

Leva acting as a face and Avalon as a heel provides versatility in their act that allows them to stand out and fit in anywhere on the show. It also makes for hilarious interactions between the two that are almost always the highlight of whatever match they may be in.

As a heel, Avalon is a heat magnet. He gets the crowd to hate him instantly with his “shhh”-ing and jabs at the education of whatever city he may be in, and he always pays it off by getting his butt kicked by a babyface or making a fool of himself by completely missing a splash or trying to take on Nyla Rose.

As a face, Leva’s blind optimism is refreshing. Cheering on Avalon during his matches while he is getting thrown around the ring as she holds up a book for him to read always makes me chuckle. She is also so sweet and sincere that it is very easy for a crowd to get behind her during her matches.

Also, let’s not forget that these are two VERY good pro wrestlers, which is why they are in the process of what looked to be a total flop into a huge success. They may not be main eventers with this gimmick, but there will always be a spot on TV for them with their entertaining work.