AEW thoughts
Pros:
*Cool venue and set up. Hopefully they run stuff like this for TV instead of generic NBA arenas.
*They fixed their music and now have it on its own channel instead of just playing over arena speakers for TV.
Cons
*Still full of production issues. This lasted from the pre-show to the main event. Every time they throw it to a video or interview, the announcers are confused and aren't sure if they're even throwing to the right thing. Which they didn't at least once. JR has been doing this for 40 years and three shows in a row he's had deer in the headlights looks trying to throw it to something. They also did a poor job of timing out their show, leading them to rush at the end of the show, something that also was an issue at All In. Luckily this time it was a post match promo instead of the fucking main event getting cut in half.
*Matches are too fucking long. This has been an issue with all three AEW shows and will likely be a problem at All Out as well. Maybe weekly live TV will force them to get things tighter. There was no fucking reason Sabian/Page needed to be 19 minutes, nor Cima/Kenny go 22, or Bucks/Rhodes go over 30 minutes. All it led to was lots of boring downtime and the crowds losing interest. Especially in an outdoor venue in Florida in the middle of July, ain't no one looking for half hour tag matches.
*Their booking and character/story stuff is inconsistent with what happens in the ring. The pre-match video from Brandi where this match was some big emotional moment for her and was a big deal and you should really get behind her, then when she comes out she's full heel and even the announcers were confused. The Bucks/Rhodes video had the Bucks as the dick heads pushing the issue, but then large chunks of the match had Cody working heel and the Bucks working full blown RNR faces in perils style. And then other parts of the match had the Bucks as cocky dick heads disrespecting their best friend and his legendary brother. It just didn't mesh. That's if there's any character stuff to be had at all. What do you know about any of the joshi girls? Or Jimmy Havoc? Or Alex Guevara? Or shit, Kip Sabian? Really, does Adam Page have any kind of character or personality at all?
*Their women's division is awful. Unaccaptably bad at this stage where WWE had women main event WM and AEW made a big deal about how the women would be paid the same as the men (as long as they're working on the same spots on the card, not like women are getting Kenny/Jericho money) That they have Brandi in the ring at all tells you all you need to know (about the division and how all the people running the company are marks for themselves), but her on the main show with the joshi girls on the pre-show, and hyping a 50 year old Aja Kong vs washed for a decade Awesome Kong match with no mention of a title so far says more than I can. Brandi in general seems to have 3 separate characters going on at the same time: Straight shooting boss lady when promoting, face/loving wife/hype woman when around Cody....comical 80s heel when doing stuff with the women's division.
*They're doing a major disservice to their titles already, and they don't even have champions crowned yet. It's something that we all thought, but Jericho pointing out all of the comedy characters in the battle royal Page won to be the number one contender (on the pre show, and he didn't even mention all the joke entries and more than made his point) makes the thing look bad to begin with. Jericho beat Kenny Omega, but Adam Page gets taken to almost a time limit draw against a dude who completely unknown in the US, and as a dude who has been selling a knee injury for two months, he's still doing standing shooting stars and moonsaults to the floor instead of protecting his knee. On top of all that, Moxley vs Omega has far more interest and hype than the title match and I'd be stunned of Page/Jericho actually went on last at All Out. I'd actually be surprised if it even went on second from last. For the tag division, the top 3 teams aren't even in the tag tournament. Lucha Bros and Young Bucks are going to be in a ladder match (with nothing at stake, just full bore EWR booking), Cody will be in singles, Dustin probably won't be on the card at all. So that's both titles and the top guys won't be involved in either division.
*Commentary needs to be changed in a hurry. At a minimum, get Alex Marvez the fuck outta there. He's terrible and actively harms the show with saying stupid shit, wrong shit, or blowing reveals.
*Kenny/Cody came off as real nerds bitching about "counter programming". They seem to think that they can talk all the shit they want with impunity and then when WWE does anything to respond, they get tight about it. It wasn't even counter programming when both shows were free with subscription to the respective platforms and were in different parts of the country. It's not like you had to chose one or the other.
*They're already burning through all of their biggest matches before they even start TV. By the time TV starts, there will have been 3 Bucks/Lucha Bros matches including a ladder match, Kenny/Jericho, Kenny/Ambrose, Bucks/Rhodes. They're just booking shit like you would in EWR without giving a shit about having to play more than a few months.
*Kenny and the Bucks are clearly under performing in their own company. Fucking CODY has out shined them 3 shows in a row.
It was better than Evolve, at least
