AEW: All Out. A PPV that received critical acclaim from many within (and out) of the IWC. This includes positive reviews from USA Today (yes, USA Today), Post Wrestling, WhatCulture, WrestleTalk, etc. Even Dporticus (YouTube), who is a new wrestling fan that usually covers WWE (and has been getting into AEW lately), enjoyed All Out.

Yet some didn’t; and that’s okay. Everyone has a preference. But you have a select group in a very loud minority that can’t seem to handle their lives when AEW does literally anything. This group will consistently move the goalposts, call the product “too violent” or that it has “too much wrestling” (on a wrestling show). Any opportunity to bash Tony Khan is taken, old narratives about AEW are usually clung to (contrary to current evidence), and they’re no doubt a joy to be around at parties.

Even worse; some actually want AEW to go under and fold. This move would put hundreds out of a good paying job and alienate many hardcore fans. All just because they don’t like AEW, and that it’s not what they think wrestling “should be”.

Kind of defeats the purpose of being an alternative, right? Why are these miserable wrestling fans trying to make AEW into something they aren’t? Because they allegedly care about the future of AEW? Because they are invested in making AEW a better product?

Nope. It’s much simpler than that.

But first, a quick recap of Saturday night…

 

tl;dr All Out Recap

As expected on brand, All Out delivered multiple bangers, some solid in-ring storytelling, and a few blood-soaked hardcore matches for the sickos.

Ospreay defeated PAC in a classic, Okada overcame the odds in a solid Continental 4-way match, Statlander defeated Willow to end their heated feud, and Garcia took MJF to Dick Kick City. Danielson defeated Perry in a solid AEW World Championship match, and the Swerve/Hangman saga closed a bloody chapter in their ongoing book.

Some new building stories include:

-An Ospreay/Ricochet interaction which will lead to a future set of matches (best of seven series?)
-Takeshita not taking the pin during the Continental 4-way resulting in a stare-down with Okada post-match and a future feud.
-The BCC shockingly turning on Bryan Danielson post-match (you’ll just have to tune in Wednesday to find out why!).
-Garcia putting MJF out of commission for sometime for a storyline injury.

No show is perfect, and we still need a solution to the Mercedes Mone problem regarding her ‘okay’ match against women’s ace Hikaru Shida. Mercedes is a great talent, but nothing has really connected in any of her feuds yet, hence a small problem to be figured out. But other than that, we had a very good show from top to bottom.

I’m not the only one saying this, and many critics agree. However, we still have that small and very loud minority of miserable fans who are acting like this was the worst show they’ve ever seen.

Which is ridiculous. AEW is supposed to be an alternative, remember?

However, more importantly…

 

Why Are People Trying to Put AEW Into a Box?

On Saturday night, the Chicago faithful were comically chanting “this is murder” during the plastic bag spot during the Danielson/Perry post-match segment. However, this was a nod to a similar spot with Terry Funk and Ric Flair in 1989. It’s not as if this was never done before; even if controversial. And while I wasn’t uncomfortable with the hypodermic needle spot during the Hangman/Swerve match, I understand why many would be.

But so many were clutching their metaphorical pearls, as if they haven’t seen worse in pro wrestling, and especially in AEW.

AEW has always been the promotion to give a nod to pro wrestling history. Pro wrestling can exist in many forms and styles from all over the world. It can be brutally violent, emotionally intense, and stunningly beautiful all at the same time. All AEW does is pay tribute to that; often in ways the casual fan may not expect.

But since the mainstream flavor in WWE does things their own unique way, it’s as if some fans expect AEW just to mirror what WWE is doing on some level.

The minute AEW starts to emulate WWE in more obvious ways than one is the minute they stop being an alternative. You know, the alternative so many of these miserable fans allegedly wanted in the first place. I will die on the hill of the notion that many of these miserable wrestling fans didn’t actually want an alternative — they just wanted WWE to get better. And now that they’ve gotten better, they expect AEW to look like their “better” version of WWE.

And that will never and should never happen. Yet some cling on to the idea that AEW needs to conform.

Why? AEW is supposed to be an alternative, remember?

 

Old Narratives

What I find interesting is that in a lot of ways, AEW has already conformed to some of the mainstream standards that WWE is known for. Yet for some reason, it doesn’t seem to be connecting.

On weekly television AEW has cut back on cursing, cut back on blood, and put a notable emphasis on stories. We still get matches “for the sake of having matches”, but it’s maybe one per show now; and even then, a story usually comes out of it. Note the uptick of well told stories through 2024 (May/Storm, Swerve/Page, MJF/Garcia/Ospreay, Statlander/Willow, etc.)

The production value has increased, even down to the LED aprons (to which many of the AEW faithful didn’t actually like, myself included). We’re seeing a more cinematic production coming from AEW television compared to prior years. I just can’t decipher if some fans just haven’t actually watched, or that some of the more miserable fans just refuse to notice.

So new critiques were created. We need more vignettes to introduce new wrestlers now. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe Giulia or Jade Cargill received introductory vignettes before their debut, did they? Hell, even Hologram got a few featured vignettes on Collision…

The attendance is low, TV ratings are down, yada, yada, yada — come find me when WBD renews AEW’s TV deal, thereby burying all of these old narratives and making them completely devoid. Also come find me when you understand that since 2014 over 20 million people have cut cable, and in 2024 alone, up to 8 million homes are expected to do the same.

When does it end? It won’t. Because the truth is that for these miserable fans, it will never be enough.

Even though AEW is supposed to be an alternative…remember?

 

The Truth About Miserable Wrestling Fans

The small, but vocal minority of miserable wrestling fans crave what they possibly aren’t getting in other areas of their lives:

Validation and attention.

I’m a happily married individual with a great career that writes as a hobby. I don’t like the WWE style, and haven’t for years, so I just don’t watch and call it a day. I don’t grit my teeth over aspects of the product I may not like.

So why can’t miserable fans who dislike AEW just stop watching and hating on the product? It’s simple — they’re addicted to hating it. 

These miserable wrestling fans have invested so much time and energy into hating AEW that they’ve become addicted to doing just that. They will never truly be in a place to enjoy it, because their negative spiral loop keeps them tuned in with angry furrowed brows.

And that’s sad. Hate-watching anything is a waste of one’s short life.

It all stems from a place of desperately needing validation to be in the pro wrestling conversation, yet not actually fully grasping or understanding that different styles of wrestling exist — and that people enjoy these styles. 

And for some to go as far as wanting AEW to go out of business, well, I just pity you all. For these fans to sink so low to wish unemployment on an entire organization simply because they don’t like it is beyond absurd and laughably pitiful. Being a truly miserable wrestling fan that needs an entire promotion to hate to feel validated when so many great options are available speaks to a larger issue of lonely men who have bigger issues in their own lives that need focus.

In other words; and I mean this genuinely, seek help. Therapy is an amazing tool, and everyone should use it. And lastly, in case anyone forgot…

AEW is supposed to be an alternative, remember? Stop trying to put it into a box it doesn’t belong in, and if needed, stop watching. There are plenty of fans who will continue to enjoy the AEW product without you.

-TKW
tokusenwrestling@yahoo.com