>>16397079AEW is far from dead but it's obvious that interest in it has waned. You hit the nail on the head, AEW has a storytelling problem. They struggle to get fans interested in the angles simply because fans aren't interested in the wrestlers.
The other day on RAW the highlight of the show was the New Day's heel turn. The New Day has been a low to midcard team for a while now but fans care enough about the wrestlers involved for them to matter. WWE has loads of underneath talent (ex. Mix, R-Truth, Chelsea Green) who are over with fans. This is because everyone in WWE is a character. I'd argue that having great characters is more important than matches and storylines. 5 star matches only matter when you care about the wrestlers involved.
Part of why WWE is so hot right now is because most of the roster has been there for a long time now. People know those performers and have seen their character arcs. One of the things that held AEW back in the beginning is the fact that most of their roster were people fans had never seen before. The wrestling industry relies heavily on history. Now that AEW has been around for 5 years they should have a lot of characters with depth that people care about.
But honestly with a few exceptions (ex. Darby, MJF, Britt Baker) AEW has failed to make any stars of their own. There are so many guys like Wardlow that have disappeared for no reason whatsoever. And the guys who do have Tony's support (ex. Utah, Gaycia) are lame and have no drawing potential. The roster is too big for fans to get invested in anyone. They have a lot of problems but a lack of compelling characters is top of the list.
