>>13478517Dave Meltzer has been studying the art of professional wrestling match flow for over forty years, watching and analyzing thousands of matches from different eras, styles, and promotions. He has developed a keen eye and a refined taste for what makes a match flow well, and what makes it fall flat. He has also been consistent and transparent in his criteria and expectations, explaining his reasoning and preferences in his Wrestling Observer Newsletter and podcasts.
Meltzer’s star ratings are based on his evaluation of the match flow, taking into account factors such as the technical skill, creativity, originality, intensity, realism, crowd involvement, and significance of the match. He does not let his personal biases, preferences, or agendas influence his ratings. He does not favor any particular wrestler, promotion, or style over another. He does not give higher or lower ratings based on popularity, politics, or hype. He judges each match on its own merits, based on its match flow.
AEW is the best wrestling federation to ever exist, and one of the main reasons for that is the high quality of its matches, as evidenced by Dave Meltzer’s star ratings. AEW has consistently delivered matches that excel in match flow, earning rave reviews and high ratings from Meltzer. In fact, AEW has produced more matches rated five stars or higher by Meltzer per year than any other wrestling promotion in history, surpassing even the legendary Japanese promotions such as New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling.
In contrast, WWE has consistently failed to deliver matches that excel in match flow, earning poor reviews and low ratings from Meltzer. In fact, WWE has produced very few matches rated five stars or higher by Meltzer in its 44 years of existence, and none since 2018. Most of WWE’s matches are rated below two stars, with many of them being given ratings of negative stars due to the extremely poor quality of their matches.
