>>15303951I'm the original guy, this one
>>15303805No. AEW isn't nuanced, certainly not in its in-ring product. It's some of the bluntest, most ham-fisted storytelling you'll ever see. Mind you, sometimes, AEW knocks it out of the park. Blunt storytelling CAN be a strength, especially in a bombastic, theater-adjacent medium like wrestling. One of the best storytelling moments, in the last few years, across all promotions, happened in MJF/Danielson, where both men, bloodied and kneeling, got to express their characters in a very direct and effective way: MJF, the champion, genuinely sobbing in pain and Danielson grinning madly. Great stuff. If it was all like that, we wouldn't be here.
Meanwhile, WWE? Not high art by any means. But I think Seth Rollins' Mania performances really showcase that they're capable of delivering some really good character-work when they put their effort into it. And that's from SETH. I don't even like him and they made me care about him and his sacrifices and how he finally earned his redemption.
The Drew/Punk angle, where both men are total dickheads and nobody's a good guy, and now the aforementioned Seth, having earned his face turn, being dragged into that while Priest is forced to be a fighting champion against Gunther?
It's not high art, but it's far more layered and nuanced that ANYTHING AEW's put out in years. Be for real.
