>>18292257Young people watching the show for free on MAX in 2025 now that AEW is no longer relegated to expensive boomer cable does not automatically translate into immediate ticket sales. AEW has to put on a good TV show every week and grow their weekly audience and turn casual viewers into fans willing to spend money on tickets and PPVs first.
They've done ok so far at navigating the TNT to MAX jump, I'm sure plenty of new people are watching their show now that they're on streaming, I know I'm one of them. But I usually don't watch the shows live. I still haven't bought a PPV. It isn't even that good of a show that I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't already love wrestling. These next 2 years are extremely important to AEW's future. It's nut cutting time. Gotta leave the silliness and the poor production errors behind.
No more cramming 59 different wrestlers onto every episode of TV in endless run-ins, rushed paint-by-numbers backstage beatdowns which segue into 8 man tags that end with various factions running in and fighting, and none of it recapped or allowed to breathe before yet another high-octane beatdown happens between a completely different set of people unrelated to any seen before on the show, with none of this referenced after it happens whatsoever and often not followed up on for weeks at a time.
They've been better than they used to at this where it felt like 95% of the roster was seen once or twice a month or less, but it's still just too many people coming and going randomly. Just need more consistency and an informal roster split. Keep the Paragon shit on Collision, decide which shows are going to feature what hierarchy of talent and build from there. As is it's always just too fucking random and rushed feeling.
