>>6619165I'm finna go in.
The reason AEWs audience isn't seeing any growth is dead simple: All of Tony's creative decisions cater solely to the smarks. All of his storylines and new signings cater solely to 900,000 neckbeards already watching. All the Alan Angels, Jay Whites, ZSJs, Ospreys, and Konoske Takeshitas of the world are already literal whos to casual wrestling fans and even more so to complete casuals and normalfags.
If Tony wants more viewers, he needs to understand that trash is exactly what casuals want. Sports-entertainment with all of its trash talking, romance angles, dancing giants, and joke matches is what makes people l a u g h. Wrestling has no chance of being taken seriously anymore after the rise of MMA practically emasculated wrestling forever, but that's another discussion for another day. Tony needs to embrace the idea of presenting larger-than-life characters doing larger-than-life things. He isn't going to get anywhere signing even more indie technicians and trying to compensate for their lack of showmanship by booking them in heatless "dream" matches and allowing them to work the same moveset as the last bald, bearded, skull-and-crossbone emblazoned, 5'6" NXT-wannabe he signed the week before. AEW needs their own crossover success like Hogan, Rock, Stone Cold, or Cena before they're taken seriously and the only way they'll get there is by stressing the importance of personality to its roster. The closest they've gotten to that point is MJF. His "Mid-west" promo trended on TikTok for fuck's sake, which is probably the most impressive thing anyone can say about their entire roster.
