wrestling / Columns

For AEW To Be Elite, The Elite Need To Be Elite

December 20, 2019 | Posted by Steve Cook
Kenny Omega Young Bucks AEW Fyter Fest Image Credit: AEW

I’ve always been interested in studying history. Whether it was U.S. History, World History, or any kind of class involving history in school, I always got the highest grades possible. Reading about previous events always fascinated me.

Of course, this fascination includes the history of professional wrestling. A look at my WWE Network history contains a much larger number of shows from the 1980s than from today. I’d rather watch Prime Time Wrestling and see some of the stars from yesteryear than most of what the current WWE regime is producing. It just interests me more, and that’s why even if I don’t like a booking decision I’ll never be one of those #CancelWWENetwork guys. Unless they reduce the classic library.

To satiate my interest in wrestling history prior to the days of streaming services, I would read articles & watch DVDs. WWE always has an interesting take on history, and of course there were plenty of online writers that were happy to teach us about what happened prior to the days when we started watching wrestling. There still are, though it’s easier now to see through some of our BS since the footage is more available.

Wrestling history, like other forms of history, has different perspectives. Sometimes it’s easier to cast a narrative than to look too far in-depth. Today I want to talk about one popular historical narrative that pops up again & again in pro wrestling and how different perspectives lead to people learning different lessons.

Wrestlers As Bookers/Promoters

One common denominator between most of the wrestling territories: either the promoter or the booker was a wrestler. Verne Gagne ran the AWA. The Sheik owned Detroit. Dick the Bruiser had Indianapolis. Eddie Graham controlled Florida. Texas had the Von Erich & Funk families running different regions. Then you had guys like Bill Watts, Dusty Rhodes, Ernie Ladd & others that got hired as bookers in multiple places. They would also be active competitors on the roster.

Ironically enough, these men would typically be at the top of the card in their territory. Verne held on to that AWA strap like it was a security blanket. The Sheik rarely lost any matches. Dusty was always the focal point of whatever was going on regardless of he was champion or not. We all lost count of how many title reigns Jerry Lawler had in Memphis. The typical wrestling writer response to this is to tell us this is why the promotion failed. The promoter/booker pushed themselves at the expense of everybody else. If they only had the foresight to feature *fill in the blank* other than themselves, their fed might still be in business today.

Some of the old heads that actually were in the business have a different take. They point out that pro wrestlers actually were independent contractors back in those days and weren’t signed to contracts with guaranteed money. It was tough to trust most wrestlers to stick around and not leave for somewhere that was offering more money. The promoter wasn’t going to walk out on himself. He had more to gain & lose due to the success of a territory than anybody else. With these things in mind, it’s only understandable that a booker/promoter would put themselves in a featured position on the card.

I used to side with the wrestling writers when I was younger & more impressionable, but now that I’m older I understand the perspective of the old heads. It’s also a lot more nuanced than people would like to admit. When a wrestler got noticed by a promoter and got put into a management position, it was because the wrestler had impressed people with money. How do you impress people with money? By making them more money.

Dusty wasn’t the booker when he got tremendously popular as the American Dream. Lawler wasn’t part of ownership when he became the King. Verne was already the uncrowned NWA Champion that Lou Thesz was ducking when he helped found the AWA. These guys weren’t just on top because they were booking or promoting. They were on top because they were the guys that fans bought in that role. If the fans weren’t buying them, they never would have got in that position to begin with.

The real weakness of the whole system: eventually these guys got old. Verne was a great AWA Champion in the 60s & early 1970s. Once he was on top entering the 1980s it didn’t really work. The Sheik beating everybody in his path to get that heel heat made sense in the 60s. Not so much in the late 70s. And as much as Dusty became beloved by smart fans in his last years helping book NXT, in the 1980s he was despised by smart fans for booking himself on top when there were faces below him that could have carried the load. Once it was time for them to pass the torch, they were reticent to do so.

There’s a balance that any wrestler that wants to book or promote has to maintain. They need to know how the fans see them. If the fans see them as a top performer, they need to push themselves on top no matter the backlash from certain corners backstage. If the fans aren’t buying it anymore, it’s time to swallow that ego.

I get the feeling that some of today’s booker/wrestlers might be swallowing their egos a little too early.

Aren’t y’all supposed to be Elite?

I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve seen from All Elite Wrestling so far. Dynamite is generally pretty enjoyable and a key part of the best night of the week for us wrestling fans. But it feels like there’s something a bit off. New promotions are going to have growing pains, so the botches in production and the in-ring product can be excused away pretty easily. I can’t help but think that there’s been a key component missing though. Something that seemed like it was going to be a major part of the product when it was originally hyped, but hasn’t been that big of a deal during AEW’s first three months on the air.

All Elite Wrestling.

Where the hell are the Elite?

Remember how Kenny Omega was hyped as the best wrestler in the world when he was in New Japan Pro Wrestling? Remember how the Young Bucks were hyped as the best tag team in the world during most of this decade? Heck, there was a time where people were telling us that “Hangman” Adam Page was the future of the business. Is anybody saying any of these things now? Is Kenny getting any Wrestler Of The Year votes? I’m sure the Bucks will get some Tag Team of the Year votes due to lack of competition, but is Page on anybody’s “Most Improved” or “Breakout Superstar” ballot? Probably not.

The Elite want to be team players. They want to make sure their other performers get over. These are admirable traits for any booker or wrestler to have. It becomes a problem when you’re trying to attract an audience that isn’t already aware that you’re a big deal. Not everybody watching Dynamite watched New Japan with Kenny on top. The Young Bucks have won plenty of tag team championships, but not everybody in AEW’s audience was buying PWG DVDs and watching ROH at 11:30 in a Saturday night.

You have to look & act Elite.

The only Elite guy that’s more over now than they were before AEW started? Cody. Why? Because Cody can talk, and because he’s been (for the most part) protected in the booking. He’s had some losses, but there were “buts” attached to them. MJF threw the towel in then kicked Cody in the nuts. QT Marshall got beat by Butcher & Blade. Cody looked like a fool for trusting MJF, but he was able to make us understand where he was coming from. Plus, the guy just carries himself like a star.

When the other Elite guys look like fools, they aren’t as good as Cody is at explaining the situation. If PAC kidnaps one of Cody’s friends, we care because the friendship has been established & Cody convinces us that it matters to him. We kind of know that Michael Nakazawa is Kenny’s friend, but Kenny hasn’t really given us a reason to care one way or the other.

You have to establish yourself and make us care about you before you can make us care about other people. If you don’t, you end up getting beat down by twenty goofs in masks while your audience blankly stares because they have no reason to care about it. Ideally, those “goofs in masks” would get over first by beating other people up before getting around to an opponent that people actually care about.

To be honest, I figured that this past Wednesday night would feature the Young Bucks reclaiming their status on top of the tag team mountain. They would beat SCU, re-establish themselves as the best tag team out there, and take on all comers in 2020. Sure, some online voices would complain about management putting itself over…but the people actually buying tickets would cheer & applaud!

Instead, the Bucks are being team players and trying to get over an idea that just hasn’t caught on yet. It’s obvious that AEW really, really wants The Dark Order to be a thing. It’s also really, really obvious that the fans aren’t buying it. The Bucks are going to try & make them buy it. Which is admirable.

Here’s the question: Do the Young Bucks have enough capital with the AEW audience to make the Dark Order a thing? From what I’ve seen, they don’t. And they only have themselves to blame for that. Theoretically, Kenny & the Bucks should be able to make stars. They just have to make themselves stars first.