Thoughts on how to change weekly televised pro wrestling
I'm still hesitant to label All Elite Wrestling as "WWE lite." No WWE Premium Live Event matches what AEW brings to Pay-Per-View, and I genuinely believe AEW's roster to be vastly superior compared to The Fed's. I also don't believe the overall quality of Dynamite or Saturday Night Collision has degraded to the levels of Monday Night RAW or Friday Night Smackdown.
But there are parallels. Michael Mansury is the Executive Vice President and Head of Global Production for AEW after serving as the Vice President of Global Television Production from 2009 to 2020 for WWE. Jennifer Pepperman is another former WWE executive who is now Vice President of Content Development for AEW and previously worked as a soap opera writer. Both individuals hold high-profile roles and seem to share a WWE-inspired vision for televised weekly professional wrestling. I don't want to disparage their work - they are two well-respected individuals outside the pro wrestling industry - but wonder if they're dead set on presenting weekly televised pro wrestling one way.
I watched last week's Dynamite the next morning and found the show fine. It wasn't great or bad, just aggressively fine. I've increasingly found myself frustrated with AEW's overall execution of its weekly television, which is built around an old, tired formula that has long overstayed its welcome.
This could be a huge opportunity for Khan to establish himself as an innovator by reinventing televised weekly professional wrestling in America. Nothing lasts forever, and one day someone will have the courage to follow through on a vision that clearly and aggressively separates them from the rest of the pack. Khan should beat them all to the punch. He has all the resources (Money, television, and one of the greatest rosters ever assembled) to accomplish this.
Khan is about to enter the most consequential year in AEW's short history. The merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount has been officially greenlit, and no one knows how it will affect AEW's renewal chances. There's certainly an argument that Khan would be foolish to make major changes to his shows this close to 2027. AEW is performing well across cable and reportedly on HBO Max, and they continue to do very well on Pay-Per-View. Simply put, Khan has little motivation to take the old, tired formula and rip it up into a million pieces.
Great question and topic. Let’s open the discussion to everyone:
— JCup2013 (@JCup2013) September 17, 2026
Please tell me what significant changes you’d like to see from weekly American wrestling tv. You can DM me, too.
I’d like to collect the responses and write a piece on the blog https://t.co/zel4jUGa5Y
First, I'd like to thank everyone who responded to this prompt. I received many interesting suggestions and insights, which I'm happy to share with you. What are the changes to weekly televised pro wrestling you would like to see? How should the shows be structured? What really irks you whenever you see it? Let's find out.
Before we get into the meat and potatoes, though, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge some of the criticism I've received on Twitter; specifically, that I have become "too negative" in my analysis of AEW television. I want to be clear: I am a massive AEW fan, and I don't see that changing any time soon, if ever. It revitalized my love for professional wrestling, but I'm always going to offer my genuine thoughts, rather than being a content Sicko.
Note: I received quite a few DMs from individuals and will not directly credit them unless they approve. Also, I edited some quotes for grammar.
1. Change the presentation of your broadcast
We can all see it in our mind's eye: Excalibur telling the audience that someone is standing by with Renee Paquette. We cut to a dimly lit, boring interview setup, usually with a backdrop and a TV displaying the show's logo. Renee asks a question or two, maybe mixes it up a bit depending on her interview subject, and that subject inevitably storms - or stares - off into the abyss.
Quite a number of you are sick and tired of that presentation.
One respondent DM'd me saying, "I would like to see interviewers lead interviews, have more authority, and engage the wrestlers in a dialogue that's spontaneous vs. just holding the microphone."
Paquette is extremely talented and should be an even bigger presence on all shows. She should ask the kinds of questions legitimate beat writers ask star athletes before or after every game. The wrestlers should hold her in high regard, with the babyfaces respecting and even revering her while the heels are more guarded and paranoid about answering certain questions.
There's also the issue of how interviews are presented on television. The scenery feels boring and, quite frankly, a trope from a style of television that peaked over 30 years ago. The same respondent from above opined, "Create an interview set or promo area that isn't the ring. Treat the ring as sacred instead of an all-purpose stage."
Another had a different idea: "Announce a match and then cut promos after the fact. We don't [have to do] backstage promos specifically designed to be interrupted and set up a match. Also have one wrestler cut a promo in front of the audience. Later on, you bring out his opponent for an interview to respond. Promos don't have to be interrupted by the opponent's music as soon as his name is mentioned. We can avoid the awkward, wait-your-turn promos we've done for the last 25 years. Two people who have a grudge and want to fight don't stand in front of each other waiting for their turn to speak."
A few respondents also said they want to see more on-location shoots. @damian_gib7497 responded to my prompt by stating, "Tag teams. Let's see them training together or at each other's houses playing with each other's kids, show not tell, it's an annoying cliché but effective."
There's also a desire to change the commentary. Increasingly loud voices are calling for the removal of Tony Schiavone and/or Excalibur, while Paul Wight has been getting rave reviews for his commentary on Collision. Sacking Excalibur or Schiavone would only be part of a potential solution, though. One respondent had this to say, "I would also like the announcers to experiment with talking less to see if what they say resonates more. Training the audience to be more comfortable with moments of silence. I think saying nothing during entrances would be a huge positive."
We saw a bit of this discourse after Excalibur remained silent following Will Ospreay kicking out of Kenny Omega's One Winged Angel at All In. It felt like a breath of fresh air, like someone finally understood the value of letting the moment breathe and live on its own. This is often a point of criticism in "real" sports (Joe Buck would get hammered by fans in the '00s).
My recommendations: Develop a dedicated interview set with new lighting; instruct commentators to remain silent during entrances and let moments speak for themselves; no in-ring "promo battles" (and I'm on board with abolishing most in-ring interviews); allow Renee Paquette to have more authority during the interviews she conducts with talent; on-location shoots
Early AEW was often credited for promoting and booking sensible, logical matches where the outcome was uncertain. Some Sickos feel that has changed. One respondent said, "I'd suggest that the doldrums on AEW TV some folks are feeling lately are because stuff like the top three kayfabe death riders right now (sorry Claudio) are facing the champ and the functional Money in the Bank. There's no universe where Akira, with like 4 AEW appearances in his career, isn't eating that loss. Even if the wrestling is good, there's zero drama or, more importantly, stakes.
I know real W-L records and sports-style stuff never hold up to the rigors of the road (injuries, travel, hot hands, etc.), but my ask for AEW is simple: every match should be able to answer the question, "Why is this match happening?"
The respondent continued with, "If AEW can't answer 'why is Kross facing Hayter this week' with something more than 'because they have a tag match on the PPV in 2 weeks,' then it shouldn't happen. I don't want a weekly soap opera - I want the sort of basic storylines for conflict that drive engagement with conventional sports week-to-week."
They also chimed in during last night's Dynamite broadcast with, "Desmond Xavier vs Mox tonight is the PERFECT example of no stakes whatsoever I was talking about btw. Match should be good. Rascalz deserve a real push and another trios title shot with a build.
…but Mox is main eventing a PPV 4 days later and just randomly facing these guys (who two weeks ago were scrapping with Swerve/New Level). I get Mox wants to give them good showings in tune-up matches, but why not use Akira here and fit it into the story? I know there was a death in the family, but have Xavier beat someone on ROH or Collision for the next Eliminator with Mox. Give us some stakes beyond "match with 100% obvious booking is going to be good."
@ChristophBourke zeroed in on how PPV matches are booked: "One thing that bugs me is they will set a PPV title match, then the champ and contender will wrestle singles matches in between. It's backward; have guys win matches to lead to the challenge. If they wrestle before their shot, it should usually be a preview tag."
Christoph is correct here. Dynamite feels far too formulaic and predictable not only with match outcomes, but the types of matches we're going to see in the build-up to the PPV.
@PJG0_ echoed similar sentiments with, "The winners of the matches can't be so obvious. Yeah, the wrestling is almost always good to great, but if there's no jeopardy, I'm not paying attention. There also need to be more characters and stories beyond 'wrestler who wants to win the title'."
@730Matty may have a solution to PJ's point of criticism: "Clear divisions assigned to the titles. Give talent some form of ladder to climb instead of relying on open challenges and a 'have a squash match and challenge a title holder' approach." Establishing a championship hierarchy makes sense, and I'm surprised AEW has never formally introduced one. This would make for competitive, clean television and storytelling.
There's also a desire to see Rankings return to AEW - or, perhaps, something similar to Rankings. I received a DM from someone who explains this position very well (translated from Spanish): "For starters, professional wrestling leagues across the board - not just the United States - are completely reluctant to make the most of their own statistics, specifically win-loss records. As someone fascinated by the statistical side of wrestling, I find this disappointing; even when AEW was fully utilizing its rankings system, the promotion still didn't capitalize on it to the fullest extent."
They continued with, "I do not subscribe to the idea that 'the wrestling viewer is an idiot', because that same fan is capable of discussing other sports with the level of depth required to track wrestling win-loss records. Instead, I believe the issue - a massive one - lies in the graphic design: the challenge is presenting this information so the viewer grasps it quickly without eating up TV time that could be better spent on in-ring action."
Changing the hardcam may break the brains of the former Fedrales Tony Khan now employs, but some feel it's necessary. The above respondent had this to say (translated from Spanish): "I think a good approach is to adopt the idea of avoiding having the camera simply aligned with the moves; instead, it should chase the action to capture high-speed, dynamic visuals. I don't know exactly what guidelines Keith Mitchell (AEW's TV director from 2019-2021) followed versus what Mike Mansury does today; I'm speaking of how I would direct pro wrestling, drawing primarily on things I've observed across Monday Nitro and AJW."
@HeyKatme had this to say: "Shoot it more like a real sport. More shots from the ringside cameras angled up towards the ring. WAY LESS cutting; sit with shots for 10-15 seconds. Bring back Taz's segment where he talks about the logic behind submission holds. Add Renee doing injury reports before matches"
@TyrantLichti echoed similar sentiments, "I'd like to see more variance in the hard camera angle. There's been a couple of times where it's been at a high angle, and I liked how it looked. Fuck it, let's set up the hard cam like it's Fire Pro," while @BradTrppnCBPN said, "I need it to look more like NJPW. Give me the 100% sports feel. It's hard for a weekly TV presentation, but that's the kind of wrestling presentation I love. All matches, with a post-match press conference in the back to move stories"
@jts6239 stated, "Change how you film matches. Stop playing to the camera; make the camera find you instead. Fuck it, if you get the hard cam side with empty sections, doing it that way makes it feel like an actual sports presentation this way."
AEW does not need to emulate WWE, New Japan, or any other wrestling promotion. Khan has a chance to present his television like no other promoter in professional wrestling history. Explore, experiment, and, more importantly, restore the feeling that wins and losses matter. Tony, it's time to take the old and tired playbook and toss it straight into the trash.
Comments
Post a Comment