Or ignoring\/not knowing\/believing the sometimes-obvious ways new\/returning WWE stars retain key elements of their AEW presentation\/character. A mine and history WWE is weirdly exploiting and something over time that might make the pendulum swing back the other way.<\/a><\/p>\n In wrestling fandom, we get a lot of varied noise offering truth dressed like an extremely woolly sheep. Lots of fluff. However, trim it and there\u2019s something solid and alive underneath the misconceptions.<\/p>\n Like AEW\u2019s philosophy has, does, and will continue to expose wrestlers who are not willing or able to adapt and grow into being \u201cElite\u201d. Particularly because, unlike WWE\u2019s culture of \u201cEntertainment\u201d, AEW gives its wrestlers greater freedom to take greater risks.<\/p>\n Since day one, AEW has been synonymous with freedom. At AEW\u2019s first PPV, Double or Nothing, a 21-year-old kid with a few years of experience prepares to go out in front of 10,000 fans. The instructions are simple. Cut a promo on a wrestling great, take a beating from the company\u2019s future headliner. Before going out, he asked what he was supposed to do.<\/p>\n MJF was told that he knows what to do.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when I realized what AEW was going to be like\u2026 they brought me in as fodder. Tough luck. But they also gave me a chance to make my own luck\u2026 they threw me into the deep end, floaties off, and said sink or swim. Get over with our fans or don\u2019t. And I\u2019ll take that any day compared to the other way it\u2019s been done in our business, historically, which is: they place you gently in the shallow end, floaties on, no actually you can\u2019t take them off (it\u2019s a rule)\u2026\u00a0<\/em>Trust me, though, AEW isn\u2019t for everyone. \u201cSink or swim\u201d cuts both ways like a motherf*cker.\u201d <\/em>MJF, The Players\u2019 Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although WWE\u2019s reputation for micromanaging has shed, the gears and mechanisms of Vince McMahon\u2019s Sports Entertainment remain unchanged.<\/a> There is more freedom, but a team of writers and producers provides guidance, safety nets, and restrictions. This suits some but not all. Like any workplace environment, philosophy creates culture.<\/p>\n Freedom is a slippery rope. One that creative minds can utilize in many interesting or unique ways. However, those lacking experience, skills, and confidence can find it overwhelming. Failing can make oneself look silly or tied in knots. Over time, it\u2019s easy to switch between all these possibilities. Even AEW\u2019s best have at times failed to consistently meet its…<\/p>\n Wrestling is already a high-stakes, high-risk business. The \u201cElite\u201d style emphasises the individual\u2019s abilities over the company\u2019s production values or booking tropes. It’s a ring-oriented form of storytelling. A future-driven hybrid infusing PWG chaos with the historic wrestling tradition as the story engine. Not the cinema that happens to be in a wrestling promotion.<\/p>\n It’s a no-holds-barred sugar rush with wrestlers trying to wow and elicit emotion. At its best, there are layers and nuance in their characters\u2019 moves, words, and actions.<\/p>\n That puts the pressure on the wrestlers as artists rather than the company\/booking to protect them. Nevertheless, it\u2019s what generates \u201cThe Feeling\u201d. Both AEW and we, as its fans, take the concept of \u201cElite\u201d seriously.<\/p>\n Yet it\u2019s not fully sustainable, but then, nothing is in wrestling. AEW\u2019s faster, sometimes ADHD-like pace means that in six years, a lot has evolved. Hangman Adam Page<\/a> as a character and wrestler perhaps best reflects AEW\u2019s philosophical turbulence and the need to adapt.<\/p>\n When wrestlers don\u2019t fit or want to conform to the philosophy, it’s painfully obvious. Eventually, Cody Rhodes disconnected with the audience by trying to be too traditional and ignoring the audience\u2019s desires. Mercedes Mone\u2019s start suffered because the CEO spoke and presented herself as if she were still in WWE. In AEW, that feels fake.<\/p>\n Wrestlers with \u201cbuzz\u201d came to AEW from WWE. They failed to align themselves with AEW\u2019s philosophy and culture. Whether due to misaligned expectations or other reasons.<\/a> Reports of former WWE wrestlers refusing to lose created a disconnect between them, AEW, and fans. That inability to adapt, like Swerve Strickland, \u201cTimeless\u201d Toni Storm, and others, cost them. Losing correctly in AEW often elevates the loser who chooses to maximize their minutes.<\/p>\n The style makes it hard to protect wrestlers for long because everything evolves so rapidly. Fans see through the booking. Hook remains in the same protective flight pattern as Jade Cargill did,<\/a> creating character stagnation and audience disinterest.<\/p>\n Other times, even AEW\u2019s best are allowed to fail or make missteps. Last year, Jeff Jarrett made fans want The Last Outlaw to have a run at the AEW World Championship. Then this year, he cut a tone-deaf, misogynist promo<\/a>.<\/p>\n His fault, but some would blame the company. Even stalwarts like MJF have cut themselves with the sword. The Devil\u2019s AEW World Championship reign<\/a> saw MJF take a necessary risk that went too far beyond fans’ wants.<\/p>\n In a company where high risks can bring high rewards, sometimes the falls are going to be great, but comebacks are part of the cycle of wrestling. In AEW, the revolutions and turnover are perhaps faster in rhythm and pace than in WWE.<\/p>\n Yet ultimately, WWE experiences nothing different with booking bombing and wrestlers going hot and cold. The difference is the balance of autonomy and power.<\/p>\n Unique, often self-created characters alongside great wrestling make stars. Minute maximisers are frequently rewarded. It\u2019s why AEW, at times, has felt meritocratic. Ricky Saints, then Starks, did not fumble.<\/p>\n Starks made the FTW Championship a necktie instead of a noose. Smaller wrestlers elsewhere might not have the options. Wrestlers like Darby Allin and Orange Cassidy were given room to carve their niches.<\/p>\n Those outsiders who embraced the philosophy, even those who didn\u2019t meet fan expectations, still found their place on the card.<\/p>\n Saraya\u2019s comeback saw her find a niche as a midcard heel\/mouthpiece, helping to facilitate others, like Harley Cameron, who always maximized her minutes<\/a>. Ricochet\u2019s prominence comes from his character work, amplifying rather than compensating for his wrestling IQ.<\/p>\n It’s imperfect and plenty of wrestlers need\/ed more or something different. More structure and security. A different balance between autonomy and guidance, or something else. And that\u2019s valid and fair. We\u2019re lucky there\u2019s more than one philosophy.<\/p>\n More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n Header photo \u2013 AEW \u2013 Stay tun<\/em>ed to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more AEW and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content is available on their YouTube<\/a> channel.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The noise made when wrestlers switch \u201csides\u201d from AEW to WWE, whether it\u2019s been Cody Rhodes, Aleister Black, Jade Cargill, Ricky Saints, Ethan Page, Blake Monroe, etc., produces conflicting narratives. Praise and critique. Stories that often show support for a preferred wrestling company flung as truths. It\u2019s like politics. Streamlined, simplified, and understandable stories. Distilled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":136880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,2192],"tags":[98,591,2546],"class_list":["post-136809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-wrestling","tag-cody-rhodes","tag-jeff-jarrett","tag-mjf"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136809"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136881,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136809\/revisions\/136881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/11-36.jpg\")
No Floaties but a Rope<\/strong><\/h2>\n
High Standard <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Cuts Both Ways <\/strong><\/h2>\n
AEW Isn\u2019t Elitist, but It\u2019s Not for Everyone<\/strong><\/h2>\n