Ask me how I REALLY feel about AEW...

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[@Dporticus]

Join the Patreon today and get access to a TON of content that can't be found on KZbin! Patreon: www.patreon.com/dporticus Discord: discord.com/invite/MnzWwAccEY

[@NickGloverMusic]

My favorite AEW entrance is probably Swerve Strickland. The song is catchy, the Nana Dance, The contrast between Swerve and Nana when they come down the ramp demeaner wise. I just think Swerve comes across as a star!

[@phil6844]

Hell yes totally agree

[@marcthunder]

swerve's entrance has always been cool... BUt Hangman has recently had an AMAZING entrance. the smoke, and the housefirejust AMAZING entrance now

[@Dickinabox]

For me its Julia Hart. I wish Malakai and the house of black had a bigger role because it'd make "the house always wins" line would hit so much harder but all the entrances were great.

[@speedforcepunch]

I totally agree with you on it being unfair to compare AEW's weekly shows to their PPVs, I feel like a lot of people compare that aspect of AEW to WWE, I feel WWE's PLEs (Outside of Wrestlemania, Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Money in the Bank) are slightly longer "normal" shows with reduced backstage segments, but they mainly feel the same, where AEW on their PPVs throw everything at them with the grand entrances and the wrestlers just turning it up to 11 in the ring. Every AEW PPV feels special where WWE have their Big 4 that they put everything into.

[@ryanlargent9320]

I’ve been having a similar thought to you regarding the “AEW stories” discourse: AEW does have them, they’re just formatted differently than how WWE does them. I also have found that for feuds, WWE’s base is more forgiving of a lackluster match if they feel the story is really strong, whereas the AEW base is kind of the inverse. Doesn’t mean either fanbase doesn’t love great matches and great stories, and the people who are the most over in both companies combine both (Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu, Hangman Page, Toni Storm, etc). It’s rare for someone in either company to get super over purely from their character or matches so neither lack “good matches” or have “no stories,” and I wish fans who are only into one or the other knew that more. Thanks for your videos!

[@ZacharyShow]

When it comes to character development, my absolute favorite is Hangman by far. There's a KZbinr (Outside Interference) who basically did a multi part retrospective on his AEW career to a point and I think you'll switch sides if you watch that. It's called The Good, The Bad and The Elite. Dropmick Wrestling also does full feud retrospectives that are worth your time

[@TheMegaDudeBroski]

I don’t know if I necessarily have an entrance in AEW that I consistently think about as being truly legendary, but man are there so many entrances I will never ever forget happening and the organic reaction I had to them. -Hangman returning to win the Casino Ladder Match -CM Punk’s return to wrestling on the Rampage debut -Bryan Danielson using Final Countdown for the first time in years at Forbidden Door -CM Punk using his ROH gear and theme for the dog collar match against MJF -Nigel McGuinness’ first match since retiring where he got the Oasis song in Wembley -Being in the arena live for the debut of Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson back to back to close out All Out -The Elite coming out to Carry On Wayward Son -The Gunns coming out to Many Men randomly

[@gaz-l621]

What about the Hangman/Dark Order 'You Don't Need A Hat To Be A Cowboy' entrance?

[@TheMegaDudeBroski]

@ another iconic entrance, I still remember exactly where I was when I saw it and how excited I got

[@Kakaraux]

2:55 i LOVE that AEW does the short entrances

[@1996gameking]

The funny thing is Tony Kahn is actually a huge WWE fan. From what I recall in some podcasts with former WWE talent that went to AEW. Tony could name some of their matches exactly by date, day and arena. I think what really annoys Tony is that WWE often states they don't see AEW as competition while also booking things to directly oppose them. I also think Tony takes some enjoyment out of stirring the pot tho.

[@KennySchafer]

If I remember correctly, Triple H threw the first shot at AEW when DX got inducted into the HOF. I think that really did affect TK because like you mentioned, he was a huge fan. I still think he keeps up with WWE, and even brought up the idea of a crossover similar to Forbidden Door a few different times, even after the back and forth shots. I still hold out hope that one day in the future we will get a WWExAEW crossover.

[@PeteRox12]

TK was also a huge ECW fan. He used to go to the ECW arena too.

[@fscorpion678]

I think Tony being on the receiving end of the feds "business practices" soured the idea of them

[@KalEL224]

TK is a huge WRESTLING fan period. He goes back to the tape trading days and such to get ROH and NJPW and the like.

[@SirSmokesAlot-r8k]

Tk is nothing but a money mark

[@Blazntrax81]

Julia Hart is my favorite female performer in AEW. Always has been. The entrance, the character, the look, she's got that IT factor.

[@X91X-km7hp]

She has fantastic facial expressions. Great actress!

[@RobertJW]

It's part of the "sports feel" of it, that the live show experience feels significant. Like catching live football!

[@tallguy8389]

Ok you got me. Ill check out AEW. I already have max and had no idea it was on there

[@Dporticus]

Hope you enjoy!

[@forgotaboutdrea]

Really disagree on the video packages. AEW does have them, the last episode of Dynamite had four separate videos recapping storylines, and every PPV pre-show is 2 solid hours of video packages. They post varying types on their KZbin and other socials, from short recaps to full "timelines" that show every moment of a particular feud. It's also one of the things I hate most about WWE - every show is 20% wrestling, 20% commercials/ad breaks, and 60% video packages, sometimes of stuff they *just* showed. I think if you decided to go back to the beginning of the Hangman story and watch his journey over the past five years, you'd be hooked and get that soap-opera feel. Rhea vs Kris would be such fire, hell yeah. And yeah, fellow theatre/choir kid solidarity!

[@steezylingling]

I think one thing that can really help AEW is somehow moving Collision to Thursday, cause now it’s at a point where I would rather watch either UFC or a PLE that wwe has on on Saturday (Royal rumble for example) and I feel like many people do the same

[@bunktuzzi44]

looking forward to this!

[@Jswiss]

AEW ROCKS!

[@Dporticus]

Truth!

[@richardmargerison1744]

As someone who likes AEW more than WWE i appreciate your open minded approach.

[@FiggyABQ]

I popped when Timeless returned as well, but I can’t help but to feel that it was a bit “rushed”. And why Collision? And thank you for not falling into the hate part of KZbin…it’s like “why are you watching it!?”

[@Dporticus]

They're clearly trying to establish a reason for more folks to feel like they shouldn't miss collision. I guess it's better than just never putting anything meaningful on it.

[@415izzle]

@@Dporticusok but comparing to 🌵 jack is crazy work

[@PeteRox12]

@@Dporticus Exactly!! So many fans complained that Collision was becoming Rampage 2.02, so now that TK is trying to make Collision more "must see," people now say "why wasn't that on Dynamite'? LOL

[@BigEll6969]

Also because it was the Collision up against SNME so they want to establish big stuff will happen.

[@wooobenny]

why cant big moments happen on any show?

[@TheNeonParadox]

I would have to agree about AEW maybe using more theatrics in their entrances. Some do like HoB/HoH, Julia Hart, Darby, etc... but a lot of the entrances are a little vanilla. I think what might help is to bring in more people to help with their music. Mikey Rukus literally does it all himself, aside from music they license, and no matter how good a musician is, a lot of the entrance themes are going to start sounding similar after a while. More epic music would lead to more epic entrances. Great video as always! I need to be on the lookout for your posts in the future.

[@Rick-TSWKF]

He doesn’t delegate very well lol

[@TheNeonParadox]

@Rick-TSWKF Idk if it's a delegation issue as much as an allocation one. Tony just needs to be more willing to invest in either another musician to help out, or throw more money at independent artists like he did for Brian Keith and The Outrunners. It's not that expensive to license from us indie musicians. Lol

[@Kaslo25]

Toni Storm and Skye Blue are the only people I care about in AEW. Although the highlights of Riccochet vs Swerve feud has me interested in that too.

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

Ironically it was The Bloodline (and Roman's excessive glazing IMO) that actually drove me out of WWE. Since 2021 and haven't looked back, particularly because I was just coming back during the Pandemic times, where there was no more Brock, no Roman, no Goldberg, and Drew McIntyre was being pushed as THE GUY. Those were the times.

[@barbz2741]

The reality is, WWE is family oriented and high production values, AEW is aimed at 18-30 and focuses more on action. Pick your poison, dont be toxic, its wrestling

[@ElectricNikkiGames]

Wait a minute there's AEW fans who never saw WWE?

[@Dporticus]

Not likely lol

[@Cody-m3r]

Hey dporticus do you see yourself as a wwe fan, an aew fan or a fan of both

[@Dporticus]

Definitely a fan of both. But currently more invested in wwe.

[@Cody-m3r]

​@@Dporticuscould you please be posting videos more often maybe every 2 to 3 days. Or maybe daily content.

[@TheProteanGeek]

For me the thing that now puts me off with AEW that never used to is the presentation style and quality of the actual televised product. This is funny because I was watching for the first year and a bit pretty solidly and it didn't bother me then. I don't know if it has changed in some negative way or if there is some other disconnect now. I watch NJPW a lot too and I don't feel that way about their presentation. I also watch streamed indie shows and their lack of quality while sometimes really bad and annoying in moments doesn't really bug me overall.

[@Lashes.541]

Yah I got three minutes in and changed to something else, I respect your opinion.. but aew needs to do nothing wwe does, it’s supposed to be an alternative. They definitely need to not recap, that’s one of the major reasons people left wwe. The non stop recaps during raw of shit you seen fifteen minutes ago. You are super new to wwe and don’t have a clue what it was under Vince, non stop insult the viewers intelligence! Sports entertainment is NOT pro wrestling, it’s a cousin at best, it’s fine to like wwe if that’s your thing, it’s fine to like all the different promotions. But stop trying to wish wwe stuff into real pro wrestling companies. That’s like watching a comedy film and thinking they should add horror into it, yes they are both films, but completely different genre. You have even stated in the past to liking characters and promos over in ring work, no disrespect, you are a really nice guy, but you don’t like pro wrestling. You like wwe a tv show that features pro wrestling, hundreds of pro wrestling promotions across the whole planet, over a hundred and sixty years of history… wwe is the only one like it is, it’s not professional wrestling in any way, like what you like, stop wishing other company’s turn into that stupid soap opera stuff. Shit once aew started trying that they lost most of there fanbase and there ratings dropped by 70% us aew fans wanted something completely different than wwe, we watched ecw, roh, mid south, czw, njpw, ddt, stardom the list goes on, we don’t want the bloodline story or fancy over the top spectacle we want the story told in the ring and not ten minute matches we’re both guys are moving as slow as possible. No hate to wwe fans, but you wwe fans need to accept there is billions around the world that want zero sports entertainment. I don’t understand why wwe fans don’t understand that’s okay. That people can not like or respect wwe style. And want something completely different than

[@Dporticus]

So question, if you say i don't actually like pro wrestling, why do i enjoy watching aew every week? Is aew also not pro wrestling in your eyes?

[@samirabdel-aziz478]

​@Dporticus this guy above sounds like he's part of that defensive crowd you talked about last time. WWE is pro wrestling, just one that puts stories over work rate. You're doing fine, by the way. Like your content

[@fscorpion678]

Twitter is definitely a cesspool for wrestling. Bluesky is much more friendly and welcoming

[@Dporticus]

I just stick to my following tab and never touch the "for you" page. Lol

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

​@@DporticusBro, it's the comments. You can't have an AEW post without some toxic WWE fan/anti AEW dudebro trying to piss people off. And I guess the same hapoens in the other company's, although I was never the guy to actively search for a WWE post to dunk on them.

[@splashwellington29]

Stories and in ring action are not separate things brother. You cannot have in ring action without storytelling.

[@demiseslapper6632]

Actually they have been putting a lot of video packages and recaps recently. I would even say a bit too much for my taste.

[@WilliamAhonzo]

People do not necessarily hate Aew............................ they hate the person booking Aew. It was like in the vince era, people hated vince mcmahon they refused to see the good things he actually did, same is happening with tony khan. If aew announce that tony is no longer the head of creative i assure you ratings will jump back up so high it will be viewed as "competition" once more

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

Only people on the internet care who is booking the shows. Personally, I haven't watched WWE in years, but I see in pictures or headlines that HHH puts himself on the screen way more than Khan 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@HauntedHeme13]

Literally 0 chance someone watches AEW but has never seen WWE 😂

[@Dporticus]

My point exactly 💯 👌

[@forgotaboutdrea]

Incorrect. I know a lot of Gen-Z people who got into AEW through Orange Cassidy, Danhausen, and Dark Order, and have never seen any other wrestling in their lives. They may have checked out other promotions, especially NJPW, but it's definitely possible to be an AEW watcher who does not watch WWE and never has.

[@Dporticus]

​@@forgotaboutdrea never said they watch wwe, but I genuinely don't believe there's a single AEW fan that hasn't heard of WWE. Which is the only point I was making in regards to brand awareness and recognition.

[@forgotaboutdrea]

@ Yeah, I absolutely agree on that point that everyone has heard of WWE, but I was replying to HauntedHeme's comment that said "has never seen WWE". Hearing of something and seeing it are two different things.

[@mooretoys94]

Do you think aew can ever sell out a 20- k audience again? Not talking about ppv numbers those are still doing okay

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

I think they do it for the novelty of it.

[@totallykoolyeah]

Richie rich buys wrestlers the end

[@varitsvq9002]

Let's gooo!

[@Blazntrax81]

It's unfortunate you won't go back and watch shows. MAX gives you the ability to watch Dynamite when it was actually good. The last year of AEW television has been a dumpster fire to say the least.

[@jaredbrady5566]

The main issue with Story in AEW is the pacing. It's almost never good. The only well paced stories I've seen in AEW were the Jericho World title arcs vs Omega, Cody, and Mox. Cody and Brody, and anything Punk was doing prior to brawl out. And I'll put that down to who was involved, rather than Tony's booking. People cite Hangman and Omega, but that was all over the place. Hangman was barely on TV for most of Kenny's heel run. It's like a lot of guys on the AEW roster, they fall down the back of Tony's toybox, but he finds them again then sticks them back into a story from months beforehand. Then we had Hangman and Swerve, Swerve is breaking into Hangman's house, then there's nothing happening for weeks, then Swerve's house is on fire, they have that garbage match, then nothing, then they are bickering again a few months later. So much time happens between beats, they are switch babyface and heel, people are getting confused and thinking "These guys are still angry at each other?" Then you have the opposite, lightspeed storytelling where nothing has a chance to breathe. Like we saw with Toni and Mariah. This didn't eve last a month... What the hell? Then you have fueds that begin with a cage match or street fight. Where's the logic? I think it's good to have another strong promotion where top talent can go, but it needs to be run better.

[@Deportamama]

Nice

[@DrewOrDie]

I 100% agree that AEW needs to cater towards casuals more. AEW has always had this problem of assuming you know who or what something is because they generally have a more hardcore wrestling fan based product. But that's not how you grow a company. The company has been around for almost 6 years they have solidified themselves as a legit company. Now it's time to grow the product, and you can't do that without casual fans. I'm not saying to abandon the hardcore fans who have made the company what it is, but a video package here or there would be nice for newer fans or fans who don't watch every show.

[@fscorpion678]

Why do they need to? They assume because that's who their product is for.

[@DrewOrDie]

@@fscorpion678 I already answered that in the previous comment. They need to in order to grow. I assume they want to make as much money as possible and grow the product as much as possible. You can't do that without casual fans. AEW will always be catered more towards hardcore fans, and that's fine, but that doesn't mean they should completely alienate casual fans either. I'm not asking them to completely change the product, just add a little here and there for more casual fans.

[@KalEL224]

They literally have video packages like this past weds they just showed Renee’s interview with the deathriders, they did a recap of Collision for both Toni Storm and Will Hobbs/Big Bill, like people who say “oh they don’t have video packages” out themselves that they don’t watch the show.

[@luislima3476]

If I wanted to watch a product that caters to people that don’t watch it, I would go and watch WWE. AEW caters to the people that watch week to week. They have done it since its inception and they just signed a huge TV deal out of it. They’re the fastest growing wrestling company in history. Seems to me that they are doing fine.

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

While I agree to some extent, they have to be careful with their approach. It would be easy and disastrous to end up becoming WWE2 because trying to make everyone happy is a surefire way to make no one happy.

[@Khashmonet]

250k people watched AEWs biggest story beat in years. They have no idea what they're doing.

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

People still pretending to care about RATINGS ™️ in 2025 when they both have Streaming service deals 😭 This isn't 1998 , bro, Cable TV has one foot in the grave.

[@BrianJohnsonArmwrestling]

Toni storm tip 5 in all of wrestling lmao thats hilarious there's probably 5 in NXT alone better than her

[@BrianJohnsonArmwrestling]

"In ring talent"? "Storylines"? AEW has neither they hardly ever have an actual story Will is probably their best talent other than that it's all WWE rejects an indie wrestlers. Character work an introduction sucks. AEW is just bad dude I have tried multiple times to give AEW a shot but all that stuff plus the bad promos and booking just turned me off from it an couldn't get into it whatsoever

[@KalEL224]

You are literally the negative person he was talking about. How sad for you.

[@wooobenny]

dont watch then but your negativity toward aew (which, fine, you're allowed to feel your feelings) doesnt mean that aew doesnt have talented wrestlers or tell stories (they objectively 100% do for both)