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While not perfect, All Elite Wrestling has produced some of the most compelling storylines and unforgettable moments in modern wrestling history. We break down the times AEW proved it might just be the best promotion ever, comparing it to giants like WWE, NJPW, and ECW.
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00:00Is AW already the best wrestling promotion ever? I mean, I would say so, but I'm just one man. Look,
00:05it's far from perfect. Dynamite, even at its seminal peak, is too rushed and formulaic as a
00:10TV show. It's also, and this is deeply unfortunate given the early sports-oriented
00:14messaging, a little bit too silly and trivial. The various crimes, the wacky angles that invariably
00:19use pathetic, fake props, the consistent failure of the self-indulgent commentary team to be
00:23believably self-serious, or various emotion-driven angles, AW does sometimes feel like it isn't
00:29proper, if that's the word. AW can also be accused of living down to its reputation as a company that
00:34exists solely to put on the quote-unquote best matches. You'd be a bad-faith operator to accuse
00:39AW of not telling stories, but the relentless all-star eight-man tags, overused plunder,
00:44collision in general, it's pure critical acclaim doping at times. Now, you could easily argue that
00:50New Japan Pro Wrestling embarked on a single classic era, the 2011-2019 resurgence and US expansion,
00:56that was superior to, and has outlasted, AW's entire existence to this point. And that's
01:01without factoring in the promotion's massively popular 90s heyday. If using objective commercial
01:05measurements, obviously WWE is the best literal promotion, ECW was far more creative and influential,
01:11Jim Crockett promotions almost perfected the trifecta of great pro wrestling, matches, angles,
01:16and promos, and its best stuff was so believable and soulful that it withstands
01:20time's test better than any promotion of yore.
01:22If you think about what makes a great promotion across every category though,
01:26well, AW might still have peaked higher than any other competitor.
01:29I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com, and these are 12 times AW was better than literally everything.
01:3512. The Kenny Omega vs Hangman Page Storyline
01:38Traditional pro wrestling heat barely exists, which is less than ideal. The mainstream US
01:42scene is still modeled to chase an unrecoverable emotion. I mean, when was the last time you
01:46earnestly felt moved by the conduct of a heel, without playing along to the admiration of just the
01:51performance? For many, it was 2020-2021. Hangman Page vs Kenny Omega was the storyline that best
01:57captured relatable audience investment in a time defined by social media. The misleading,
02:02glamorous lives our peers apparently live make it difficult to feel a true sense of self-worth.
02:06Many of us are just anxious that we don't compare. Page never felt elite, and the buy-in was easy.
02:11He,
02:12in 2019, was a very good worker and one of the funnier cast members of Being the Elite,
02:16but he wasn't Kenny Omega. Hangman never drew money nor worked a truly iconic singles match.
02:20Kenny had worked so many of them that it defined his persona.
02:23Together, they tagged at Kenny's urging, the reason behind which slowly became apparent. Omega
02:27was in decline. He knew Page was his successor deep down, and he wanted to use him. Page scored
02:32the falls in their successful tag team title defenses, but Omega still treated Page like
02:36he was doing him a favor. The fans caught on and gravitated towards Page, who in parallel was
02:41putting forward genuinely hilarious character work. At All Out 2020, Omega had the temerity to abandon
02:46Page, even though he'd carried the team. This catalyzed their singles feud, and put Page all
02:51the way over as a man who was elite. The fans just needed to convince him. MJF vs CM Punk
02:56conversely
02:57somehow generated the real stuff. MJF was such a manipulative sociopathic POS that it felt like
03:02he'd travelled back in time to a period where we could all just get lost in the fiction.
03:0611. Those Magic Weekend Nights
03:08To reduce it, the core purpose of a pro-wrestling promotion is to build towards, and nail the execution
03:13of, major destination events. If there's a top 10 list of the best pro-wrestling pay-per-views ever,
03:18it really might be difficult for any other company to get a look in.
03:21AEW Revolution 2020 is the model pay-per-view for any promotion of an upward trajectory.
03:26Match for match, it has since been improved upon several times, but the vast amount of talent who
03:30felt like world-beaters on the night was just incredible. Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, MJF,
03:35Jon Moxley, and Hangman Page all looked more than capable of securing AEW's future across the next
03:40five years, and they did. All Out 2021 was in fact too good to be true, but if Revolution
03:4520 felt like the night AEW could become one of the best promotions ever, All Out 2021 was the night
03:50it
03:50did. Since then, take your pick. The talent roster expanded to an extent that presented several
03:56niggling issues on TV, but on those immortal weekend nights, it was totally worth it.
04:00Revolution 2023 boasted the best Iron Man match and, to that point, the best plunder match in AEW history.
04:06An absolutely exhilarating trios match between the Elite and the House of Black was merely the
04:10third best match on the card. Dynasty 2024 casually presented what many consider to be the best match
04:16ever promoted on US soil. If you troll through AEW's big show chronology from 2021 onwards,
04:22the absolute worst you're looking at is a 7 out of 10. The sheer number of bonafide nines,
04:26WrestleDream 23, All In, London 24, Revolution 2025 is outrageous. All In, Texas was a 9.5. For the
04:33love of god, the fourth best match on that show was a worthy entry into the Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika
04:38Okada rivalry if we're just gonna put it up in lights. 10. Every anarchy in the arena match
04:44For a long time, it felt like pro wrestling had exhausted the possibilities of the gimmick match.
04:48Even the last great pre-AEW idea, Money in the Bank, so successful that it spawned its own annual
04:53PLE, one that expanded the big four into the big five, was a tweak on an existing idea. It was
04:58a ladder
04:58match with six wrestlers in it. Every other new idea was a convoluted take on something that already
05:03existed, which was practically the specialty of TNA. There was until the pandemic forced AEW to think
05:08creatively, and they did so to an extravagant degree with Stadium Stampede, a retooled version of
05:13which Anarchy in the Arena transplanted the deranged action and comedy hybrid into the wild
05:18throws of a bigger packed building. An outrageously entertaining melting pot of ideas, Anarchy in the
05:23Arena is just amazing. Squads of five do battle across the entire arena and the backstage area.
05:28At its mind-blowing best, Anarchy in the Arena is so unhinged and expansive that the director
05:33sometimes struggles to capture the next wild stunt. This is a feature, not a bug though,
05:37that enhances the all-important sense of chaos. For an elaborate match that requires so much in
05:42the way of expert timing, it never really feels like it. You could argue that the match is formulaic and
05:46a bit contrived. Every year a song plays on a loop over the PA before the heels find a way
05:51to cut it
05:51and deprive the crowd. Every year since the Young Bucks have worked it, there's an awesome unexpected
05:55explosion spot. Every year a babyface comes back from the dead and heroically walks down
05:59the ring to even the odds. But this is wrestling Christmas. You do the same things every year
06:04precisely because they're so good. Anarchy in the Arena is the last great gimmick match,
06:09and very possibly the best. 9. Sting's Retirement Run
06:13The major Puro leagues know their way around an epic, emotionally draining retirement run and ceremony.
06:18WWE did a near perfect job with Ric Flair back in 2008, even if the man himself removed all heft
06:23and
06:23meaning from the occasion by doing four consecutive jobs to Hulk Hogan in Australia just a year later.
06:28Mostly though, the retirement gimmick is just that. It works, it draws, but nobody takes it too seriously.
06:33Sting's retirement run was as incredible as his wonderful AEW chapter. It all worked to a frankly
06:38magical extent. AEW Sting was two men at once. The icon, rendered timeless through the painted face,
06:44and the expert smoke and mirrors party matchmaking, and a visibly old man in his 60s whose unhinged
06:49bumps ranged from electrifying to terrifying. He was once a genuine superhero and a man drenched
06:54in pathos all at once. This was explored to genius effect against the Young Bucks at the
06:58site of his retirement, Revolution 2024. The Stinger popped the Greensboro crowd with his
07:03superb no-sell fire-up spots, but he also bumped on glass. This was inspired since his partner Darby
07:08Allen had set the tone by taking the more dangerous version earlier in the match, writing him out of it
07:12until the finish. Sting prevailed, finding the wherewithal to avenge the Bucks, who had bloodied
07:16his family soon after his father's passing, the chilling revelation of which on Dynamite might
07:20have informed his best promo ever. Sting Rafter dropped into a death match in what was the perfect
07:25summary of his best WCW and AEW output. There's a reason everybody says they want to go out like Sting.
07:318. Whenever the stories earned their moments
07:33You watch professional wrestling to feel bad or scared, and then to feel good. The feel-good moment should
07:38not be manufactured. It should be the result of careful, agonizing, well-thought-out storytelling.
07:43And for a promotion that some insist tells no stories, the sheer volume of earned, jubilant,
07:48feel-good moments is the best proof that that take is the dumbest one around. Take, for example,
07:53the I-need-my-older-brother reunion between the Rhodes Brothers at the inaugural Double or Nothing.
07:57That set the tone for AEW's cathartic creative model. Since then, AEW has not created, but rather
08:03arrived at genuinely stirring and rewarding conclusions that became moments. The success of Hangman Page's quest to
08:08prove himself elite at Full Gear 2021. Swerve Strickland taking the spot he promised was his
08:13and making Black History at Dynasty 2024. Bryan Danielson finally showing the ambition to win
08:18the big one at Wembley, powered by the love of his daughter stationed at ringside. Sting proving that
08:22he actually was a superhero all along by winning his retirement match at Revolution 24. The acclaimed
08:27winning the tag team titles after they'd fought to become the most over-act in the company when
08:31opposed by the most competitive field ever of major star names and genuine living legends. Hangman Page,
08:37soaked in tears, ready to prize open the briefcase at All In Texas to retrieve his second world title.
08:42Quite possibly thinking that his real-life feud with CM Punk meant that AEW might never have such
08:47a moment in AEW possible again. 7. When the bell rang
08:50Through sheer longevity alone, New Japan has almost certainly promoted more great matches than AEW,
08:56and indeed every other competitor. Where AEW might win this category though, is range. WWE boasts
09:01both. It's a promotion that has dealt in incendiary brawls. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin,
09:05WrestleMania 13. Modern technical classics like Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles, TLC 2018,
09:11and deliriously entertaining BS spectacles, Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville, WrestleMania 38.
09:16The sheer volume of terrible WWE matches though, is only matched by the mundane. WWE, by design,
09:22doesn't want to win awards for best matches, often crafting them to be nothing special. AEW does.
09:27There may not be a technical wrestling match anywhere ever as good as Bryan Danielson vs. Zack
09:32Sabre Jr. at WrestleDream 23. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door 23 is a candidate for the
09:38best modern epic, and features the most well-timed rope break spot ever. Omega only seemed to start
09:43moving his feet towards the rope following the Stormbreaker at 2.9. Whichever tag style you prefer,
09:48Lucha, High Flying, Southern, between them the Lucha Brothers, Young Bucks and FTR have all delivered
09:53classics. MJF vs. Bryan Danielson at Revolution 23 was the most dramatic Iron Man match ever. Eddie
09:59Kingston is one of the best brawlers ever, and his AEW library is stunning. There have been over 300
10:04episodes of AEW Dynamite. Almost every single edition has presented at least one excellent pro
10:10wrestling match. The vast majority have featured at least two. There hasn't been a single episode
10:14with all bad matches. And for better or worse, since Collision fundamentally exists to book matches
10:19for the Sickos, that principle applies twofold. 6. When the roster got stacked. AEW's roster at
10:25various points and in totality is the best ever assembled. Kenny Omega, the best big match worker
10:30ever, solidified that case in AEW in unforgettable wars against Will Ospreay, Bryan Danielson and Hangman
10:35Page. Bryan Danielson, the best worker ever, enjoyed his best ever run of matches in the promotion.
10:40Almost everything he did was genius. His Dynamite match against Roosh was one of the most disgusting
10:45frenzied brawls in modern wrestling history. And it wasn't even his best AEW match involving blood.
10:50Hangman Page evolved into a modern great in AEW, with his unparalleled attention to detail and
10:55frightening commitment. Will Ospreay's 2024 was an absurd collection of state-of-the-art dream
11:00matches. CM Punk, in contrast, delivered much in the way of elegant strip-backed craft. The Young
11:05Bucks, kings of pay-per-view, made fans believe the finish wasn't false about a hundred times in
11:09countless matches. MJF reached these stratospheric levels when he wasn't trying to do too much.
11:14Swerve Strickland ascended to the tier of best in the world from 2023 onwards. Jon Moxley,
11:19when motivated, felt like a real hero and the most imposing big bad, depending on which role
11:23he played. Tony Storm eventually became the most over-wrestler in the company, irrespective of gender,
11:28in early 2025. And the supporting cast more closely resembles the best wrestling festival
11:33ever than just a mere roster of talent. The range and quality of talent is just silly. Chris Statlander,
11:38FTR, Powerhouse Hobbs, Kyle Fletcher, Darby Allin, Bandido, Kazuchika Okada, Eddie Kingston,
11:43Hikaru Shida, Jamie Hayter. He's unfashionable now, but AEW even got the best out of the legendary
11:48Chris Jericho for three mostly glorious years too. 5. Whenever AEW hit the music
11:54The stereo output of Mikey Ruckus and licensed themes is a massive AEW selling point. AEW perhaps
11:59hasn't captured the grand majesty of Old Japan's 90s library, nor classic-era WWF's ability to
12:05soundtrack the distinct personality of its crazed cast of wrestlers, though timeless Tony Storms does
12:09come very close. Also, and this is crucial and very annoying, AEW does not turn the volume up on TV
12:15feed anywhere near as loud as they should. Still, the themes. Hangman Page boasts no less than two
12:20incredible compositions. One sets the tone of a man who lives to persevere. The other is a menacing
12:25sound of that same man finally succumbing to the dark. FTR's Giorgio Moroder soundalike is too brazen
12:30even for Jimmy Hart, but it's still awesome. Eddie Kingston's theme brilliantly distills the
12:35aggression, anguish and dogged spirit of his persona. Brodie King's own God's Hate facemelter
12:40is as hard as any wrestling theme ever. There are other infinitely more significant reasons to wish
12:44cast an Adam Cole return. His incredible theme remains one of them. AEW can't claim credit for
12:49many themes, which were ported across from other promotions, but they still play them. This is a
12:53promotion blessed with blaring out Katsuyori Shibata's theme, The Pixies, and Willow Nightingale's
12:58five-star bop on the same night. Tony Khan's love of the game is so ardent that he'll spend appalling
13:03amounts of money to make the moment soar as highly as it should. The Darby Allin balcony
13:07dive to the final countdown, that was just sensational. 4. Whenever Tony Khan wasn't a
13:12typical Kani. This is a hard sell, given that he's a billionaire who might act with more childish
13:16ruthlessness than his sometimes dopey public persona suggests. Many performers have spoken
13:21of Khan's tendency to ghost the wrestlers on his roster that he has no intention of using.
13:25Tony Khan, though, truly wants good things to happen for his talent, and puts them in positions
13:29to achieve it. Even the dud signings, whose runs were unfortunate, enjoyed at least one great night.
13:34Keith Lee at All Out 2022, Malakai Black at Revolution 23, Jake Hager during the first
13:39stadium stampede. Hell, even Paul White took an awesome bump in the strange yet wonderful Like
13:43a Dragon Street fight. Khan fought with Warner to get the Briscoes on television. His tribute to the
13:48much-missed Mr. Brodie Lee was the most emotionally stirring and dignified wrestling tribute show ever,
13:53and the best wrestling show ever, full stop. On that night, Khan allowed Brodie Jr.
13:57the stage on occasion to create dream moments for himself. He granted Hangman Page as much time as
14:02he needed and wanted to be a father, when Page was in the midst of the push of his life.
14:06Khan,
14:06at times, is too nice. Without overpushing them, he has refused to give up on wrestlers who stood a
14:11very remote chance of getting over. A lot of people love AEW because it's great, and while Khan has made
14:16more than one appalling decision, the signing of Ric Flair for example, more people love it because,
14:22by wrestling standards, it's really quite nice.
14:243. When Tony Khan Listened
14:26Almost every promoter in the history of the medium has inflicted an unwanted wrestler upon their
14:31audience because the Booker happened to like them. Vince McMahon almost specialised in this. Bill
14:35Watts operated with galling nepotism when pushing his useless son Eric in 1992. Triple H is also guilty
14:41of this. Solo Sokoa, Seth Rollins in the role of a top guy, and the inverse scenario of not pushing
14:46wrestlers the fans vocally want to see more of. Bianca Belair has been underutilised since July 2022.
14:51Guido is practically defined by his stubbornness during these years of decline. Has Tony Khan
14:56ever burdened his audience for such a significant amount of time?
14:59Jack Perry's big push in 2024 counts, sure, but we are entering exception to the rural territory. And
15:04Perry was written off TV when Khan eventually got it. He didn't dig his heels in. Tony Khan might have
15:09repeated the very mistakes he knew all too well not to make as an intelligent superfan. The sub-WWE
15:14skits of 2023 were ghastly, but he listens to, respects and rewards his fanbase. If the fans
15:20dislike a certain direction, he will abandon it, even if he's a little slow to implement the change,
15:25and should be more ahead of things in general. To cite two examples, after a dismal 2023,
15:29Khan implemented his own version of the G1 Climax, the round-robin continental classic,
15:33as a bit of an apologetic gesture. He should have known full well that the money in the bank cash
15:38-in
15:38gimmick wasn't what AEW fans wanted for their alternative company, and so he's dropped it.
15:42One thing has also remained consistent. Khan outright refuses to falsely advertise matches.
15:47That's better than deliberately booking a mediocre product in stasis, as Khan knows he's
15:51already secured his audience. 2. When Dynamite was at its peak
15:55Yes, Dynamite is rushed. Yes, Dynamite too often features matches that are predictable. It's not
16:00inaccurate to state that up to 90% of them have a clear favourite, who ends up winning in the
16:04end.
16:04Yes, match quality is too often emphasised over the emotional investment of who actually wins and
16:09loses. Can you even remember the winners of the all-star eight-man tags that are nakedly designed
16:13to get a four-and-a-half star rating? Sure, the commentary is all too trivial. It's not
16:17remotely ideal when the booth is missing an ill-tempered post-prime Jim Ross to ground things.
16:21Dynamite remains the best episodic TV wrestling show of all time, though. Peak Mid-South had better
16:26angles and gripping show-long storylines, ditto Jerry Jarrett's Memphis TV, but neither had a match as
16:31good as Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson, or Will Ospreay vs Darby Allin. Peak WCW Nitro was incredible,
16:37powered by a constant thread of mystery, cool new character archetypes and bombastic action set
16:41pieces, but even then it was bloated and convoluted. A lot of the vaunted cruiserweight
16:45action was more refreshing then than great now. WWE Raw has ranged from the best and worst TV
16:50wrestling ever, the most wildly uneven show of all time, and it was the latter well over half the time.
16:55Hangman Page's epic, super detailed, emotionally torturous arc played out over Dynamite. MJF's
17:01phenomenal plots between 2019 and 2022 made for genuinely unpredictable and compelling TV.
17:06In a much needed contrast to the endlessly great in-ring fare. The names plucked for the labors
17:10of Jericho, the stipulations set out for Cody Rhodes, the seven star rivalry with CM Punk,
17:15all were great actual television. Whatever's good about wrestling TV,
17:19AEW Dynamite at one point or another perfected it.
17:22And number 1. Whenever AEW Built A Major Match
17:25Truthfully, while AEW has broadcast some of the best promos in wrestling history from 2019 to 2025,
17:31Dynamite hasn't featured anywhere near enough. The emphasis on action is AEW's key selling point,
17:35and that is astute given the competition they face. But it's hard to shake the idea that such
17:39a high concentration of matches could mean so much more if AEW just stuck a microphone in front of
17:44some of the best talkers more often. CM Punk is definitely one of them, and his stuff was
17:49sensational. The signature venom was still there, the wisdom of his old man character at times profound.
17:54Jon Moxley knows his way around a graphic threat with a screenwriter's panache. Hangman Page's rhythm is
17:59outstanding, his fiery self-belief works so well since he's careful to be meek with his opening comments.
18:04Eddie Kingston and MJF need to feud at some point over the next few years because holy hell,
18:09together they occupy the perfect face vs heel match graphic. Just imagine what that would
18:13look like or better yet sound like. What's more irritating about AEW's relative lack of interview
18:18segments is that it's a promotion in which so many people find themselves. Will Ospreay had improved
18:22a lot in New Japan, but in AEW he evolved into a man drenched in offbeat charm and irresistible
18:27determination. Toni Storm was a dork before joining AEW, but now she's one of the funniest wrestlers
18:32ever. Ricochet was defined by how terrible he was on the stick, but he exudes confidence in 2025.
18:38AEW might not be the best ever promotion for interviews, but it's not far off and it could
18:42easily become it, rounding out the entire argument that myself and Michael Sidgwick on
18:46the script have just put forward.
18:47hogyhaf-jord
18:47hogyhaf-jord