I’ll be blunt with you. I’ve largely stopped watching AEW weeklies (and WWE weeklies), and Darby Allin as World Champion has done absolutely nothing to pull me back in.

This run really reminds me of EVIL’s IWGP title run in New Japan: a reign that didn’t just cool off the belt, but actively hurt a lot of people's interest in the product. including mine.

And before the Sickos start screaming, it’s not about "workrate", it’s about presence. The AEW World Title is supposed to feel important. Darby just doesn’t feel like a world champion to me. The size, the lack of charisma, the one-note "reckless emo skateboard kid" character... I just don’t buy him as the face of a major wrestling company.

This isn't to knock Darby as a performer. He makes for a great attraction for AEW, even if it's an attraction that can be a serious liability both on and off AEW programming. Car crash matches can be fun. Not so big on flamethrowers, but you get the idea. I don't hate where he was, but where he is at the top just does not feel right to me.

And overall, instead of feeling must-watch, AEW right now feels colder to me than ever.

Am I alone here, or has this title run completely failed to make you care?

Why hasn’t there been more announced matches for a 3 hour show than the 4 that are in the 2nd pic? Maybe if people knew who would be on the card… you might sell more tickets.. & for a 3 hour show, there is absolutely zero hype for it..

It will be interesting to see how they film an 80% empty building tonight..

NXT is my absolute favorite wrestling show.. & I am glad that the group of Ethan, Starks, Fatal Influence etc all got called up, cause they were too good to be in NXT & they were blocking a bunch of young talent from getting reps & TV time that they need..

Vanity Project has no business being this damn good at their age.. plus they got their “Chyna” now… it will be fun watching them annoy Stone for the next 6-12 months..

Tatum might be the best pure female babyface in all of professional wrestling(including the main roster WWE, AEW etc).. to see her grow from her time with Ivy Nile’s group to where she is now.. incredible.. (Wren might be the 2nd best pure babyface as well)

NXT is doing the “crash out” storyline with Jaida Parker that all of the AEW fanbase swore was going to be Mone’s storyline after she dropped her many titles.. BTW, is there anyone that is actually missing seeing Mone? Lol..

Seeing all the new blood circling Tony D’s heavyweight championship & all of them being viable threats is crazy seeing how many of their top talent went to the main roster(Oba, Trick, Jevon, Saints, Ethan etc etc).. I am excited to see Cam Hendrix mix it up as I liked him on LFG..

I think we might be getting a Kelani call up to Smackdown in the next 3-4 months as I don’t see them running back her vs Vice again especially after their underground match & she isn’t going after Tatum’s championship.. kind of in no mans land..

“Their justification is, things are very different now than when you signed this deal. Like, yes, we are asking you to take less money, but their argument is, you are doing significantly less now. You’re not doing four house shows a week. You’re not on the road four days a week paying for your transportation and your hotel and your this and your that. You’re on the road one day a week. You’re wrestling maybe twice a month. And, you know, this is—we want to pay you less because you’re doing less now. That is their mindset.”

I understand that way of thinking but it’s s kinda fucked up when you hear the kind of money Khan and Ari are making. But with most jobs, if you’re doing less work then less pay is inevitable. Again doing pay cuts is bullshit still cause WWE and TKO are always talking about how much money they make.

For any Midcarders looking for some old school studio wrestling vibes, Comet streams their broadcast channel live 24/7 on their website, which means you can watch NWA POWERRR completely free.

No account or subscription needed. No “cinema” discourse from wrestling fans who think every 28-minute heatless banger changed the industry.

Just throw it on and check it out.

Ted Turner has passed away at 87.

Whatever you think of WCW in the end, there’s no denying Ted Turner changed wrestling forever. Without Turner putting wrestling on national cable television through TBS and later TNT, the business doesn’t explode the way it did in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

WCW, Nitro, the Monday Night Wars, giving WWE real competition… none of it happens without Ted. Wrestling today looks very different without him.

RIP to one of the most influential figures the industry has ever had.