Figure Four Weekly: AEW’s non-wrestling segment balancing act

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Four weeks into the promotion’s existence on weekly television, one of AEW’s biggest strengths has also been a bit of a balancing act for them.

Alternatives to WWE have long tried to present themselves as having “less talk, more action.” While WWE is still too reliant on a TV format that was carried by Steve Austin and The Rock and struggles without stars of that caliber, there was a time when that was a more valid criticism than it currently is. The days of WWE programming always opening up with a monotonous 20-minute promo segment from a heel authority figure are gone for now. This decade has seen WWE totally overhaul its hiring practices, bringing the level of the company’s in-ring action higher than it’s ever been.

Finding the right balance between non-wrestling segments and matches is vital. But while WWE has had problems with finding the right mix, the biggest issue is that their talking segments too often just haven’t been very good. They’re overly scripted and rarely accomplish their goal of getting fans more interested in the match they’re supposed to be building.

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