If you find yourself ignoring the first 10 to 15 minutes of an AEW match because you know nobody is staying down until at least the fourth kickout, you aren't alone.
What should be match-ending, season-ending heavy artillery has turned into routine mid-match padding. When everything is extreme, nothing is extreme—and both the talent and the product suffer for it.
The Inflation of the High Spot
In a recent episode of The Stevie Richards Show, Stevie Richards and James Romero analyzed a clip from Dynamite where Josh Alexander executed a jumping tombstone piledriver on Darby Allin off the ring apron through two steel chairs.
Physically, the execution was flawless and safe. Creatively, it was a disaster.
Darby kicked out at two, rolled through an ankle lock a minute later, and won cleanly. No stretcher, no selling, and no long-term neck damage. A move that should have written Darby off TV for a month didn't even earn a three-count on a throwaway segment.
The Escalation Trap & Zero ROI
When high-risk spots are treated as basic transitions, it creates a dangerous feedback loop:
Desensitizing the Audience: If a tombstone through chairs off the apron is a two-count on Wednesday, the main event of a Pay-Per-View has to feature something far more life-threatening just to get the same reaction.
Destroying Heel Heat: Josh Alexander protected his opponent and delivered a monster spot, only to look useless when Darby popped back up and pinned him moments later. The heel gets no heat, and the babyface gets no sympathy.
Risk Without Reward: Talent is taking career-shortening bumps for short-lived social media clips instead of long-term story payoff.
Storytelling Beats Stunts
The irony is that Darby Allin doesn't need to destroy his body every week to stay over. His program with MJF proved that crowd connection comes from emotional stakes and basic psychology, not an endless escalation of apron bumps.
Until AEW implements basic quality control over match structure, fans will keep tuning out until the final five minutes. When every match promises a dozen false finishes, the first four kickouts mean absolutely nothing.
