AEW TV - May 3, 2023/May 5, 2023

[sek69]

the Monday Night Wars' lingering effects make it 100x harder to get new stars over. After years of Raw and Nitro putting on Big Star vs Big Star matches every week to get the almighty RATINGS~! (rip DEAN), no one wants to see guys squash Joe from Accounting to establish their moveset and personality. It's tough to get a new face in the mix when you're only putting them up against other established stars. 

[Dav'oh]

That might be a self-fulfilling prophesy, though. Strowman and Wardlow got over squashing schmoes (iirc. I've got a memory like a sieve). Apart from them, it's like they don't even try, due to the accepted wisdom of "fans only want to see star vs star". Fans want to see new stars made, too, and would happily accept Dusty Rhodes - Pizza Delivery guy type vignettes and some fun squashes, in the name of making said new stars.

[KawadaSmile]

Strowman got over squashing bozos, and it was ridiculous stuff like 3 on 1 handicap matches were he was just stiffing the shit out of some poor fella.

Still, he got over doing that after a nothing run with they Wyatt family, and then Roman (and Sami) turned that dude into top champ material for a while.

[Jmare007]

I was going to push back on the squashes but then I remembered that the most momentum Danielson ever had in AEW after his debut was when he ran through the Dark Order before facing Hangman Page.

Having said that, I'm not sure a couple of vignettes and squashes would've helped guys like Cole or White to not cool off.

I also think these guys don't want quick matches on TV, they want to have quality outings, and a lot of them want to do it with newer/younger/less known talent.