So if you're going to have to put in a commercial break, you might as do it in the heat spots, because there's no crowd to play off of.

Now, this relates to my larger issue, in which I do think that during this time of COVID all federations should find different ways to structure their matches, since that aren't crowds for heat, pops, etc. But that's not an issue that's localized to AEW.


>maybe ive been away from TV wrestling too long for those
>little things not to bother me. like regular viewers got
>acclimated to modern things like that, but im getting it all
>at once. i dunno.
>
>and im actually on the other side of the fence as you. i
>think the TV matches regularly go way too long.

I can only talk personally for myself, but I'll say what drew me back into watching AEW (and hence, wrestling) were the longer match times. No maybe I got spoiled because the first episode I watched had a bunch of high quality matches right there, but I enjoyed see the majority of the focus on the in-ring action. Maybe because what drove me away from watching WWE for the endless 15-minute segements/constipated HHH promos that would open Raw and Smackdown during the '00s.


>this is
>another thing my "wrestling as a sport" mentality has trouble
>with. every NBA game isnt a 121-120 barnburner, not every
>boxing match goes 12 rounds, and sometimes its just not your
>night. people rightfully complain about 50/50 booking, but
>50/50 matches can wear on me as well. its like getting the
>match over to the smart marks is a higher priority than
>getting a wrestler over. if they cant have a 6 minute TV
>match where both guys make an impression, 6 more minutes
>becomes diminishing returns for me.

Well, I know it's indicative of every week, but I thought that last Wednesday's episode did the right balance in terms of match length.

Moxley - Squash, then setting the match with Omega
Hager - Squash, then further the Inner Circle/Bucks feud
I think both Baker/Rose and Fenix/Archer were both the right length.
You could argue that the Cage/Starks match should have been shorter, but honestly, I just like watching those two wrestle. Plus, they've both been doing two-minutes or less squashes on Dark for the past month or so, and it was good to see them do some cool shit.

Which leads me to my next point: I can and do get to warch the non barn-burner stuff by watch dark. Those usually go six minutes tops, aside for the occasional 10-minute main event. It establishes who needs to be the bad-asses and gets over the guys on the "main roster." But I feel like if it's going to go on their two-hour prime time slot, then I'd rather see more lengthier matches than less.