Why AEW Has Beaten WWE In Adapting To The Empty Arena Era

The past few months have seen a very different brand of professional wrestling emerge, but AEW has got the better of WWE overall. The coronavirus pandemic has necessitated profound changes upon everyday life, bringing the sports and entertainment industries to a close. It’s curious though, that “sports entertainment” has continued uninterrupted. Despite heavy lockdown restrictions across the world, both WWE and AEW continued to produce weekly wrestling television without the presence of fans. There’s an argument to be made that both companies should’ve hit the pause button, especially during the peak of the pandemic. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen, and at the time of writing steps are being made to resume some semblance of normality in most countries, albeit at a safe social distance.

As a result, the “empty arena era” of professional wrestling could draw to a close sooner rather than later. The era of no crowds, pre-recorded matches and missing wrestlers has been far from ideal, and both AEW and WWE have been forced to adapt to the current climate rapidly. But with normal service (hopefully) on the horizon, it seems that AEW have done a better job with their response than WWE. Various reports have surfaced regarding AEW’s tighter protocols and more lenient policy with absent talent. Those aspects are difficult to verify without first-hand knowledge of both companies’ inner workings, so the following will focus purely on the on-screen product.

In responding to the pandemic, AEW have been several steps ahead of WWE from a production standpoint. Very quickly, AEW realized that the traditional side-on hard cam placement wasn’t going to work, as viewers would essentially be looking out over eerily empty seats or vast open blackness, immediately reinforcing the absence of the fans. AEW was the first to switch their main camera to face the entrance ramp, so that the empty crowd was mostly out of shot, and WWE’s programming soon followed suit. This did not go unnoticed by AEW’s president, Tony Khan.

A second creative decision AEW made very early on was to have other wrestlers peppering the ringside area calling out comments, cheering and booing, and popping at the right moments. Although the presence of a few wrestlers around the ring can never truly replicate the atmosphere of a full live crowd, it was far preferable to tumbleweed blowing through the building. Once again, this was a production choice that AEW made initially, and that WWE copied further down the line and in many ways, it’s a wonder Vince McMahon’s mob took so long to implement the change. The absence of anyone around the ring made WWE’s weekly shows feel odd for a long time – promos were met with deadly silence and each wrestling move reverberated like a cellphone ringing in a library. WWE have recently added NXT talent to ringside, and the atmosphere is all the better for it but once again, AEW were first to the punch.

Lastly, there’s the cinematic matches that have come to prominence due to the lack of live wrestling, with AEW and WWE both taking advantage of pre-recorded matches to put on some unique and outlandish fights. This is something that WWE spearheaded at Wrestlemania 36 with the Firefly FunHouse and Boneyard matches, both of which had their critics but were largely well-received. The Money In The Bank match at WWE HQ attracted slightly less acclaim, and the Empty Arena fight between Gargano and Ciampa on NXT didn’t receive anywhere near of much love as the duo’s previous clashes.

Such bold new match styles were always going to be hit-and-miss, and AEW’s record has been just as mixed. The much-hyped World Championship match between Jon Moxley and Jake Hager fell short of expectations, but the stadium-wide brawls between The Elite and the Inner Circle have been pure nonsensical wrestling fun. With the Stadium Stampede match at AEW’s Double or Nothing, however, AEW arguably perfected the formula, striking a balance between comedy, spectacle and actual wrestling that both companies had struggled to achieve until that point. No one is ever going to look back on 2020 as a golden era in wrestling history, but in an unprecedented situation, it was AEW who seemed to have the answers more often.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3645 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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