I wouldn't say last night's show was awesome compared to other shows they have had, but it is still entertaining. Their last PPV really was one of the best of all time. They probably needed a breather after that one. AEW also focuses more on actual wrestling and good promos instead of corny skits like WWE does now.
A breather? Some of the best shows were always after PPVs. You remember some of those video packages the WWF used to put together before Raw and/or after a PPV? Second to none. You need the big show after the PPV to set up the next interval. It ought ot be huge.
I guess the one match between the Hobbs guy and the backstreet boy was pretty good, in terms of actual wrestling. Their main event though was absolutely terrible, both from an entertainment standpoint and a wrestling standpoint.
I'll watch it again, but it really was kind of arduous to watch last night. Given the dirth of actual good wrestling shows out there today, it probably is actually one of the best products on the market, if not the best. But that's not saying a whole lot.
It takes 3 things to make great wrestling: Great talent, great storytelling, and great character development. You are always going to have a mix of good and not so good in-ring athletes. But developing and using the talent you have to maximize their abilities is where you get the bang for the buck, as far as the actual wrestling goes.
Almost every one of the characters they rolled out there last night was boring. The crowd popped a few times but nothing really to write home about.
When you look back to the best days in wrestling, you had this:
Ric Flair
Hulk Hogan
Bret Hart
Shawn Michaels
Undertaker
Mick Foley
Chris Jericho
Sting
Triple H
Vince McMahon
Goldberg
Stone Cold
Macho Man
The Rock
DDP
Roddy Piper
There are plenty more, but these were larger than life icons in the wrestling world.
Even the under-carders like Too Cool, New Age Outlaws, Owen Hart, APA, Rakishi, Godfather, Edge, etc. were super entertaining.
Compare that to modern stars like AJ Cole, John Smith, Bob Miller, Tom Wilson, Bill Thomas, Ted Johnson, lol come on.
I'm not saying that the actual wrestling isn't great, because it probably is. But it's called sports entertainment for a reason. And so far, I haven't seen any modern products that are all that entertaining.