PARKS’S TAKE: This is one area where AEW has made an improvements in the production look of their shows

One aspect of AEW’s improved television product over the last few months has been its embrace of smaller, more eclectic venues that have really popped on television. Each arena is like a character unto itself within the show, and AEW has been able to use them in creative ways. The dives from Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay off the trusses or Toni Storm’s promos from the balconies have made the shows stand out as different from one another.

Historically in WWE, there have been but a few arenas that they frequent for TV where you can immediately tell they’re in that venue. One is Madison Square Garden. Otherwise, most of the time, you can’t identify if they’re in Dayton, Ohio or Sacramento, California. It’s not really WWE’s fault – as a weekly traveling circus of sorts, they can’t really spend time and effort making cookie-cutter arenas “feel” different from one another.

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AEW now has that ability. Instead of booking cavernous arenas where 2,000 people and thousands more empty seats make for a tough shoot, they’re now selling out smaller sites. They may be losing a bit of revenue by having to turn fans away, but they’re also probably not paying the kinds of site fees to rent those big arenas as they are these smaller locations.

The product feels hot again in part because the fans are packed in, which makes for a livelier atmosphere than the same number spread out amongst 18,000 seats. The fans today are also closer to the ring and thus the action, giving them a more visceral response to what’s going on. It’s not always going to be perfect – you’ll still have quiet crowds or environments that just don’t work as well for TV. So far, though, AEW has gotten it right in these places more often than not, while also embracing their surroundings in a way that makes them feel unique to the viewing audience.