WWE legend points out the biggest issue with AEW, "That's not how you tell a story" (Exclusive)

AEW has come under a lot of criticism over the years. Now, a WWE legend has pointed out the biggest issue with the Jacksonville-based promotion.

Ever since the company's inception in 2019, All Elite Wrestling has grown by leaps and bounds. The promotion has added stars from around the world to its roster, but Tony Khan has continued to struggle to grow the product's viewership over the years. WWE legend Teddy Long has now pointed out the biggest issue with AEW.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Time Machine podcast with host Mac Davis, Long said he doesn't watch All Elite Wrestling. However, he said that the company was more concerned about who was getting over and who wasn't, instead of focusing on storytelling.

"Oh, no. Not really. Because, you know, like I told you, I don't watch AEW, you know what I mean? So I can't speak on something on the product that I don't really look at. But what Sandman was doing there was explaining it just how it is. You know what I mean? I don't get it. They're like they're too much concerned about somebody getting over and somebody not getting over. That's not how you tell a story. You know what I mean? So I I just I can't follow," he said. [3:58 - 4:25]

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Check out Long's comments in the video below:

Sandman also gave his honest thoughts about AEW

All Elite Wrestling has often come under heavy scrutiny from both fans and critics. Many have criticized the company's booking decisions over the years, and Sandman was just the latest to join that list.

During the same episode of the podcast, Sandman said that so many matches in the Jacksonville-based promotion felt the same. While he said he loved Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay, the rest of the roster, according to him, wasn't up to the mark.

“Dude, here’s the thing. AEW, there are so many matches that are just the same. I can’t watch any FTR versus this tag team again. There are certain guys I love. I love Moxley, love Kenny Omega, love Okada, Will Ospreay, and his buddy or whatever. Love that dude. But everybody else is like, meh. Do another 600 spots in this match and I’ll sit here and not care even more. WWE’s storyline is great. Even though they give you like 50% less wrestling than AEW does, there’s no comparison in the numbers,” Sandman said. [0:32 - 1:16]

It will be interesting to see how Tony Khan goes about improving the storytelling in his promotion.

About the author

Sunil is a pro wrestling journalist, covering AEW and WWE news stories at Sportskeeda. He holds an MBA degree in Marketing, and has nearly 7 years of experience. A wrestling aficionado since childhood, Sunil used to imitate his favorite wrestlers as a young kid, and started writing professionally about the sport via Sportskeeda’s revenue-sharing opportunity.

Sunil admires former world champions AJ Styles, Will Ospreay, and Kenny Omega for their ability to consistently deliver great matches as well as entertain crowds with their mic skills.

If ever given a chance to change a storyline, Sunil would have booked Roman Reigns to end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak instead of Brock Lesnar. According to him, The Tribal Chief needed the victory more than Brock Lesnar, as the latter was already an established performer when he defeated ‘Taker. He would’ve also made that as Taker’s final match.

Always focused on making his work accurate and reliable, Sunil thoroughly checks his facts before writing his articles. When not writing for pro wrestling, he spends his time watching cricket.

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Edited by Sayantan Niyogi