Welcome to another eWrestlingNews Question of the Day!
AEW is bringing back its Winter is Coming special television episode on December 11, 2024 from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
What’s strange about this is that the company has deviated from having some of its regular specials throughout the year, but managed to bring this one back.
Noteworthy events from the past that haven’t been returning as of late are Beach Break, St. Patrick’s Day Slam, Road Rager, Fyter Fest, Fight for the Fallen, and some one-shot shows that shouldn’t be expected to return like Quake by the Lake.
Clearly, Grand Slam, Royal Rampage, Title Tuesday, Homecoming and a few others were prioritized, and we don’t know if Holiday Bash or New Year’s Smash will be returning (as they haven’t been announced yet and time is running out for them to fit on the calendar).
My question for you today is “What do you think about some of the major specials like Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen being phased out?”
Remember to answer with your response in the comments below.
For the most part, I like the idea of tailoring the specials to whatever is happening at that particular moment. Big Business, for instance, was a better promotional tactic to hype up Mercedes Mone than if that had been called Beach Break, as that wouldn’t have really made any sense.
But I do find it strange that Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen, in particular, were two of the most prominent things AEW had at its start and continued many years later, and that they were pushed aside.
That feels to me like a concerted effort to not bring those specific shows back, and I can’t imagine it’s because they just didn’t find something that fit the bill for “a show around St. Patrick’s Day”, for instance. The metrics can’t really be a big factor either, for them to suggest that people wouldn’t tune in to an episode of Collision, Dynamite, or Rampage with that name versus if they didn’t. People are going to watch the shows every week, people will tune in based on the card more than the name of the special, etc. But there HAS to be proof that calling it something extra boosts it at least the tiniest bit.
That makes me think Tony Khan or WBD said “let’s not do these couple shows” specifically, or had the mentality of not liking those names anymore. After all, Fyter Fest was entirely a joke about Fyre Fest. How many people really even get the joke anymore? It’s how many years old? A dated reference like that diminishes over time. And when it comes to Fight for the Fallen, as rude as this might sound, maybe they just didn’t want to have to do a charity event and figured if they use that name without donating, they’d get backlash.
I am not the biggest fan of a lot of AEW event names in general. Dynasty, Wrestle Dream, Winter is Coming…bleh. Revolution is bland, too, and so on and so forth. Not that WWE doesn’t have its fair share of boring or weird stuff like Spring Breakin’. But as much as I’m personally fine with no Fyter Fest, for instance, I’m still very curious as to the decision to discontinue it, as that had to be for SOME reason, even if it’s as simple as they cared so little about it that they merely forgot.
What do you think? Drop your thoughts below!