Restore the feeling.
This phrase has been used to death in regards to All Elite Wrestling in reviews, columns, podcasts, YouTube videos, social media posts and hell, even Daniel Garcia has the phrase emblazoned on a t-shirt. So many people want the company to return the form it had from its impetus through the Daily’s Place residency and up until CM Punk famously chomped on a bunch of muffins and acted like a fragile little boy.
Wrestling fans and media — both in good faith and in disingenuous, cash-grabbing bad faith — have hyper-analyzed, fantasy micromanaged and spoken in near unhinged tones about the feeling, the vibe, the aura and direction of All Elite Wrestling, and it’s sister company Ring of Honor.
Of course, there is good reason for honest criticism of AEW — much like there is good reason for honest criticism of literally every single form of entertainment, government, business and religion in the world. AEW does need to improve in numerous areas of their product. AEW does not put on perfect, mistake-free shows. To ignore decline in attendance and/or ratings would make you the most tribalistic nonce this side of the ‘Net.
However, if you did not watch the company’s stand at The Hammerstein Ballroom from Ring of Honor’s Final Battle PPV on December 20 through last night’s Christmas night Dynamite on 34th Street — you’d be ignorant to the fact that that feeling, that vibe, that aura, the spirit that enraptured so many disillusioned fans back in 2019, is not only “restored” but it’s also thriving.
All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor ran the famed venue (which has played host to ECW, WWE, TNA, ROH, GCW and others) to sold-out capacity on all three nights which they ran, which is no small feat considering the holiday season and its economic constraints on the collective wallets of fans. The intimacy of the venue lent itself to the unflinchingly Northeastern passion of the crowd (New York, New Jersey and Philly fans know zero chill and we celebrate it). The chants, the comedy, and the creativity of the crowd certainly felt like the feeling, aura of the prime days of AEW and more than a tinge of that always-desired ECW vibe (it’s not lost on this writer the final ECW Arena show took place nearly 24 years to the day as this Dynamite taping).
It also should not come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention that this residency paid off for AEW — it’s been a formula for success for the company since the world shut down in 2020. When the company has a home base — no matter the length — they turn into a lab. Whether it’s Daily’s Place, Arlington’s E-Sports Arena, or Hammerstein Ballroom the company has found a way to experiment, lean into the audience’s reactions to build character, and and create some of its most enthralling television.
Case in point from Hammerstein — Ricochet’s heel turn. New York City was all in (pun intended) on the high-flyer’s new heel persona. The venue was filled with deafening chants of “Why You Bald?” “Where’s Your Hair?” and “Oh….We Want Samantha!” throughout his match with Darby Allin. They hurled toilet paper at him numerous times. What did he do? He leaned into this HARD. AEW was not shy about leaning into it either, and frankly this is the most interesting Ricochet has been since either his Prince Puma days or when he was breaking the internet with Will Ospreay.
Speaking of Ospreay, if you ever had any singular doubt he was beloved in the company — these tapings will prove otherwise The ear-drum rattling response he received was the stuff every wrestler dreams of. Not to be outdone, Brody King was shown the utmost love and respect from the NYC crowd — as he split the audience. King was able to get such a babyface reaction throughout the match that if he won, no one would’ve been sad. Now, one thing you have to hope for is that this is the year AEW listens to the crowds and straps the rocket to his back for a big time run.
Komander, the luchador who seemingly loses every single time he’s in a big time match, became a beloved crowd favorite. And this comes at no better time for AEW as Pentagon’s WWE debut is imminent, Rey Fenix is on the bench, Rush and Dralistico are MIA and Bandido sidelined himself two nights before with a concussion. The company began all of this on Friday night when he won a Survival of the Fittest Match to win the ROH TV Title, had a wildly emotional post-match celebration and then reappeared on Sunday to defeat Claudio Castagnoli in an upset. The crowd leapt to their feet as he was able to clock Claudio with brass knuckles (which he had used the night before to defeat Darby Allin) and then finally hit his rope walk Shooting Star for a rare TV win. The crowd wasn’t just there for the flash finish, they were invested in him.
Daniel Garcia, the flag bearer of the “Restore the Feeling” movement in AEW, was in the main event and was one of the most over people to appear throughout the night. Garcia had constant, loud, vocal support from the New York crowd no matter how much of a beating Kyle Fletcher put on him (and man, did Kyle Fletcher lean into every ounce of heat the crowd hurled upon him). Sure, Garcia didn’t win, but it didn’t matter to the crowd because they were fully invested in him being their TNT Champion.
Scanning through social media you could see the reaction for the shows, even from some of the most consistently negative fans, was undoubtedly supportive and positive. There were some pieces of well-placed criticism for the duel Final Battle main event. This response was not dissimilar to AEW’s Arlington Collision run where Hologram, Beast Mortos, Dustin Rhodes and The Von Erichs found acclaim and accolades.
Even the main event angle for this weekend’s World’s End PPV felt like a big fight. Jon Moxley felt like a threat (even though the Death Riders angle is a still too vague for this writer’s liking), Orange Cassidy felt like the folk hero, Jay White felt like the hot hand he was when he left Japan, and Hangman Page is still the undisputed main character of AEW that every single person in the building wants to see and hear more of. The angles on this show made this match feel big, it made it feel important and it made it feel like you 100% need to buy the show this weekend.
The Hammerstein experience is a stark contrast to the first AEW Dynamite of 2024 which took place on January 3 at The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ (the same venue AEW packed up in November for their Full Gear PPV). That show desperately felt like the feeling needed to be restored. It was distinctly lacking so much top talent in AEW and the crowd felt disengaged with everything that was happening. Yet flash forward to the final Dynamite — a show with less of a crowd, top stars not on the show, and yet the passion, the feeling and the fun of AEW was undeniable.
AEW’s run at the Hammerstein is hopefully a sign of things to come for All Elite Wrestling. There is a noticeable difference in venues they’re running, and as a wrestling fan this could not be cooler. AEW is the alternative to WWE, so why not go to more fun, unique venues instead of soulless big sports arenas that look exactly alike every single week. Let’s hope they use these unique venues to create opportunities for wrestlers like they did at Hammerstein. Let’s hope the synergy and energy between ROH and AEW remains as tight as it did this past week. Let’s hope that more people out there feel the same thing that we at the Hammerstein Ballroom for Final Battle, Collision and Dynamite on 34th Street felt.
AEW Dynamite on 34th Street is available on demand and can be streamed off the TBS app.
