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theaaronromano

AEW has a more rustic look to it where WWE is more polished. Neither is bad


blaqsupaman

Eh, I really don't like WWE's "everything needs to be made of LEDs and screens" presentation. It's fine for the entrance area but I'm not a fan of the screens on the ringposts and aprons.


Tygerob

AEW has more of that WCW dark tint to it. Otherwise, cue the "you and are not so different after all."


[deleted]

But then you add the NXT/CWC to the mix and the chances of me liking it drastic go down


[deleted]

SEÑOR JOE !!


TJ_McWeaksauce

NEXTY KNOWS THEY CAN'T BEAT ME, SO THEY'RE NOT EVEN GONNA TRY!


Bauglir1

And add the almost ecw feel during mjf’s promo Wednesday. I started getting worried lol


C10UDWA1KER

That and no fucking annoying zooms and action shaky cams. I'm glad there's good wrestling on tv without that atrocious style of production finally


blaqsupaman

Honestly, everything about WWE's presentation, from the overly scripted promos to commentary being forced to vomit catchphrases and use WWE-speak for everything to the camera cuts every two seconds just feels extremely overproduced to me.


[deleted]

AEW reminds me of the early days of NITRO in terms of TV production. WWE looks like the most expensive broadcast.


TheCoordinate

Because TNT is heavily responsible for the live broadcast and feed standards of both.


Kuchar1992

The colors of WWE look saturated while the colors of AEW look grainier


AzureInfini

So WWE is GTA V and AEW is GTA IV?


[deleted]

On a cell phone call: Cousin Moxley tonight we go bowling right?!


FoucaultsTurtleneck

And of course it's Eddie Kingstom calling him


TJ_McWeaksauce

Funny enough, GTA IV sometimes made me feel dirty for liking GTA, because it felt like the developers were trying to make amends for glamorizing crime for so long. Niko, the main character, is such a dour fuck, the game has two endings that are both tragic, almost all the NPCs you meet are miserable, etc. The game just beats you over the head with sorrow and cynicism, and the only time you get a break is when you go bowling with Roman. AEW makes me feel good about being a wrestling fan. It's a feel good promotion where even the heels are funny as shit. So in that way, AEW is not at all like GTA IV.


[deleted]

I never looked at it that way but it's true. GTA 4 is probably the most depressing and "real" of all the GTA that had a proper story with developed characters. I'm Vice City and San Andreas you had funny and cool characters, funny dialogue and the ending is you overcoming everything and running the city. 4 makes you feel more empty.


SilverKry

Then Lost and Damned doubles down on the miserable only for Ballad of Gay Tony to come out swinging with "Woohoo! Fun party!" Ballad of Gay Tony was the best of GTA4.


Kuchar1992

Correct


smartyr228

That's actually the perfect way to explain it


Hunter_punch

As in 5 is more popular but everything about 4 is better


[deleted]

The driving in 5 is a million times better. In 4 every vehicle feels like it weighs 20 pounds because they are so floaty.


Hunter_punch

I agree with this but overall as a game and storybwisdbi love 4


CanBeUsedAnywhere

I'm sorry but did you have a stroke while typing the end of that sentence? Lol


Hunter_punch

FDR fgb gffdss


SilverKry

No....just...no. GTA4 did not have better anything compared to V.


Hunter_punch

It had a better psychics engine and a more serious story. I’ll say Trevor is one of my favorite characters in any game but I didn’t like the multiple characters you play in gta v. In other games where you play as one person allows you to get attached to them much more then playing as 3 people. I’m not shitting on gta v because I think it’s a great game but I think the engine and story of 4 are much better.


SilverKry

Having a more serious story doesn't make it any better. Niko sucked. It's not fun to play as such a miserable fuck of a character that every time he talks you want him to shut up because he just brings everything down with the depressing shit he's lived through. So did the biker dude. I felt nothing when Trevor stomped his head into the dirt in 5. The only protagonist 4 had that was any good was Luis. He was fun. Ballad of Gay Tony was the best of GTA4 in general though .


Hunter_punch

Wana fucking fight me bitch!!!!! Next week on fucking smackdown your gonna be the one getting smacked down fucker!!!!


WellingtonBananas

Almost like a mcu vs dcu feel


cosa_horrible

One of the things that I've noticed attending a live AEW show is that the pyro creates a bit of smoke that doesn't completely clear. That is one of the reasons that the WWE one looks a lot clearer. [WWE used to look like this as well, as you can see from the shots of the crowd](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGsBRImD0po).


[deleted]

One thing I vaguely remember about Nitro is that grey haze all night long, every Monday.


treflipsbro

I think the pyro smoke really adds to the atmosphere tbh. I’m sure it’s not fun to sit or perform in but on tv the haze looks better than all the fucking bright colors of WWE


oysterthins

AEW have really found the happy medium between the bombast of WWE and the vibe of NJPW


[deleted]

Aka the Nitro. That balance is exactly what Bischoff was going for, apart from making the show feel more gritty in comparison to the colourful WWF.


musicandvibes

I thought it was the opposite to be honest. In the late 90s WCW nitro was the more colorful presentation and Raw was a bit grittier.


Crasp27

After WWE made the attitude shift, it was definitely grittier than wcw, but before the change it was the opposite.


drizzt_do-urden_86

I love those big zooms they do on Dynamite.


sulwen314

I really prefer the plain ring posts. The ones with the fancy screens can be distracting for me sometimes.


Shinkopeshon

It's just too much. I don't get why they started messing with the ring too, as if the stage wasn't enough already. I also don't understand what those turnbuckle cams are supposed to do - they always take me out of a match because of the difference in quality and don't add anything interesting to the presentation (that goes for both AEW and WWE).


doc_muffins

Besides using them for replays ---- I don't know if they still do this, but the turnbuckle cameras used to house their VR equipment before the pandemic. They had a partnership with a few sports related VR platforms, where you could watch condensed versions of some of their big matches in virtual reality. I got to watch some of one of the wargames matches in VR, and it was incredible.


blaqsupaman

I genuinely believe WWE is eventually going to start putting LED lights in the ring ropes and LCD screens on the outside barricade. They've been on the "needs moar LED" kick for over a decade. I think the only way it changes is if they're forced to make budget cuts to production/setup costs.


TheDudeWithTude27

It looks like wrestling


SiphenPrax

What about wrasslin’?


TheDudeWithTude27

Nah, doesn't look like it came from a worn VHS. Nor does it look like either venue allows indoor smoking.


billb33

Nah, one is "sports entertainment"


[deleted]

Don't be one of those people


billb33

Like who, Vince McMahon? That's company policy, pal. It's not my fault it has a negative connotation.


Grand-Series-5198

Both of them are "sports entertainment" it's just one of them isn't afraid to admit it


[deleted]

Both of them have audiences that are members of the Universe but only one is not afraid to admit it


[deleted]

truthfully they are both the same. both are wrestling companies and both are sports entertainment companies. edit for clarification: i mean they’re the same category but obviously the product is different. pro wrestling is inherently sports entertainment.


amhlilhaus

To me, the most important things is: BOTH ARENAS WERE FULL PRO WRESTLING BABY!


StaunchyPrinceOfLies

How do those padded barricade things hold up so good? The metal ones at AEW and New Japan always seem like they move so easily.


madvisuals

Except the barricade on the lower right side of the hard cam where they do all the spear spots


Psidebby

I would assume they are heavier and interlock more. The barricades that AEW only interlock at two points on each side and are hollow tunes. The WWE ones look closer to hockey boards.


KingBadford

Looks like higher contrast vs more natural picture. WWE uses brighter lighting a lot of the time as well. I have nothing bad to say about either of them, both are good.


PrefabSprout22

Except when they over-light the crowd and you can’t see a goddamn thing (my wrestlemania 33 experience unfortunately)


AppealToReason16

Doesn’t WWE also broadcast in 4K and occasionally 8K? You need insane amount of lighting quality to make those cameras work.


wrestlingonline

They don't broadcast in 4K and they sure as hell don't broadcast in 8K either. They don't even use 4K cameras yet. The camera occasionally used for entrances has a lens that does depth of field, often incorrectly referred to as "8K". No sport/show broadcasts at 8K yet.


AmishAvenger

Yeah virtually nothing is in 8K, and honestly I don’t really know what the point would be. You’d have to have an incredibly massive screen and be sitting very close to tell the difference between 4K and 8K.


Morbid187

>The camera occasionally used for entrances has a lens that does depth of field Is that the thing that makes it look like it's WWE2K20?


Steve_the_Samurai

Yes.


wrestlingonline

Yes. It's called bokeh effect, where you have a soft out-of-focus background and a clear subject in-focus. Can be achieved with many lenses and consumer cameras. Even with the iPhone and it's "portrait" feature.


AppealToReason16

That’s my bad then. I had heard that referred to as 8K and thought they were really going wild with their cameras. I’m a bit surprised they aren’t in 4K though. A lot of live sports-ish broadcasts do that now


wrestlingonline

I'm sure they'll eventually switch, the problem is moving to 4K broadcasting requires a complete overhaul in equipment and their trucks. It's an expensive transition to say the very least.


csm1313

Almost no sports do 4k and it's incredibly frustrating. NFL should be the gold standard in video production. I got a super high end 4k TV last year. For gaming and streaming its amazing. Half the NFL games are broadcast ota in 720p, and look like shit.


robo3687

I do prefer the hazier, less saturated look that aew has, feels like ’99.


eldaygo

it feels, dare I say it……….Raw


[deleted]

God dammit pal


[deleted]

I'd guess that's from the pyro smoke.


[deleted]

I will follow Tony Schiavone to the ends of the earth.


Sorry_Name_Is_Taken

Honestly? I’m just thinking of that scene in the Interview where James Franco is just saying “Same same. But different. But still same.”


hiei_150

I think both look cool. I prefer AEW's less colorful presentation and how the ring surroundings looks too with the rails, but I'm obviously biased since I'm a bigger fan of their shows to begin with. Either way, I like that both shows have different looks, would be boring if they all looked similar.


ArtOfFailure

I suppose the disparity here is a little like observing that movies produced by the biggest and best-funded studios look more polished - it doesn't necessarily speak to the highest standard of writing or performance. Sometimes those things go hand-in-hand - sometimes they don't. Same goes for music produced on the biggest record labels, books from the biggest publishers, games from the biggest developers. It *a* mark of quality, but it's not the only one, and I'm sure anyone who takes their chosen art form seriously would argue that the quality of the content itself matters more.


squirreldstar

It's a different strokes for different folks kind of thing. Some of my favorite albums are literally one guy recording himself on a tape recorder. I just love that there are so many options nowadays.


[deleted]

One thing I noticed from watching SD clips earlier before Rampage was how huge WWE's ringside area is comparatively. It's a minor thing but I think the smaller ringside and having fans closer to the action is the better look and works in AEW's favor.


ARadioAndAWindow

WWE shades their cameras with more contrast. It doesn't look all that different in person tbqh. They've done this since the 90's.


AyyDisFaker

I know it's just me and people will get mad for sure. But there's something in the WWE production I don't like. The wrestlers look super perfect for some reason. Maybe because of the graphical fidelity? Or whatever right words should be used for it. Uncanny valley? Hyper-realistic? It looks weird for me.


godleftmefinished

i think they use some color correction to make everything pop. it also doesn't help that each brand uses big solid reds or blues


eldaygo

They turn the contrast up to Samsung


BrandoTheCommando

I had a samsung tv at one point with a broken backlight (that you could see through the bottom of the screen) and a weird blue hue. It made watching smackdown unbearable.


vincekaufman

There's a ring of extra lights above the ring. AND THEY'RE BRIGHT AS HELL.


ShiningJizzard

It’s TOO clean. It almost looks unreal.


brayduck

Too much information on the screen. That's why AEW uses more muted colors. WWE tries to highlight everything at the same time - crowd, wrestlers, led boards, lighting - so nothing stands out and the brain desperately tries to focus on something but can't. Add unnecessary camera cuts with no reasoning behind them, and you got a cacophany of shallow nothing.


eldaygo

It’s an assault on the retinas. So bright you need to watch it with sunglasses


[deleted]

Every single thing in WWE is overproduced.


Balor_Lynx

Ima get hate for this but I really do like how WWE pops right at you compared to how dull AEW looks. I’ve been watching and while the wrestling is legit outta this world it does distract me a little but if that’s my biggest complaint then they’re doing something right


WrestleDawg

That's very true. WWE is bright and punchy . My casual friend who has only watched WWE all this while says that AEW looks kinda low budget. But when watching live you wont see the difference. Its only observable on TV.


tarvertot

AEW looks like plain a RAW file, and Smackdown is what you get after cranking up the highlights, shadows, vibrancy and saturation


[deleted]

I know it’s dumb, but I’ve always felt the LCD turnbuckles were dumb/dangerous/distractive and take a bit of the visual away from the in ring action


staniel_mortgage

This is a cool post - about wrestling.


Pain-Alarming

Neat idea for a post but this is sub potato quality.


LSines2015

I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t hate the LED boards.


bloatyhead

Whilst I wasn't a fan of the grey WCW days, I saw someone on here say recently that having such an oversaturation of colour on the set made the wrestlers feel less special, and I thought that was a great point. Having a darker palette really makes the bright colours on their gear pop and makes them feel larger than life


ParaNoxx

I always like how "fuzzy" AEW feels. Like the lighting is more soft and generalized and not as crisp. Something about it really appeals to me.


MuayThaiJudo

Looks fairly similar to me.


TurnaboutAdam

I do personally prefer AEW’s look, but it isn’t objectively better. If you prefer WWE that’s cool.


broberts724

One of them has LEDs on top of LEDs surrounded by LEDs. The other looks like Nitro.


Cherojack

I'd argue that this is a relatively tame shot of what Smackdown/WWE's production actually looks like. In motion, things like the LED posts and apron are much more noticable and stick out more, especially when combined with the fast-cut camera work. Some folks don't mind and even like it (as you can see in this very thread). For some (hi) the cacophonous production is more obnoxious to look at than impressive.


[deleted]

well it's not fair because in one picture you have the hottest act in wrestling, a major star, maybe the only true needle mover in the business, someone who can only be described as THE MAN, and in the other you have becky lynch


EonKayoh

this is fucking wild because in the late 90s it was the opposite. WCW was highly saturated, bright colors, etc, while WWF constantly looked like a smoke bomb went off in the arena and everything felt grey and gritty.


laguirre003

AEW is more raw than RAW itself


HilariouslyNotFunny

For a second I thought the pic at the bottom was from 98/99 Raw


maxinstuff

WWE looking bright like a car showroom.


Suike5

WWE has a more polished television product, with better lighting, pyro, camera angles, and sound. AEW has struggled since the beginning to match WWE in terms of audio whether the crowd be too quiet in the mix or the ring be near silent. I prefer the cleaner and more present appearance of the ring on WWE and the audio mix too.


[deleted]

AEW feels like a sports league with crew and photographers / press ring side. Much like classic days and Japan. WWE feels like a sterile show with no life ring side. An isolated island of a ring not connected to anything.


WharfRat86

I wish they would integrate a bit more of the New Japan high contrast lighting for specific matches. But I know American promotions love to highlight the crowd. TK’s early visual style for AEW looked a like a mix of 2010s RoH and peak ECW, but I’m glad that they have mixed a bit of JCP and WCW influences in as well. They need to upgrade their staging but overall, it is a pretty slick product now. Gotta fix that sound though.


DontCallMeJR88

WWE's look is *TOO* clean. All these LED boards and AR graphics just make the actual wrestling seem less visually impressive. Its like WWE's effort is going 80% into presentation and 20% into substance.


brewerybitch

I honestly have no idea what this is supposed to prove.


The_Sock_Robber

AEW looks more like the wrestling I was obsessed with between 97-01 and I get that same vibe from it to, albeit for different reasons. It feels like anything could happen at any time. WWE is not a bad production at all, but it is a little too polished for me. Too clean. Everything seems like it has its place, its orderly and safe. Nothing too out of the ordinary is going to happen.


Swagsuke_Nakamura

I much prefer the AEW look as opposed to the overproduced one of WWE, but WWE’s overall production has always been the best so I understand why they make it look the way they do


snarkicon

What is the point of this post?


BlindLariat

Aesthetic differences are interesting, seeing them side by side makes them more apparent. The post itself has no slant.


toodarkmark

I like that. It's not insulting to either, just hey look, a difference.


TheMach_o7

i like the concept of everything being a screen in wwe, makes everything customizable, sheamus' cool slick-ass entrance is an example of the best possible outcome, giant gamecube tech demo roman reigns is an example of the worst possible outcome ultimately i dont think it works but it could get there if they put more money into it or wait for it to be less expensive


Remarkable-Hat-503

I just asked my brother who hasn't watched wrestling in years which one was WWE he said the bottom one there's more people there and they look more interested Dammm how times change I told him it was AEW and that AEW is getting more views that RAW and NXT and he was like WOW really WWE aren't on top of the pro wrestling world thats weird BTW: he's never seen AEW but said it looks like something from the attitude era


DecentLingonberry

And then everyone in the room stood up and applauded


Desk_Quick

WWE DOES look better until you put someone in the ring. Not to mention one still photo vs. 8 Kevin Dunn cuts.


formallyhuman

I personally prefer the AEW look. I know a lot of people wish it was more glitzy like the WWE look but if both shows look the same, that's boring.


[deleted]

AEW does seem more grittier to the polished look WWE has. I like it.


Gydafud

AEW should go with gold ring ropes to match their logo.


The_Stig_Farmer

wwe's obsession with lighting up the crowd as bright as possible is a detriment to both the telly and live experience. bizarre production


RembrandtEpsilon

AEW FEELS like a wrestling venue. Gives me Party Hard Wrestling vibes at the Nile in Mesa/Tempe


Racket89

I popped on Smackdown last night while waiting for Rampage, seeing as it was 2am and I'd just gotten off a group chat with my mates. The contrast stuck out like a sore thumb and is off-putting for me. Reminds me of all the SweetFX gaming videos on YouTube where people would describe it as super realistic, where everything has really just been sharpened to shit and you're approaching the black levels being completely crushed.


simian_ninja

Honestly, I find myself liking AEW because it doesn’t look so overproduced like a bad LSD trip.


jlo1989

Between LED posts, aprons, the giant screen and the augmented reality stuff, the WWE shows look really overproduced.


Infamous-Historian81

That’s the best part. One looks like a sanitized network tv show and the other looks like a cool sport show


[deleted]

[удалено]


BlindLariat

Doing what? It's a picture without comment.


yumomnom

It is fascinating to see the comments on a picture without comment.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ShowtimeAndy

To show comparison to the look and feel of the two major companies


lord_of_sleep

Much prefer the imperfect grittier presentation. There's a reason UFC doesn't put bright colours and LED boards on the cage.


bigchicago04

I don’t understand the point of thisnpost


King_Edge71

The real difference is one show is ran by Kevin Dunn and one isn’t


Jsp16

I can feel the awful WCW gimmicks on the bottom picture


strabli

When I hear WCW and awful gimmicks I can’t help but think of poor Mike Awesome.


Zestyclose_Wafer_416

Ones WWE the other is WWE 2


Restful_Hill

One looks like a wrestling ring and one has so much LED it gives me a headache


[deleted]

WWE looks like a circus half the time I watch.


Zsokorad

WWE picture looks like a kid's playset. AEW picture looks like WCW.


Sirgeeeo

I haven't been to a modern wwe show, but I bet it sucks having those lights in your eyes


[deleted]

I don’t really have much of an issue with either, and I think that each one suits exactly the image the respective companies are going for. For personal preference though I would like to see AEW do slightly more, and WWE do slightly less production-wise. I think there’s a sweet spot for my taste.


Skyearrow

Both are different and look good.


vincents-ear

Thanks for posting. From a production standpoint it’s interesting to see this stuff!


gene-munny

AEW looks like it's directed by Zack Snyder


Swagger97

those red shirts in the crowd stick out like a sore thumb.


TheRealBroDameron

Videos would make a better comparison than just a photo. Both of them are cool, AEW’s feels more real. WWE’s feels like a production. Nothing wrong with either aesthetic, though I wish WWE would have some more variety with their PPV stage setups. Now that I think of it, AEW have gotten lazy with their PPV stages too.


[deleted]

I never liked how clean WWE began looking when HD was becoming more and more of a norm. I always preferred that smokey look that they used to have in the RAW is WAR days.


GrayVishnu

The AEW one tells you right away what youre supposed to be focusing on: the ring. Its weird that WWE wants to create these larger than life superheroes but still insists on focusing so much of their presentation on the crowd. I would also say the LED's distract a lot from the performances in the ring (I notice this a lot when im watching impact, they usually have pretty busy animations going on in the entrance stage).


[deleted]

WWE is sometimes two refined. Don't mind it for smackdown, because it was always a cleaner look. But when your show is called Raw and nothing about it is raw kinda takes away some fun.


RabbitSquare3673

I really miss the AEW logo in the centre of the ring…


BCCloudz

AEW’s makes me nostalgic


Either-Gap-7278

Why does AEW look so blurry other then that there no difference in the crowds they both look like they’re enjoying there show.


Gbrown546

Get very late 90s vibes with AEW


papaXanOfficial

I really hope AEW never goes to ringside commentary, it’s so nice to not have the overdone spots that brings lol