It was an extremely busy day and night in the world of WWE and pro wrestling, as a whole. For example, early on in the day, NXT hosted the Great American Bash Premium Live Event.
After that, the sports entertainment juggernaut hosted Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC and Peacock. At the same time these two shows were taking place, All Elite Wrestling presented the All In pay-per-view.
Both Saturday Night’s Main Event and All In have been well-received by fans of each promotion. Both programs had a lot of good too. Which was better? This article will take a look at some examples of why Saturday Night’s Main Event was better and some why All In was superior.
Below are three reasons why WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event was better than AEW All In and two reasons why it wasn’t.
Better: The crowd was much more invested throughout much of Saturday Night’s Main Event
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event had a lot of highlights, but one of the best parts of the show happened to be the crowd. They were super hot for most of the program and clearly into every story.
For example, Jelly Roll, of all people, received a massive pop from the crowd when he punched Logan Paul. AEW, on the other hand, had a relatively quiet crowd for about half of the show. The fan interest just wasn’t there initially.
Having a hot crowd really makes a show more enjoyable. If both programs are already good in their own right, the one with the hotter crowd will often stand out. Plus, it’s a sign that everything the promotion is doing is working.
Worse: All In had major title changes that WWE’s show lacked
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event featured two championship matches. Goldberg challenged Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Meanwhile, Jimmy Uso attempted to win the United States Title.
In both instances, the champions retained their belts. This meant there were zero title changes at Saturday Night’s Main Event. The same could even be said for WWE NXT Great American Bash earlier in the day.
All In was a different story entirely. Several titles changed hands. Adam Page won the world title, Dustin Rhodes won the TNT Championship, and the Continental Title was merged with the International Title. This made for a more exciting experience.
Better: Goldberg’s main event match and retirement were fantastic
Perhaps the biggest win for WWE comes in the form of the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Goldberg challenged Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. It wasn’t just a typical world title match, however.
The bout was also Goldberg’s retirement match and was one of the longest bouts of his career. Only a handful of his WWE matches went longer than this one, and the two delivered something memorable.
Between the match over delivering and Goldberg saying goodbye to his hometown crowd, this is a moment that will last forever. A legend going out on a high note is always going to help one show be better than the other.
Worse: AEW gave much more match time and didn’t deal with commercials
Saturday Night’s Main Event had one major flaw: fans just didn’t get to see as much from matches as they likely wanted. This comes down to a few reasons, but one of the biggest is shorter match lengths. The four bouts went between eight minutes and 15 minutes in total length. AEW All In was different.
For example, Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Mone at AEW All In was given 25 minutes. Whether someone believes that it was too long or just enough time, the talent had much more time to perform. This wasn’t even in the top five longest matches of the show!
The issue wasn’t just match length; the bigger problem was the commercials. Some blame WWE for this, but they are not to blame. This is just how network television operates. Unfortunately, it hampers the viewing experience.
Better: Saturday Night’s Main Event was just plain easier to watch
The true reason why Saturday Night’s Main Event was a better show than All In comes down to the viewing experience. Both shows had their positives and both had their drawbacks, but one show was just plain easier to watch than the other.
All In seemingly never ended. The show lasted for the bulk of two big events from WWE and the time in between the two. Simply put: A show that long, even if the quality is good, is exhausting to watch.
A two-hour show with segments and matches moving quickly is just easier to watch and enjoy. In the end, that wins out when both programs delivered the goods as a whole on the night.
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