I spend an unhealthy amount of my free time reading wrestling forums. It is a sickness. I admit that freely. But if you want to understand the current state of AEW’s fanbase, you have to wade into the muck. Yesterday, AEW rolled into Maine for a Dynamite taping, bringing along their usual slate of dark matches and Ring of Honor tapings. And as clockwork dictates, the moment the results hit the dirt sheets, the community completely lost the plot.

We are exactly three days away from Double or Nothing. The biggest party of the spring, or whatever trademarked phrase they are legally allowed to use this week. You would think the timeline would be strictly focused on the pay-per-view builds. Instead, half the hardcore fanbase is currently engaged in a massive digital turf war over the structural integrity of Ring of Honor and the purpose of untelevised dark matches.

Let me break down the factions for you. It is fascinating to watch people get this angry over matches that won't even air on national television.

The "ROH is Just Dark With a Paywall" Camp

This is currently the loudest contingent on the internet, and honestly, they might be the most accurate. The moment the taping notes dropped, showing another lengthy set of Ring of Honor matches filmed before and after Dynamite, the complainers were ready.

One popular thread on the message boards simply argued that Tony Khan is charging fans a monthly fee for a streaming service that effectively just broadcasts AEW Dark. The sentiment in the replies was that the Ring of Honor brand has completely lost its prestige.

Over on Twitter, one user pointed out that instead of being a developmental territory or a distinct third brand with its own identity, it functions as a holding pen. Another reply did the roster math, calculating how many former television champions are currently marooned on the ROH tapings just to get some ring time.

It is a harsh critique, but it is not entirely wrong. When you read the taping reports from Maine, it reads exactly like a 2021 episode of AEW Elevation. You have a mix of local enhancement talent getting squashed, a couple of mid-card guys trying out new moves, and maybe one semi-relevant storyline progression that will never be mentioned on TBS. The frustration is that fans remember when those three letters meant the absolute pinnacle of independent wrestling. Now, they argue, it means you showed up to the arena an hour early.

The Roster Utilization Defenders

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, you have the eternal optimists. These are the fans who will defend every logistical decision AEW makes, usually typing out multi-paragraph defenses of Tony Khan’s booking spreadsheets.

Their primary argument regarding the Maine tapings is about reps. They correctly point out that AEW has an insanely bloated roster. Without house shows running full-time, these guys and girls have to wrestle somewhere.

The defenders on the subreddit are loudly reminding everyone that if a young talent doesn't get reps in front of a live crowd, they regress. They view the dark matches and the ROH tapings not as a demotion, but as a necessary training ground.

To this group, the complaining is just noise. A common counter-argument is that nobody is forcing anyone to pay for HonorClub or watch the dark match results. If you just want to watch Dynamite and Collision, you can. But if a lower-card guy needs to work out the kinks in a new finisher, doing it in Maine in front of a half-full building before the cameras roll is the perfect place to do it.

I see their point, but they are ignoring the psychological aspect of wrestling. Perception is reality. When fans see a guy who was main eventing pay-per-views two years ago suddenly grinding out ten-minute broadways on a pre-show taping, the aura vanishes. You can call it getting reps all you want, but the crowd reads it as a demotion.

The Pre-PPV Paranoia

Then there is the faction that is just stressed out. Double or Nothing is this Sunday. It is a massive show for the company. So when the results from the Maine tapings leaked out, a very vocal minority immediately started panicking about injuries.

This happens every single time there is a taping right before a big event. The forums light up with people questioning the sanity of having top stars doing anything physical 72 hours before a major payday. There is a legitimate fear that someone is going to blow out a knee hitting a springboard cutter in a match that literally does not matter.

The paranoia is somewhat justified. We have seen it happen before. Someone goes hard on a Wednesday night to pop the live crowd, lands wrong, and suddenly the pay-per-view card has to be reshuffled on the fly.

The post-show threads were full of armchair bookers demanding that the entire Dynamite roster be wrapped in bubble wrap until Sunday. One highly upvoted comment stated that anyone with a booked match in Vegas shouldn't even be allowed near the ring in Maine.

It is a ridiculous overreaction, of course. These are professional athletes. They know how to protect themselves, mostly. But you cannot tell that to a fanbase that has watched their favorite stars get sidelined at the absolute worst times over the last few years. The anxiety is a permanent feature of the fandom at this point.

The Regional Market Debate

Finally, we have the endless debate about the crowd itself. Running a show in Maine is a choice. It is not exactly the hottest hotbed of professional wrestling in North America. The moment the tapings started, the live reports started trickling onto Reddit about the crowd size and the noise levels.

One half of the internet is thrilled that AEW is hitting non-traditional markets. A popular take on the subreddit argued that you cannot just run Chicago, Jacksonville, and the New York area on a loop forever. They pointed out you have to build new fanbases, and that means taking the show to places like Maine, even if the building isn't packed to the rafters.

The other half is vicious. They immediately pounced on the reports of empty seats or quiet reactions during the dark matches. They argue that if you are trying to present a major league product, especially on the go-home show for Double or Nothing, you need a rabid crowd.

They think running smaller markets right before a pay-per-view kills the momentum because the visual on television looks minor league.

My Verdict on the Madness

So who is right in all this digital screaming? Honestly, the cynics usually have the clearest view of the room.

The Ring of Honor taping strategy is a mess. It just is. Tony Khan bought a legendary tape library and a prestigious brand name, and he has effectively turned it into a Youtube pre-show. The complainers are absolutely justified in their frustration.

When you look at the names floating around those Maine tapings, it is hard not to feel like a massive amount of talent is being squandered in the dark. The product feels disjointed, and making fans pay a monthly fee to watch what used to be free on Youtube is a tough pill to swallow.

That being said, the paranoia about injuries before Double or Nothing is exhausting. You cannot halt the entire wrestling business just because a pay-per-view is coming up. The show in Vegas is going to happen, and the card is what it is.

As for running Maine? I am actually on board with it. The industry needs variety. Not every crowd is going to be molten hot, and not every taping needs to take place in a major metropolitan hub. Let the people in Maine see some live wrestling.

At the end of the day, this is what the internet wrestling community does. We take a minor localized event—a Wednesday night taping in a secondary market—and we project all of our systemic frustrations onto it. It is exhausting, it is hilarious, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go argue with a teenager on Twitter about whether a 12-minute time limit draw in a dark match constitutes a burial.