Renee Paquette Explains What Makes AEW And WWE Vastly Different From Each Other

This week on Oral Sessions, Renee Paquette and co-host/producer Emilio Sparks had a lot to talk about when it came to last week's main event on AEW Dynamite. In it, spectators witnessed "The Death Rider" Jon Moxley defend his IWGP United States Championship against "The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer in a Texas Deathmatch. To the surprise of many, Archer reclaimed his former championship, a title he had lost to Moxley in the same exact stipulation at Wrestle Kingdom 14. For Sparks, he, like many other fans, is curious to know what's next?

"Explain to me this: How do two AEW guys wrestle for the IWGP United States Championship? Does Lance go back to Japan? Does Jon go back to Japan?" Emilio Sparks asked. "Do we get a third match? Because there's history there. Jon couldn't get into the country the last time, and they had to take the title off of him. And then, Jon gets the championship back. And then, Jon goes on this lengthy run with the IWGP United States Championship. And then, last week, Lance dethrones Jon. It's like, whoa, where do we go with this?"

Renee Paquette responded to Smarks' comments statinh, "It's so layered and so intriguing. There's really so much to sink your teeth into as a wrestling fan. There are so many deep roots that make the storytelling fun and engaging to watch. That's something you don't get to see in WWE."

With that said, Paquette then compared AEW to WWE and how they describe their storylines to fans. From her perspective, Paquette believes AEW teaches fans early on how to connect the dots when it comes to how these rivalries are constructed. When a storyline sparks a fan's interest, it allows them time to look up and research how these stories came to be and whether or to get invested in them. Whereas in WWE, she deems a lot of disconnect and reiteration on what's supposed to be important – leaving fans confused and unable to comprehend these feuds and how their matchups came to be, thus, causing fans to not take a profound interest in these main caliber contests.

"They [AEW] don't treat their fans stupid, in terms of not knowing what this is and we're going to beat you over the head to make sure you understand it," Paquette mentioned on how AEW and WWE have built two distinctly different and diverse structures. "I understand the reasoning of why they do that obviously, but I think with smart fans, and the way that people have access to looking into information that they might not know and being able to connect the dots themselves, I think that there's something really cool about that that people like to have that sense of discovery, rather than being talked to like they don't understand."

Sparks then turns the conversation over to Paquette to ask what her thoughts were about her husband's main event matchup.

"I was watching it with my mom. Yeah, it's difficult to watch," Paquette mentioned. "You don't want to see your loved one getting hurt like that. I mean, it's really scary. As much as he's a pro and a tough son of a bit-h, it's hard to watch that. I'm always just like waiting to talk to him after and make sure that everything is ok and for him to come home and all of that. But yeah, it can be difficile [French for hard] to watch. I will squirm a bit. Usually, I'll find a distraction. I'll be doing something as well during a match like that 'cause if I'm giving my 100 percent attention, it does stress me out. "

Lance Archer is set to defend the IWGP United States Championship against NJPW star, Hikuleo, at AEW Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen tomorrow night.

You can listen to Renee Paquette and Emilio Sparks' full conversation here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Oral Sessions w/Renée Paquette with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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