Exploring the meaning behind "restore the feeling"
Daniel Garcia has tweeted about restoring the feeling before. Since a more introspective tweet using the phrase, which has since been seemingly picked up by AEW, let's ponder the meaning behind it.
On November 8th, 2023, Daniel Garcia opened up Twitter to send a message to his followers before his world title match vs. MJF on Dynamite. It was a message about how this match felt different, bigger than him, and he shouted out the younger members on the roster with one last note to close out the tweet: “Restore the feeling.”, a phrase he has used before (tweet has since been deleted, so the link is an article about the tweet).
The next month, MJF himself referenced “restore the feeling” on the SI Media podcast with Jimmy Traina, noting that he dug the phrase.
And later in December, AEW trademarked “got the feeling”, the meaning of which details are currently light at the moment, but still hovers rather closely to Garcia’s original message the month before.
The 25 year old Garcia’s post seems to allude to a youth movement he sees himself a part of, which also features 27 year old MJF. A nod to the next generation of AEW stars set to take over for the aging veterans that built the company like Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Chris Jericho. Plus, with MJF’s recent tweet celebrating the youth on the roster, it seems MJF also believes in “restoring the feeling”.
But now that it seems AEW has also co-opted the phrase, it appears that a wave has washed over AEW at large; a push that indicates something of a mission statement for AEW entering its 5th year of existence. What began as a tweet by a young rising star on the roster has evolved into the rallying cry for AEW after a turbulent 2023 that saw its biggest show in history almost derailed by backstage strife, injuries plague a roster that forced storylines to either be altered or aborted, and an overall sense of direction that seemed to deviate too greatly from the foundation AEW was built on.
With “restore the feeling”, this seems to be an acknowledgement of 2023 existing as a chapter in its story, thanking it for its services, and waving goodbye to be left in memories and cyberspace. The scavenging of parts that excelled for AEW last year (All In at Wembley, Collision) and tossing out the junk has taken place, so now it’s at the point of implementing a plan of action.
AEW is taking a shoutout for the young roster members and running with it as a motto for the expansion of ideas and philosophies for its future.
So, what does this plan look like? What changes or updates are cooking in the oven? How is AEW planning to “restore the feeling”?
If you were to ask the powers that be at AEW what the key descriptor for the company is, my best guess would be the answer is “alternative”. MJF, their world champion up until Dec. 30’s Worlds End show, has used the term in recent media scrums. The Young Bucks, along with Cody Rhodes and eventually Tony Khan, stated they wanted to provide an alternative that could “change the way we view wrestling” outside of the biggest wrestling company on the planet.
AEW’s goal was to shoot for the moon or crash and burn trying; fast forward 5 years, supposedly they’ve succeeded based on what we can observe. But following a year that included an expansion of TV presence and breaking the record for the highest paid attendance for a wrestling show in history, how did the feeling supposedly get lost after seemingly nothing but growth and success since inception?
It’s interesting to hang your hat on a phrase that seems to be rooted in confirmation that things have changed too drastically for everyone’s comfort, but that’s what “restore the feeling” is doing. You can argue that the turmoil surrounding CM Punk’s tenure is the key contributor to this. There’s also an argument that the company has grown bigger and more corporate, so a natural numbing of the honeymoon phase has taken place too. Both are valid; it’s the acknowledgement of this sea change that makes it so fascinating to ponder.
So what is the first step in this course correction? To reestablish themselves as the alternative, they need to be what alternatives are, and that’s different from the competition. And that’s to reintegrate a promise made years ago in AEW’s early days: craft a sports based presentation mixed with the wacky world of wrestling.
And not just look sports based, but function sports based as well.
This plan seems to have been in motion since at least before Full Gear, with the announcing of the Continental Classic round robin tournament I suspect serving as a feeler for online engagement, seeking to gauge whether fans were for or against the idea. AEW forums were largely positive and discussion flowed about it; from fantasy booking participants to the winners and rewards, conversation flourished. And as the tournament progressed, engagement was through the roof from the fandom at large. AEW viewers who also watch NJPW grabbed on to the similarities with the sports based G1 Climax, while acknowledging the differences between the products.
By every metric, from wrestling media commentaries to fan forums to Tony Khan himself, the Continental Classic was a resounding success. And this has led to the next major building block: the re-debut of the rankings system.
The controversial rankings system from AEW’s past were announced to be making a return after they were sworn off for 2023. Although we never received a solid reason for why this was the case (outside of speculation that CM Punk convinced Khan to move on from them which is nothing more than rumor at this point), it can be inferred partially that it handcuffed booking to a degree. A harbinger of the system was FTR sitting perched as the #1 team to challenge for the belts, yet never received a title shot (possibly due to other booking plans). Plus, online chatter spoke about how the YouTube shows Dark and Dark Elevation were utilized to farm wins for talent, leading to win-loss records that were difficult to track.
To summarize, it was a novel idea but flawed in practice. But it was a genuine attempt by AEW to differentiate itself from its primary competition, WWE, not to mention the wider world of wrestling. Now, in an effort to restore the feeling, the rankings are making a comeback, another shove towards reestablishing the sports based presentation of yesteryear and recreate the unique identity AEW prided itself on in the early days of the company.
Smaller cosmetic changes to the production style have slowly been implemented as well. The CC introduced backstage candid promo segments from wrestlers, giving their thoughts that read like a post-game press conference with no further questions. Now, post CC, these are commonly filmed and uploaded to AEW’s social media channels. Shots of wrestlers entering the building reminiscent of athletes entering the arena for an upcoming NBA game. Aesthetically, AEW is slowly introducing elements to form out the sports based presentation.
The roadmap is looking clearer, and AEW 2024 appears primed for an extended makeover over the coming months. It would be fair to say that this return to programming philosophy and emphasis on functioning as an alternative is how AEW will “restore the feeling”.
What if I told you there may be another facet to “restoring the feeling” than just the way the promotion is run?
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most fans who are reasonably online (and especially use Twitter) know about CEO and head booker Tony Khan’s online presence. His Twitter tendencies range from head cheerleader and primary promoter to shitposter and online troll when he perceives AEW’s reputation is under attack. This type of executive social media branding has caught the attention of observers over the years.
Notably, it has drawn the ire of many in both online forums and wrestling media.
The brashness and blatant attacking of Twitter randos is met with mockery and confusion, plus an influx of replies under each tweet. The frequency of tweets sent either before, during, or after shows leads some to question his qualifications to be the top executive of the company while acting like the largest fanboy for the company.
Which, really, because he is. He grew up buried in the online wrestling forums of the early to mid-2000s, like basically anyone who scrolls through r/SquaredCircle on Reddit with any frequency. He spoke at a media scrum about how he would fantasy book Dynamite episodes at his desk during confirmation classes when it was just a fun idea he had growing up.
He conducts himself online like a member of the international wrestling community (or IWC) because he was a member of the IWC.
But he’s also an executive who has over 11 years of experience running an NFL team as its Senior Vice President of Football Analytics and almost 6 years of experience with a Premier League club (at the time, Championship League) overseeing the management of players as its vice-chairman.
In other words: Tony Khan has an understanding of the business aspects of professional sports, roster management, and marketing. And what he understands about AEW is that to survive as the permanent #2 brand in a market, the best way to challenge the established zeitgeist is to utilize the Challenger Brand playbook. This means to challenge established norms, mindsets, and encourage people to see a product in a different light by forcing the competition to affirm your existence.
In my view, this is the other area AEW is hoping to restore the feeling: to be the “alternative”, they want to embrace what being an alternative means, and that’s being the “underdog”.
As brash as they seem, Khan’s Twitter antics draw buzz to his product, of which he appears to buy into the “all press is good press” mentality. He also appears to have no problem making himself look like a goober for the sake of protecting the company if it means he was able to elicit at least a “well, he’s not wrong” reaction. He’s seeking to portray a product that must fight punching upwards to defend itself, as the feisty underdog.
But this isn’t just present in the non-kayfabe wrestling-sphere. I believe AEW is also going to really lean into storylines and angles that feature characters in an underdog status, much like Hangman Adam Page’s chase for the world title was portrayed. A good start to this was HOOK challenging Samoa Joe for the world title on Dynamite. The match didn’t end well for HOOK, but he came out looking like a future champion in defeat, not unlike Rocky Balboa did against Apollo Creed.
While I bring up HOOK, this direction is still best demonstrated on AEW television by the man who championed the slogan in the first place, Daniel Garcia.
Since the end of the CC, Garcia has received a push, brought on by the result of his final match against Brody King. Winless and already mathematically eliminated, his slow-burn story arc across the tournament found Garcia just fighting for pride needing to secure 3 points to his name. The reaction from the crowd should tell you what they thought about the result of the match.
I was in the crowd that night. I can only speak for myself, but this moment got the biggest reaction from me the whole night. I was buzzing for minutes after the match was over and the wrestlers had left the area. The culmination of everything leading to this moment of triumph is emblematic of the type of story AEW loves to tell. Compare this to how WWE has treated underdog stories in the past with Daniel Bryan before fans backlashed to hijack the booking, or even Sami Zayn in the Bloodline saga of mid-2022 to Elimination Chamber 2023 (they deserve credit for running with Kofimania, but this has since seemed like the exception rather than the rule), and it’s clear AEW loves to embrace the underdog spirit.
For AEW, the path to initial success was by diverting from the long trodden path American professional wrestling had traveled on since the death of WCW in 2001. It meant shedding the moniker of “sports entertainment” clouded over American wrestling by not being a walled garden; they aim to forge as many partnerships with as many wrestling promotions as possible. And while the revenue stream will never hit the heights of WWE’s monolith, settling in as the #2 promotion in the world also has its benefits, and AEW is recognizing its time to take advantage of them.
Daniel Garcia lost the match vs. MJF after sending that tweet. He would then go on to lose every match in the CC until the final one, with nothing left to show for his hard work across 5 matches except a broken body, damaged pride, and 3 lonely points he earned through grit and guile.
But when he spoke to the cameras following his win over Brody King, earning those 3 points on his final try, he smiled and embraced his friend and mentor, “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard.
And when Matt spoke of how proud he was of him, Garcia couldn’t help it: he teared up.
Perhaps it’s about embracing being the alternative. Or embracing being the underdog. A little of column A, little of column B. If the true meaning of “restore the feeling” is never revealed, here’s one final theory on what this could mean: embracing the second chance for a life in pro wrestling.
Hangman Adam Page’s chase for the world title. Orange Cassidy’s body slowly breaking down before staring in the face of AEW’s part time final boss/full time ace Jon Moxley. Eddie Kingston mounting a comeback to defend his titles and become AEW’s first ever Triple Crown. And now Daniel Garcia out to prove to the world that, in his words, he is not a loser.
Stories told by men of which none were signed to a major American promotion before AEW. Moxley and Hangman were wrestling in Japan; in other words, not visible on American television.
“Restore the feeling” could represent the work a wrestler puts in to leave their personal stamp on a story, telling the story only they can in their way. This is why Daniel Garcia shouted out so many members of the young mid-card roster in his tweet as to how this feels bigger than him. Everyone on that roster has a puncher’s chance to become the protagonist, through a means of an alternative in an industry that hasn’t been competitive since before Facebook was invented. This possibility didn’t exist even 6 years ago. A whole new cast of characters were given another chance to perform for millions of people all over the world.
And Daniel Garcia, like any self respecting pro wrestler, called his shot for that company’s world title.
He lost, but just like every other wrestler on the roster given a new lease on life, and just like the “pissant” or “T-shirt” company that kept clearing milestones and survived a global pandemic as an alternative, he is not a loser.