Nic Nemeth Delves into AEW Stars’ ‘Gray Area’

AEW owner Tony Khan is making huge moves to win back fans’ hearts with “The Hurt Syndicate,” a revival of one of the more beloved WWE factions. That faction was underutilized in many fans’ eyes during its WWE days, as it ended before it could realize its full potential.

AEW has revived it with a fresh twist: placing The Hurt Syndicate as the heel faction against fan favorite Swerve Strickland. But the latter’s comeback has scored by eliciting mixed feelings among their fans, who cannot wholly embrace them as the villains.

Nic Nemeth, better known to WWE fans as Dolph Ziggler, weighed in on this multi-layered character dynamic during “Busted Open Radio.” According to Nemeth, The Hurt Syndicate falls into a “gray area” of the storyline, which would be considered a “tweener” position – neither a good guy nor a bad guy.

“Even with Swerve, there’s a gray area where he’s not the ‘Yay, I’m a good guy babyface,'” Nemeth said. “But at some point, you either have to pull the trigger, or you have to make someone decide, or you lead the crowd to decide for themselves.”

Subtle Storytelling

Nemeth also pointed out that AEW doesn’t have to rely on pigeonholed storytelling. The more subtle approach to storytelling lets the fans draw their perceptions. “You don’t have to hit anybody over the head with a spoon-feeding hammer, ‘We’re the bad guys. We’re the good guys,’ but you need to have a little touch,” he said.

Strickland’s on-screen attack recently suggests that AEW would prefer him as a babyface. But as has already been indicated, crowd reaction suggests the faction’s “cool factor” may transcend conventional “good guy/bad guy” dynamics. As previously noted, the faction received a loud ovation on their debut during the November 6 episode of “AEW Dynamite.”

If nothing else, Strickland received the same level of energetic support when he called out Bobby Lashley. That sets up a showdown for the rivalry, as Strickland and Lashley will collide on November 23 at AEW’s Full Gear…