John Silver is certainly one of the most popular babyfaces in AEW right now. He and Alex Reynolds gained popularity as part of the Dark Order thanks to their excellent in-ring skills. It seems crowd reactions matter a lot when it comes to getting TV time.

In the past few months, AEW has hired several top tier talents such as Malakai Black, Andrade El Idolo, Adam Cole, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and others. Due to this, not everyone gets enough TV time every week.

While speaking on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast, Dark Order members John Silver and Alex Reynolds talked about AEW singing more and more talents and how it limits TV time for older talents. They stated that as long as talents get crowd reactions, they will get TV time.

“Every time where people come in, people do get a little nervous and wonder what’s going to happen, but all the people who have came in, AEW has signed a lot of people in the last year, and we’re still on TV every week. It’s great that we still have a spot. Obviously, these guys have much bigger name value than we have, but we’re still being shown on TV. You always think about it and get a little nervous, but we’re still there and on TV pretty much every week and having fun. Now, I’m not as nervous and don’t really think about it anymore,” said Silver.

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Reynolds added, “I think it plays into everyone’s individual mindsets. Some people can sit back and be like, ‘Oh my God, they’re bringing in all these huge names’ and get worried or are happy settling, but I feel like a lot of our talent almost take it as a challenge. What can we do to stand out even more to make sure we don’t get forgotten about. It’s almost like a healthy competition. ‘They’re bringing in these people, I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure we’re still featured.’ It’s a positive and healthy competition.

Silver said, “What AEW is really known for and what the crowds are so awesome is, if the crowds like you and they react to you and want to see you and are talking about you, you’re going to be on TV. That’s pretty much all that matters. If the crowd wants to see you, Tony is going to make sure they will see you. It’s one of the biggest things and one of the reasons we have a very loud crowd reaction and the company in general has very loud crowds. The crowds know that ‘if we cheer for this person, we’re going to see them more.’ That’s one thing AEW does very well. It’s not just ‘top guy, you have to like this guy. Yeah the crowd doesn’t care, but that’s who we want.’ That’s not what happens in AEW. If the crowd is reacting to you, you’re going to be on TV and you’re going to be shown. It’s awesome that we work in a company that does that.”

John Silver and Alex Reynolds remain one of the mainstays of AEW television thanks to them organically getting over and connecting with the fans and that is what matters in the end.

h/t to Fightful for the quotes.

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Subhojeet Mukherjee

Subhojeet is a professional wrestling fan for over 22 years. He got captivated by the sport during the Monday Night Wars and has a passion for it ever since. He also enjoys TV shows, movies, anime, novels and music, which broadens his perspective and appreciation for wrestling. He is a knowledgeable and respected voice in the industry.

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