Remember when the road to WWE's Survivor Series was must-see material? 

There was a time when the massive pay-per-view event carried big stipulations, making it one of the biggest events of the year on an annual basis. Builds were handled with care, and the importance of the entire card dwarfed most of the year's other events. 

It sure feels like that treatment has gone into a November pay-per-view this year—but it's All Elite Wrestling's Full Gear, not Survivor Series. 

If we're being honest, WWE's build for Survivor Series and the event itself has rarely been exciting or important-feeling in recent years. It has felt more like a silly "we have to do this" event like TLC, not a big thing like SummerSlam. This was a problem last year, and on and on. 

But if there were a year WWE reversed course and really made the annual staple feel important again, this figured to be it, right? The company has been bleeding talent, struggling to keep fan interest and watching as AEW takes on a meteoric rise—it also lost the head-to-head with AEW so bad that NXT underwent a rebranding. 

Yet it's totally easy to forget WWE's event takes place just one week after Full Gear. 

WWE has handwaved the ho-hum build for Survivor Series so far, using the only viable excuse out there—it wanted more time. According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), WWE wanted to "get over new feuds with the new rosters and let the new rosters settle in on television."

That sounds great, and there's probably a shred of truth to it, but WWE then awkwardly announced the men and women's teams randomly on a Saturday afternoon because of...reasons? Not during a broadcast or with special treatment, just a social media release.

While WWE has been off shooting itself in the proverbial foot like this, AEW has been building up something truly special for Full Gear. That in itself shouldn't be a shocker—the company has found a niche and exploded in popularity in part because it actually builds up new stars alongside recognizable ones and handles long-term storytelling with care. 

Case in point, the long, must-see story of Adam Page getting a title shot against Kenny Omega. Or Bryan Danielson and Miro fighting for the right to a future title shot. Or the battle of future company-leading stars between Darby Allin and MJF. Or the stunning tag showdown between Lucha Brothers and FTR. 

Even encounters that haven't had the longest of builds are just jaw-dropping in nature. Look at the build between CM Punk and Eddie Kingston: 

Yeah, there's some long-term history between the two weaved in—but that's exactly why AEW didn't need a long build for it. The booking is like a perfectly-called defense in the NFL or something similar because it puts its talent in the best position to succeed. And in doing so, it generates classics and things fans just can't miss. 

Contrast that to the Survivor Series build. The 5-on-5 men and women's matches are a random allotment of names that don't appear to have major implications. The Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair champion vs. champion match is awkwardly trying to turn a disaster of a promo into a storyline, but the reality is the actual result won't matter and the match has been done plenty of times in the past. 

And on the men's side of the champion vs. champion showdown, Big E against Roman Reigns isn't exactly fresh, and everybody already knows it won't end in a clean finish because the company can't afford to have either guy looking "weak." WWE loves its dirty finishes for this reason, so there's a pretty good chance the show ends with an unsatisfying finish. 

The format of Survivor Series itself doesn't help matters, clearly. They have to check all the boxes—consider how a TLC card throws random Superstars into tables matches these days or a hastily-thrown together feud adds a Hell in a Cell stipulation at the event of the same name. 

But again, if there was a year WWE figured to mix it up, innovate, not do the same old thing on a previously prestigious event that now feels like filler, this was it. Instead, none of the feuds in place seem to matter, and even the announcements feel like an afterthought. 

At this rate, Full Gear is going to let AEW spank WWE this month simply because it leans on a bedrock foundation of what used to make WWE great. That WWE has let things get to this point is pretty surprising; that it's only going to look even worse this month is downright stunning. 

Kudos goes to AEW, though. WWE is the big boy on the block simply because it has been around longer. But AEW's care for booking, storytelling and its Superstars—and fans—will have it feeling like the much better option coming out of its showdown with one of WWE's most recognizable, in name only these days, annual events.