Let me start this article off by saying that “I am a HUGE fan of AEW Wrestling!” But, I feel like after the 3 year mark, some things could use a good critiquing, be completely scrapped, etc… Down below I will list 10 things, and give a brief explanation of why these things bother me. Do I feel that they could be detrimental to AEW’s viewership? Absolutely! Do I think that they could become a complete death penalty for the spiraling downfall that some have projected? Absolutely not! In no particular order…
1. Too Many Factions – Why does it seem like every wrestler needs to become a tag team at some point? I’ve talked about this in similar posts, but it becomes more and more prevalent. At first, Malachai Black teaming/forming the “House Of Black” seemed unnecessary. Now I’m ok with this one, since they went back to the original bad ass entrance, but why not stay a mysterious/dominate figure for at least a little while? Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland irks me. Strickland is extremely talented in my eyes, and this has NEVER made sense to me. Best Friends faction, Dark Order faction, Elite faction, Team Taz faction, JAS Society faction, Black Pool Combat Club! It’s just too much to keep up with.
2. Too Many Belts – You get a belt! You get a belt! Even you get a belt! Why so many? The un-sanctioned FTW Championship belt serves no purpose (other that Ricky Starks.) I am not a fan of implementing all the belts from IWGP, and ROH. Again, it’s just too much to keep up with. Now, we have the “All Atlantic Championship” which has flags from a couple countries, yet wrestlers not from that side of the globe were competing in the tournament. Created to pay homage to ethnic backgrounds who weren’t a part of it? The TBS Women’s Championship belt (Which brings me to issue #3.)
3. Booking – Apparently Tony Khan wants little to no advice/guidance on this subject. No one questions his track record of being a business savvy business man. He obviously had a vision, worked with Jericho, other talent to implement said vision. But, if I am being honest, the booking has been subpar lately. Injuries have plagued the company, which puts a damper on plans that were discussed months prior, and last minute cards need changed (Which I realize.) My issue is your pillars in the company like Orange Cassidy, Young Bucks, Jon Moxley, Darby Allin need to take on a different role. The same old song and dance gives you the ability to predict every match with these individuals involved.
Moxley winning the Interim Championship while CM Punk is away tending to injuries was no surprise. The Young Bucks winning the Tag Team Titles from Jurassic Express didn’t fool anyone. The Hardy Brothers were suppose to win the belt on this night until Jeff Hardy had his latest run in with the law. Tony Khan’s fan boy-itis isn’t moving this company forward (as reflected in the latest ratings.) The Dynamite episode of Blood & Guts was cringeworthy to say the least.
It has never made sense to me why the greatest/most hard working tag team in the business “FTR” has every belt but the one that counts (The AEW World Tag Team Titles?) Why would a dominant Jade Cargill never be ranked high enough to compete for the Women’s World Championship at 33-0? I could go on forever, but let’s move on.
4. Too Many Run-ins – Every match, every interview gets interrupted. This has been happening since the beginning of the shows inception- No clean interviews from Tony Schiavone ever. If something is going on after the bell, you could have 3 guesses as to whether someone will run in or not with the first two not counting and still be right 90% of the time. This must end.
5. Roster Size – I appreciate all of the talent coming into AEW, but at some point you must trim your roster. A couple wrestlers who are still on the AEW roster, and haven’t been seen on the programs for months to a year without injury? Dark and Elevation serve zero purpose, and aren’t elevating any talent to the main roster (pun intended.) With a roster that size, many talented individuals are forced to wrestle on the YouTube promotions. For instance, after being crowned the inaugural All Atlantic Champion at Forbidden Door, Pac’s first title defense comes on a program that isn’t even televised nationally. If you keep signing big talent, trim the fat.
6. AEW Rampage – To help highlight the huge roster, scrap Dark and Elevation, and make AEW Friday Night Rampage a 2 hour event. Have two weekly shows that will engage audiences, bring in new viewers, and compete in the ratings to attempt to be neck and neck with the WWE. Kris Statlander, Malachai Black, Keith Lee, Pac have no business competing on those shows.
7. No generic Tag Teams – As mentioned earlier. Mixing and matching talent that should stay as individuals takes away from the gimmick, and makes the company look desperate for viewers. Tag teams like The Acclaimed, The Gunn Club, Young Bucks, FTR, etc.. are what feels right about wrestling’s tag team division. Looking the same and having that chemistry matters to most fans that were raised in the 80’s, 90’s that worshipped wrestling.
8. Where Are The Cruiserweights? – What happened to the likes of the Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, etc..? The fast paced matches made this division one of the most popular among fans. Today’s Darby Allin or Sammy Guevara would make a great Cruiserweight champion. Although, the careless acts of diving head first out of the ring, and the coffin drops are going to take a toll early and shorten the career/life of these two.
9. Commentary – For a first time viewer turning on AEW and seeing Excalibur in his “Lucha Libre” mask may seem a little comical, and may give them mixed emotions about what in the world they are listening to. Can we get Tony Schiavone some running shoes please? Or maybe ask him to do the backstage/in-ring interviews and keep him off the mic? Hearing his voice creates a nostalgia from the old WCW days, but the guy has lost what he once was (I guess a 20 year absence would do that to you.) JR Ross doesn’t even give an inkling of interest in that brand of wrestling, and It shows on a nightly basis. Commentary is lackluster to say It best.
10. PPV Price – Paying $50 for a PPV is one thing, but when the card is booked with 12 matches that go deep into the night, and your provider (Bleacher Report) cannot get the streaming bandwidth size needed down to a science to stop the lag? It’s time to re-evaluate, and/or lower the cost.
Thoughts? – AEW is a great brand of wrestling. The old school/plain ring look appeals to me. Having competition after so many years is refreshing. I just hope that Tony Khan will listen to the fan base, advisors, talent, on how to do things differently. For gods sake Jon Moxley bleeds too much. I’ve never seen someone bleed after a hip toss spot! I want this brand to continue to be successful, and be aired nationally for years to come, but a downfall looms if It stays stagnant.
Written By: Joshua Petry
*This article contains affiliate links*
For more articles visit – https://sportsnerdz.com/
