With a year in the rear view, it is always fun to look into the next year and see what could be improved in any company. AEW had a great year in 2022, and there are not only many things to look forward to but things that they should change to make the product more consistent.
The Ranking/Record System
I know aesthetics mean everything in wrestling, but I think that they either need a better way to do it or do away with it all together. On television, to random fans, they would see this and think that the wrestlers are big deals, but this isn’t the case.
When I was doing research into the records of wrestlers like the guys in The Gunn Club, I saw that they had a positive record, which look good, but the record is actually fluff.
Most of the wins for many of the people in AEW with positive records come from Dark and Dark Elevation. There is nothing wrong with this but if you have ever watched those shows, you would know that many of the matches down there is AEW wrestler vs debuting wrestler.
While there is nothing wrong with this, I think that it there should be a way to let fans know that these wins were squash wins and don’t depict the quality of competitor that you will get in the ring. Something like a disclaimer.
The Divisions for the Titles
This ties in to the ranking system. I think that they should have clearer divisions in the company and don’t have much crossover between them unless the wrestlers prove themselves.
Also, there shouldn’t be any surprise challengers for titles. There is no reason why you cannot look at what a wrestler has done lately and be able to say that based off of the matches that they have won, that they should have a shot at a title.
I think that this thought is more aimed at any title that isn’t the AEW World Title. For the All Atlantic title and TNT titles, please make divisions for them so we know who is competiting for them and who got next up.
You can even make storylines surrounding the come up and chase of wrestlers instead of wrestlers being gone for a long time then pop up on television as a surprise opponent for the champion.
Sure, this is a way to pop the crowd, which we all know Tony loves, but it undermines many of the wrestlers that are there week to week. Many of the wrestlers on the show have no direction and are chasing nothing at all.
Stop Mentioning WWE, PLEASE!!!
This is a problem that will probably never stop in AEW. There are so many contradictions that AEW fans choose to overlook because they love AEW so much.
The truth is that Tony likes to throw stones and hide his hands. He will say that they do not look at WWE as a competitor, but then talk about the ratings between the shows. He will say that he has been nothing but nice to WWE, then allow his wrestlers to bash WWE week in and week out.
War is war and competition is competition but both sides have to be in on the game. You cannot say that someone is your rival if they don’t acknowledge you as the same thing.
WWE don’t even acknowledge that AEW exists. They give AEW the same treatment that they gave Impact for a long time.
Now, they will mention Impact, New Japan, any other Japanese promotion, basically any promotion other than AEW.
It’s actually sad. You can tell that Tony wants to be embraced by WWE so bad, but WWE don’t want the same, so just move on and stop making your company look like it’s in the small leagues.
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