The Party Is Over: AEW’s Next Challenges
Now that the roster is filled, Cody and The Young Bucks have a lot of work to do.
When The Young Bucks set their timers counting down the New Year, the wrestling community rejoiced with the thought of a new company.
Well, the popular duo fulfilled their fans’ wishes as they announced the launch of All Elite Wrestling. During a press conference in January, it was also announced that the promotion’s inaugural event would be Double or Nothing on May 25. Even without a full card set, it is safe to bet this show will be sold out in 30 minutes or less. Don’t believe me? Call Dave Meltzer and see how betting against The Elite goes.
While I have no doubt Double or Nothing will be the show of the summer, the bigger issues will start to arise in the months after the event.
Before we look at some of the hurdles The Elite will face on this new business venture, it’s a testament to The Young Bucks and Cody that a show could sell out solely due to the fact that these three are in the building. That is unheard of in today’s wrestling world! It shows we fans are behind them and betting with them. As a result, we have already seen the ripple effect. From Jericho taking over Jacksonville, The Revival asking for their release and Dean Ambrose giving his notice to WWE, the fans are not the only ones watching The Elite’s every move. This may not be the 90’s “jump ship” free agency, but this is the closest thing we have seen to it. That is where my main concerns come from, because the Monday Night War was not always must-see TV or even booked properly.
The long-term booking is what scares me. Maybe it is because WWE has conditioned all of us for buildups with no payoffs. (It has been almost three years and I still don’t know who threw that pie at Kevin Owens.) As we have seen, Cody and The Bucks can write and perform very entertaining material. However, they are going to have to reach beyond “Being The Elite” because now they are dealing with a whole roster. Egos from every venture will have their own personal ideas, goals and visions on how a company should conduct business. A group like SoCal Uncensored may not be a problem, as they seem all in. However, what if Ziggler, a former world champion, does sign? Is it possible he is going to be okay with just a microphone and some time to complain about how he was misused in WWE? I don’t think so! He is going to be after a top spot and with limited TV exposure, as of right now, he won’t be the only one.
Although this kind of competition can without a doubt bring out the best in a lot of guys, it can also destroy a locker room and burn out the creative team. Booking for yourself and your peers can be challenging. You don’t want to alienate your roster by making yourself the top star, but at the same time, you don’t want to undervalue what you bring to the company. Even though it would make sense, I don’t believe Cody will be the first world champion of the company. History has shown how making the booker the champion rubs the rest of the roster the wrong way. I doubt we see Kevin Nash’s level of booking from WCW.
Another concern is going to be marketing. Obviously not for The Young Bucks, who dare I say single handily made wearing wrestling shirts in public cool again. But not every wrestler is going to have that same drive or even creativity. If a wrestler doesn’t find that marketing tool or a way to connect with the crowd, it is just another guy in tight shorts, jobbing to another guy. That only hurts the company and the fans. Look at Apollo Crews, for example. Talent out of this world, million-dollar smile, and if you put him in a match against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, I still wouldn’t care. Of course, a lot of blame falls on the WWE creative team for not marketing Apollo properly, especially since they have control over everything. On the flip side, the creative team could have all the tools in the world and a character still may not get over with the audience. With AEW seemingly having a more sink or swim mentality for its roster, you can expect to see some major changes if a wrestler can’t market themselves and/or draw fans in. Those roster spots will be filled quickly.
Some of these hurdles are going to give us the best wrestling we have seen in quite a while. The tag team scene is going to explode in AEW, and not just because of The Young Bucks. You’ve got the Lucha Bros, The Best Friends and SoCal Uncensored, the latter becoming one of the more entertaining segments on “Being the Elite.” This trend is going to continue and with the proper amount of time to showcase more than one wrestler, this will create more top name guys in the company. Think back to the Smackdown Six: the reason they all became main eventers is largely due to the tag matches they put on. Paul Heyman used his limited television time to showcase tag team wrestling and six wrestlers became solid main event wrestlers. The Young Bucks are going to need to follow that similar formula.
The Elite have their eyes firmly set on Double or Nothing and it should be an incredible ride getting there. Even with all the roadblocks that may be ahead of them, they are three guys you do not bet against. The Young Bucks have dared to go against the grain and, in the process, they have changed the wrestling world. AEW is picking up steam taking the wrestling world by storm. What better time to be a wrestling fan?
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