The slippery slope of AEW

Riding off the high of All In in 2018, All Elite Wrestling grabbed some of the most influential wrestlers on the independent scene as well as the world-renowned Chris Jericho. Shortly thereafter they announced a primetime TV show to air on TNT. It seemed the company was destined for success. Add in to that, the fact they were able to scoop up Bryan Danielson from the upper echelon of WWE, and they were the company that brought CM Punk back to Pro Wrestling. How did we get here?

It’s been no secret that there has been problems backstage for some time, but that’s to be expected with any major wrestling company. FTR has repeatedly complained about being held back and wishing to do more. A number of teams have spoken out about Young Bucks maneuver themselves to favorable positions and thus holding back other teams in the company.

One of the earliest examples of trouble in the water was the MJF situation. What started out as a work/shoot angle has quickly turned into nothing with most people seemingly forgetting the entire angle. Any buzz it had has completely worn off. Sure, if MJF shows up tomorrow he will get a major pop, but it won’t be nearly as big as it could have been.

The recent drama surrounding CM Punk dropping the title in quick fashion, ruining what should have been and could have been a high profile match alongside the Punk/Hangman Page drama it just feels as though what’s happening backstage is supposedly more interesting than whats on TV. Which is the Vince Russo/WCW problem we saw in the early 2000s.

That might explain the issue right there. For a long time, outside of a few examples, the majority of Tony Khan’s booking strategy has been dream match booking and surprises. As anyone in wrestling can tell you (see the ROH DVD market from 2007) at some point you exhaust the audience with dream matches and/or you run out of them. When fans come to expect a surprise (which is typically someone being signed) it fails to be a surprise. As we approach the last months on 2022 how many signings are going to make waves? Aren’t all the major names already somewhere?

After Tony Khan purchased Ring of Honor the question became who will run it? Between all his other ventures it seemed like Khan has too much on his plate. However, he kept himself on as head booker there in addition to AEW. While ROH has only held two shows since the purchase it seems as though Khan might be out of tricks. No more major surprises (although he still tries with bringing people back from the injured list), the list of dream matches is still there but isn’t being executed very well. The band-aid of adding a new championship every month makes it extremely hard to follow. At least count there was 25 or more championships currently being featured on AEW TV or Dark.

There was nervousness amongst many fans when Tony Khan began appearing on more and more TV, especially considering his awkward delivery, that seems to have slowed down a bit. The tension amongst fans, however is at an all time high. No one, including myself, wants to see the company fail. AEW is good for professional wrestling and we can only hope Khan does what’s best for his company and turns the booking over to someone more qualified, at least for a short while. Even in Memphis wrestling Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler would alternate booking every 6 months to keep everything fresh. Maybe there’s an idea in there, before AEW ends up as WCW.