AEW’s De-Emphasis Problem

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Another problem with AEW is the belief that every match has to be "good" and go at least 15 minutes. Not every match on a pro wrestling card is supposed to be "good" in the sense that there's a lot of moves done with momentum shifting throughout the contest. Sometimes the right thing to do is have someone go over strong in 6 minutes.

[@6Wheelz]

This is awesome chants are worse than What chants

[@SeasideDetective2]

I've been arguing the same thing for many months now. Even when you have five hours of TV time each week, making every match go over 10 minutes means that roughly half the roster is lucky to get on the air more than once each month - at best!

[@bushysowavvey]

And not every PPV has to be 4 and a half hours of banger after banger. I feel like they can strike a nice balance between WWE’s shorter 5 match cards & AEW’s open marathon PPV’s.

[@BigmanDogs]

I used to see many smarks say it’s exciting when everyone feels on the same level, with everyone being a star. Imagime all the matchups! Don't get me wrong, I said it too at some point when I was younger. While it sounds good in theory, if everyone is special, no one is. There's a reason a significant number of AEW wrestlers are most over when they first join. I partly blame a *minority* of online fans who complained Ospreay was being shoved down our throats with too many wins and too much TV time. So counterproductive.

[@IamjustBruh]

Personally I thought the first mistake was having Ospreay and Kyle having a competitive PPV sequence type of match earlier this year. Will should’ve squashed him under 5 minutes to put the roster on notice. I think that ruined Ospreay’s momentum as a potential franchise player

[@BigmanDogs]

@IamjustBruh I agree. It was a very bad early impression to put him in matches like that. I don't think it should be a squash, but why not have your main eventers do some mostly dominant high pace 5 minute matches sometimes. The match was structured like it was Jumbo Tsuruta vs Misawa and Misawa was about to be elevated lol. Ospreay isn't a legend veteran in AEW, so it doesn't work.

[@richborn6700]

The same problem happened with Swerve as champ. He kept having long competitive TV matches with guys that should have been a 7-10 exhibition for him ​@@IamjustBruh

[@bradleyhagen419]

100%. 50-50 booking almost never gets anyone over.

[@IamjustBruh]

@@BigmanDogs My suggestion of Ospreay squashing Kyle stems from the fact that at that time, Kyle barely appeared on AEW weekly television as his priorities were with Ring of Honor and was the television champion but it meant squat in AEW. He was pretty much lower card. At least in my opinion, it would’ve given Kyle the motivation for his heel turn and eventual progression storyline wise but Tony is too damn lazy and stubborn to make his storylines any sense. He has no right to be upset about his shows failing

[@shaneclayton9199]

I agree with 90% of this, but I do think that Osprey has been booked well all year, him and Fletcher have had a great feud

[@danieljackson2496]

@@shaneclayton9199 but where does Kyle Fletcher go after Ospreay? Kinda like Takeshita he had a nice mini feud with Kenny where he beat him on ppv twice last year and what was his follow up? Basically doing nothing for a few months. It's like Tony wants to push people but only until he's bored with them there feels like there's no long term goal or endgame to most of his booking.

[@shaneclayton9199]

@danieljackson2496 I agree with that part 100% I was just referring to how Ospreay has always had a story in Aew, he's one of the few that has been booked well all year

[@erod52]

Swerve, Hangman, Toni Storm, Mariah May, Willow were also booked very well.

[@shaneclayton9199]

@erod52 very true

[@Steamedhams578]

The feud in isolation is pretty good but potentially Osprey could have been a big draw for AEW as a whole this year if used in the main events and given more of a direct push instead.

[@johnnybernie3061]

I think they have a similar issue that Ring of Honor had for so long. A wrestlers would get hot, and they’ll wait too long to push them or have them win a world title by the time the crowd lose interest in them

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

This is a take that I can resonate with. I know people want Jay White to be successful in AEW, but don't do it at the expense of a Hangman Page that brutalized the former World Champion, who essentially won the feud (for now) And of course, the noticeable void that is the Moxley World Title run. Like, when are we going to get to his motives, or have I missed them already? "Returning AEW to what it was" is so vague.

[@OffLeatherWings]

The commentators need to stop talking when the crowds chants OSPREAY OSPREAY during his entrance. Let his aura shine to show the TV audience how much of a star he is to the crowd. The commentators talking during this de-emphasizes that aura and makes him feel less special.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Excalibur needs to stop talking and never talk again.

[@DreamKrazy2028]

While they have some booking issues, the real issue isn’t with the talent themselves, its how their characters are portrayed on screen. Plus the storylines with them are not followed up well week to week and they miss some details on some of the motivations that could help focus and drive it forward. It seems they rush through instead of giving it time like what happened between Swerve and Hangman which is arguably the best story AEW had going.

[@KairosObj]

10:39 TK's favorite which is Toni Storm hasnt been around. So there goes the care. The follow up is a big issue for TK.

[@BluKyberCrystal]

I agree with this general premise and I was trying to think why this is. I think the biggest reason this has happened, and keeps happening, is because of the falling general popularity of the company, I feel like Tony keeps on pivoting. Looking for something he thinks will catch fire. He doesn't see it as deemphasizing Will, Hangman, or Swerve. They're on TV every week, which he thinks means they're emphasized "enough". It' the same when he puts a title on someone. Private Party are emphasized, because they have a title. Mariah is emphasized, because she has a title and TV time. But that's not how it works. I 'm fairly confident Tony knows when Will is winning the world title. When Hangman will again. When Swerve will. And think because of that, he thinks as long as they're on TV, it's fine. But Tony doesn't seem to know how to book people who aren't the main attraction. Once Mox got the title, it became his show, and everything else get deemphasized. And it hurts the shows, because it makes most of the other wrestlers feel lesser. Like the Forbidden Door main event. Because of how Tony has taught his fans to react, Will losing that and then going back to being a midcard guy with a midcard title, told them he isn't a top guy. Now can you try to fix that? Sure. But it won't be the same. At least not for a long while. And the longer Will goes around doing stuff that isn't the main event, the longer the rebuild will be. Same for Swerve, same for Hangman. The stuff with Darby is another example. I see Darby as more of a Foley then a Cena or Cody. But if they want him to be the guy to stop Mox, okay. But they've had him opposing them for 3 months now, and all he does is get his ass beat in actual matches. And not by top guys, either.

[@BigmanDogs]

@@BluKyberCrystal I think the issue when you pivot so often is that you start to alienate everyone who actually liked the previous pivot. Eventually, everyone feels alienated. Everything they have pivoted from has had a mix of people who eithrr loved or hated it. First they make everyone who liked the brochachos feel like it sucked and was a mistake, then the exact same thing with dropping the new elite, and soon AEW might tell us that everyone who likes the death riders right now is also wrong and stupid. Both the AEW men's and women's character revolves around that they think AEW sucks right now. AEW is telling the audience that they're constantly making mistakes.

[@michaelsuezo]

I love your chess analogy. AEW as a whole as a chess match are pieces randomly doing moves without an overall strategy. TK will focus on a few pieces for a bit, and then he'll move on to the other ones, forgetting about where he left the other pieces. Then he'll leave his other pieces open for attacks so they flounder and fail.

[@UncomfortableShoes]

To go along with your point about them not maintaining stars, the biggest issue I find with AEW is there is no reason to tune in next week. This has to happen in any form of entertainment. I have to see what happens next. I don’t think AEW does that consistently and that’s why their ratings have dropped off considerably this year.

[@danieljackson2496]

De-Emphazing talent is something Tony Khan is too good at. So much talent that got themselves over and gained alot of momentum that gets stuffed because Tony fails to capitalize on the momentum. Mariah May had so much momentum before and after All in and Tony wasted it and didn't give her anything meaningful so now fans could care less what she's doing and that's just one of many talents that's happened to Wardlow was once super over now he's not even around and when he was he had definitely lost steam with the fans same with the Acclaimed they were also super over (go back to All out 2022 if you dont believe me) and for some reason they dropped the belts to the gunns and have pretty much been an afterthought since. Nobody gets over and stays over because Tony doesn't book them consistently and they disappear for awhile and then they lose steam. Imagine if Vince booked Stone Cold Steve Austin like this in 1997-98? He would have never been as over as he became and that is how Tony is failing his talent. I get that he really like Danny Garcia and Orange Cassidy and others but they are not meant to be top stars. Its so frustrating because AEW could be great again if Tony just does some minor tweaking to the presentation and stories to make fans care again.

[@VanFlores-o7z]

*couldn't care less

[@abstraktbrutha2605]

Thank you for saying this! This is exactmy what ive been thinking since Swerve lost the belt.

[@fitzciaran]

Hangman has been smashing it for the last year or so, especially good because he didn't need dominating win streaks to do it, hopefully he gets some strong booking going forward, I've been surprised he hasn't had more wins off the back of the unsanctioned match. Really good analysis, I've been enjoying AEW for sure but very valid points.

[@schnarfschnarf5886]

Hangnail can piss off while he is wearing his butterfly jeans

[@basedkaneki4950]

after collision yesterday you can see that theyre back in star building mode. When they want to move someone up the card they can do it. Look at what theyre doing with Fletcher and Garcia

[@6Wheelz]

I never thought about Swerve and Osprey like that. Nice take

[@blablablaa14]

Its interesting how you bring up Ospreay vs Swerve as a "main character" fight, where Ospreay only lost to Swerve not because TK wanted him to lose, but because Ospreay asked to lose cause everyone was predicting how Ospreay will win because it was predictable that's what TK really wanted

[@DudleyDawg]

I get the feeling TK fears if any one wrestler gets too big, he'd have another CM Punk type situation to deal with.

[@bushysowavvey]

I was one of the few people who said Swerve should’ve beat Bryan. Now look where we are lmao.

[@Dsi303]

IMO they have so much potential to make stars. Hangman is badass promo and match away from being their Stone Cold Steve Austin, just have him say he ain’t here to make friends he’s here to beat people up. MJF already is in a way their Rock. Swerve, White, Ospreay all are unique enough and can be the top guys too. Not to mention Moxley basically being their final boss or right now a less important NWA Hogan lmao. Built the company around those 5 kinda like have them all be counter to each other. Like Hangman beats Swerve but Jay White beats Hangman and so on. Then have the vets like Omega, Okada, Christian, get there fight in as well. Then if one of the top 5 is hurt or on vacation, you have the flex guys in Garcia, Cole, Malaki, Cassidy that are like the gate keepers of the top main event ladder so they are better than the mid card guys but aren’t good enough to be top guys. Kinda of like football (soccer) where they have the divisions and stuff but don’t actually make divisions lol.

[@leronford]

I have some thoughts. Where AEW got off track was putting the title on Danielson to make him a part of the championship lineage. 1) It felt forced 2) he didn't need it 3) his run wasn't memorable, and it gave us the Deathriders

[@troyzeleznik144]

I think a positive note you could of added to this: All of these guys are still directly orbiting the upper midcard and main event in substantial storylines. With a single major match or segment each one of the performers you talk about here are talented enough to catch fire again. The peices are there tony just has to put them together

[@JohnBFromNC]

Hey Novi, it's my first time seeing one of your videos and I loved it. I do have to point to something. What I think has hurt AEW the most isn't CM Punk fallout isn't the start & stopping of stories. I think what has hurt AEW the most. Vince McMahon getting pushed out. I think him being gone and H refreshing the brands, look at NXT Deadline from last night as an example. It brought home a lot of those "We want an alternative to WWE" fans because they really just wanted an alternative to Vince. I don't think I have seen a video from anyone tackling that point/opinion though. Curious if you think there's any merit to that argument?

[@princevegeta9149]

I disagree with the point about Hangman because I still think that this is part of a story of him losing until he goes crazy and has a crazy comeback and wins the AEW World Championship You are right about the other stuff tho and it’s almost like they forget that they need to protect their stars Mariah hasn’t been the most important woman in the division as she should have Hangman should’ve squashed double J C2 should’ve been more stacked They don’t do long term storytelling like the early AEW days The lighting in the arena is just so basic and WWE ish, early AEW lighting was unique and AEW had its own vibe Also the absence of MJF is felt (for me) Where is Kenny Omega??????? Current AEW has sick matches but the early AEW vibe was special

[@aew_one]

Eventually everyone will come around to my side in that AEW needs to have a different roster for each show. Mixing & matching characters & storylines to have inconsistent appearances on inconsistent days just doesn’t work. NO TV SHOW WORKS LIKE THAT. Plus you open up so many spots. Being the #2 babyface/heel/monster/faction/highflyer, etc in AEW deemphasizes you. But if there’s 2 rosters (or 3 in the case of ROH getting a show) now you can have THREE #1 babyfaces/heels/monsters/factions/highflyer, etc.

[@ironman99ify]

Swerve, Osprey, Hagman, and Jay White are all in their early thirties and are the most over young talent on there roster. They should be the people the company is built around for the next decade. While they don't always have to be at the top they should always be seen/treated as the top guys of the company. You should always know a care about what they are doing more than anything on the show.

[@Mmgeneral]

You lost me at aew used to be “the greatest company in the world” 😭

[@leronford]

Hangman is still an important character in AEW. While I would like to see him get more wins, they are using him to help get other guys over. It worked when they paired him with Swerve, who has since become a top guy in the company, and they're doing the same thing with Jay White. But sooner or later, they need to put the title back on Hangman, who never got a proper run with the belt because of Punk.

[@TheAc550]

After this years All In/All Out weekends, the weekly television fell off a cliff fast. So fast that I’m still asking “wtf happened?”

[@bestthingsaboutprowrestling]

Great video as usual! Keep up the fantastic work!

[@notch7751]

This was well articulated. Nice.

[@toshinronin]

this was not

[@NecroDatro421]

I really like your content. I like your concepts and your personality is nice. You're good, but to be great but some emphasis in production (if you want, if you don't that's fine XD). But i think that your content would benefit a lot with just music while you're talking. Good video man, keep it up

[@Noviak]

@@NecroDatro421 I appreciate the love, and its there, but turned down quite a bit so nothing is too distracting! I can try turning it up in the future though just to make sure it can be heard, thanks!

[@danieljackson2496]

Honestly Will Ospreay should be the one who dethtones Moxley and should be the main babyface in this "storyline" instead of being in this sub program with Kyle Fletcher and the Don Callis family. i get them trying to get Fletcher over but if they really want this death rider story to work you need all your main players but sadly Ospreay and Swerve are both stuck in sub stories both that are actually more entertaining than the main Moxley "takeover" story.

[@UncomfortableShoes]

Yeah imagine in 98’ Vince is being a power hungry boss and Steve Austin instead of being his torn is feuding with The Brood. While the torn in Vince’s side, fighting for the soul of WWF was Jeff Hardy. That’s where we’re at.

[@the.meat.man.]

Love me some Osprey but it'll be really cool if hanger won. But yea, the thing that took me out of death rider schtick was mid carders stepping up just to get their asses handed to them

[@richborn6700]

Has a Don Callis feud ever actually ended in AEW? It seems like they just kinda peter out every time with no resolution

[@danieljackson2496]

@@the.meat.man. yea that story is not gonna work until they get some main event players involved. I mean Moxley beating up top flight and Dark order and other jobbers am I supposed to care about that?

[@danieljackson2496]

@@richborn6700 Don Callis is a heat magnet but other than that he really brings no value to his wrestlers.

[@jaya.9940]

I think the biggest example of de-emphasis in AEW is w/ Mercedes. She should've been treated like the Bret Hart of the women's division. But it feels like everything she's done has been a step back

[@TJoL1998]

I think her along with Okadas have been the biggest detriment, their aura has totally disappeared at this point and mean nothing in terms of metrics which is crazy to say.

[@sbubbs6738]

I’ll be honest, I never saw anyone refer to that time this past year as the dynasty era up until recently when people are only now looking back and saying it was great when they were complaining about it at the time

[@BazaarBackrooms]

AEW puts MJF versus Roderick Strong on ppv, and MJF vs Kenny on Dynamite; it feels like watching a universe mode sim.

[@MrDXW1213]

It made sense tho. Kenny faced him at that Collision because it was the last time he could face him before MJF passed his record.

[@BazaarBackrooms]

@@MrDXW1213 It's true, but I don't think that because it made sense in kayfabe it was a good decision.

[@TheMegaDudeBroski]

I think it is possible to have guys all feel like they are roughly on the same level while still emphasizing your biggest stars. Especially in AEW they have the roster depth to be able to do big time feuds that aren’t just about the belt but still feel vital to the product. But instead of always keeping a consistent direction and push for guys like Hangman, Swerve, or Ospreay that puts them up against the other big hitters like MJF, Moxley or Omega or even upper card guys with some credibility like Okada, Orange and Kingston, we get Hangman vs Jeff Jarrett, Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher, or Swerve vs Hurt Syndicate. Not that those feuds are all bad and I see it as an attempt to help push some of those other guys elevate up or strike while the irons hot, but in a lot of ways most of those feel so beneath those guys and because they are feuds with new or much less popular talent they never have as much heat as you’d want these guys to have

[@CrimTaker]

The AEW world champion should be either Ospreay, Swerve, or Hangman. To me, these are the top 3 names in the company and they should be treated as such. Moxley and the death riders angle is cold and I think they should pivot off of it. Hopefully, they can get back on track in 2025 cause AEW has so much talent and so much potential and to see it get wasted is disappointing.

[@robertwarf3316]

I think you nailed it I love AEW but they have a problem with being consistent and following up on their wrestlers getting big wins. Sucks because it makes it hard to care

[@tracylawrence3748]

Great analysis! Tony Khan tries to make everyone happy and doesn't see that these 3 should be the focus!

[@leronford]

Now your comments on the women's division are spot on. They haven't done anything of note with the women since All In. Now Willow has been dealing with concussions, but she did compete on Collision last night. But the return of the Continental Classic also hurts the women's division because there's even less time than usual for the women. For example, on Rampage, there were 2 C2 matches and 1 women's match that was barely 2 minutes long.

[@pryqaz3452]

I agree with this: men's should involve around Swerve, Hangman, OSpreay and MJF. women's should involve around Stat,Willow, Mariah and Storm

[@SeasideDetective2]

Not Swerve!

[@MrMiQT]

I think it’s starting to be apparent that just like Wrestlemania, All In is the peak for AEW’s year. Along with that, the 3-4 month period before Revolution/Summerslam is weaker in comparison and then it picks back up

[@MrSupera22]

I love the premise of this. WWE always makes sure we know what they are selling at the TOP of the card, whether it’s Tribal Chief and the Bloodline, Cody, Brock, Ronda, 4 horsewomen, whatever phase it was obvious that “X” is highlighted over the rest of it. AEW might have 3 or 4 running storylines, all a smooth 8/10 in importance, but it’s not clear who got the ball.

[@capndanpool]

I must have missed something when was AEW great

[@gordyhowitzer]

About Private Party's title win - It felt like they were going to be more serious and badass, changed their theme and everything - and then they changed it back? Why???

[@erod52]

I think this year especially in the first half the stories of Swerve, Hangman, Osprey, Toni Storm, Willow & Mariah May were done really well. Also, bringing in Mercedes, Okada, the Eilte storyline w Jack Perry. Bryan Danielson and Sting stories were also done really well. MJF come back too. Not too crazy about the Adam Cole follow up. I like the additions of the Hurt Syndicate & Ricochet. I also like that they’re making newer stars like Daniel Garcia & Kyle Fletcher. Can’t wait to see Eddie Kingston, Skye Blue & Julia Hart come Back too.

[@jayfunk2012]

Good video odd confusion Fans were screaming these are who we want....a third switch off it didn't captivate the audience the drove them away thr reason why people are switching of are the lack of stars decrease in match quality and wwe lite booking

[@ryan2flyin]

AEW used to be more spontaneous and surprising. Nowadays you can call most of the matches when the second opponents music hits

[@KairosObj]

It's the TK way when it comes to de-emphasizing. He wants everyone to be on the same level. This isnt possible imo.

[@ratpacknyc6910]

I think ultimately what needs to happen is Tony Khan needs to hire a booker. He has all this money and he doesn't use it towards hiring a booker and better lighting in the buiilding. He's taken on way too much he should have a booker running his shows people with experience who know how to keep you coming back for the next show. I think AEW in ring work is great but you can't really rely on just wrestling matches to gain an audience unfortunately people are more intrigued on a good storyline that they feels they need to tune in next week to see what happens. AEw when they do ppvs are usually pretty good the matches but again they are lacking the surprise element or the unpredictable element nothing worse than watching a wrestling show whether AEW or WWE and predicting all the results and WWE is just as bad with this. I think both companies needs a lot of work.

[@LifeUnchained1987]

Also, the tag team division definitely took a big hit this year. I’m not sure what the thinking was to keep it on the young bucks for a long time, I just think that probably they had to think about the anarchy in the arena and also the blood and guts match, which obviously works well if you have a villain tag team. So maybe that’s why they kept the titles on them. I also think that they don’t have a good creative Director, because that’s the big thing that’s hurting AEW, somebody that says giving the titles to the EVPs is not working, let’s give it to private party and let’s tell story of them being underdogs. And then, after that, they have to win a couple of shows to make a box office draw going forward. If I was booking AEW right now, I would have private party versus Brian Kage and Lance archer. Because that would make a lot of sense since it is villains versus good guys, and also AEW has to go in a direction of pushing bigger men so it would be a good obstacle for them. And then I would do private party versus FTR or another popular tag team for the Australia Show. The other thing is that maybe the young bucks are in charge of the tag team division, so sometimes you run into the Jeff Jarett situation where somebody doesn’t get there they’re actually a detriment. The other issue is that you look at the continental classic. There’s more attention on that and as some people say, it is away for Tony to take his eye off of a storytelling and other divisions

[@WillyKillya]

If everyone is special, no 1 is special.

[@tavistaite8592]

Christian won the MITB shit and you would barely know it by watching the product, compare this to how WWE pushed their winners this year in Drew & Tiffy. AEW got referred to by Bill Simmons recently as "budget WWE" and until Tony works harder at making his stars shine, this is how it will stay.

[@LifeUnchained1987]

I’m probably gonna do a response video when I have time that upcoming week. I 100% agree with you on many different areas. I think the big issues that Tony wants to do whatever he wants to do. For example, he took the title off of Swerve because Brian Danielson wanted to become a part-time wrestler, and they ended his full-time career by giving the title to John Moxley. and now it seems like the death rider storyline is just them trying to create a storyline with an ending that works, and sometimes in professional wrestling companies they may keep a story long-term because they don’t have the bravery to cut something short, just like the death riders. I also think the other issue was that Tony, just like Dixie Carter, he may have a huge problem with not seeing what is working. he may just wanna push who he wants to push, because it was supposed to go Swerve to Danielson to Darby Allin. And in my opinion, Darby Allen would be a bad world champion, because he looks like somebody in high school, and also it looks bad when big men are losing him, and all that daredevil stuff needs to be not overused and he has to do it safely or else he’s gonna get nothing but criticisms. but it goes that old saying that sometimes you can’t paint with your favorite colors, you have to see what is working and work with it.

[@richborn6700]

I start to wonder if Darby is Tony's self insert character. They're both small and thin, Darby has a moveset and style that is ECW lite, he consistently is presented as a top level guy who beats opponents twice his size. It's a power fantasy

[@bennettx100]

Make a video on explaining how AEW can make those stars feel like stars‼️

[@larrbear2100]

I will say the records still showing doesn’t mean it’s as impactful it’s just for show tbh, if someone loses it’s like wwe atm n they don’t get knocked down a peg

[@ricflair5796]

Swerve should have never lost the title to Danielson.

[@andrewgraham6339]

A multimillion dollar promotion being ran like an outlaw mud show promotion. The fusion is mind boggling that it makes TNA look like a well run and competent promotion by comparison. AEW had the stars and the up and coming talent and it brought in people who were indie darlings or NJPW wrestlers to mix things up. The blueprint was there. Everyone was sick of the WWE so this was the new dawn. Mr Khan would probably be better handing the booking duties to someone who has better experience in handling egos and booking wrestling matches. There needs to be some focus on who is being pushed and who will be pushed if they put the effort in.

[@alonemax2912]

It feels like Tony Khan stopped giving a f after that TV deal. I wouldn't say the product is bad, but every episode feels the same, and it's hard to keep watching for someone who skipped only like 5 Dynamite episodes since the pilot show. It's just doesn't hit the same like it used too, current storylines are not engaging, other than Fletcher stuff. Also some situations like the Fenix one makes it really hard to be a fan.

[@artirony410]

Yeah I don't hate the Death Rider story and they are at least putting Hangman into that story now, but it did derail Ospreay and Swerve. Swerve and Ospreay are interesting because they're sort of the inverse of each other. Ospreay came in super hot and Swerve basically had to build himself up from nothing for 2 years coming off of his bad WWE run. I think the issues with these 3 largely are a symptom of AEW being too top heavy. The main event scene has too many guys and now when like a third of the roster are "top guys", none of them feel special anymore. Some restructuring does need to happen in that regard. Do more stuff like the Conglomeration or the Joe/Hook/Shibata trio to revitalize interest in the tag/trios stuff. People tend to respond really well to the 6 and 8 man all star tags, do those more. It lets you keep these people in the audience's minds without chaining you to this imaginary obligation to give every "potential top guy" a stop-start world title push that goes nowhere

[@jweezy15able]

What truly upsets me is how easy it is to make AEW a top tier wrestling company, but Tony is insistant on dragging this project to hell just to look cool to a couple people on the internet.

[@tracylawrence3748]

AEW tries to make everyone a top star and that is the problem right now. Choose who you want at the top and the those who are challenging but the emphasis keeps changing and losing focus. Focus on Swerve, then Danielson, then Mox, then Jay Whtie. Too many cooks in the kitchen!

[@LifeUnchained1987]

And definitely the women’s division has gone down the tubes. It started poorly when they had Riho defeat Nyla Rose. And right now they have a bunch of Japanese wrestlers that most people don’t know about unless you watch the television program, or you know a lot about NJPW, Stardom or other promotions. I think that what they need to do is graduate many people from Ring of Honor and put them in the AEW women’s division. Mercedes Monet is terrible on the microphone, but she can really come off like a heel Ric Flair where she has a lot of the great matches during pay-per-views she has a superstar treatment and rubs it into everybody’s face and it is the ultimate story of the privilege girl versus everybody else. And then the other thing is that they don’t push a lot of wrestlers like Nila Rose, Athena, Saraya and many other ones that can actually talk and have some form of charisma, instead of a Japanese wrestler that doesn’t speak English and cannot resonate with a American audience. The other big issue is that the timeless Toni Storm gimmick is completely repetitive like the Conway Twitty gag so they need to have new stuff and they need to take some creative risks like it would happen if you gave it to Anna Jay vs Mercedes because they’re both wrestlers that have been to Japan and other places, but one is privilege and the other one is not.

[@unliimited7937]

the women’s division is in a way better state then when it first started but it still NEEDS a LOT of work like: need to feature more women and actually have more engaging storylines, they should be having 2 matches per show at least etc the thing with Athena I think she’ll be on AEW tv soon a bit after ROH gets their tv deal or if she drops it at final battle. I think when toni storm returns she’ll have a new gimmick anyways or return as timeless but not have it long. she was the most over woman and their biggest star during her reign.

[@Peteeymhh]

Not a strong opinion here but Tony Kahn needs to step aside as sole booker or desperately needs a small group to help him with the story stuff.

[@TheMaddogmvf]

Disagree strongly here. If you look at what Hangman, Ospreay & Swerve are doing right now, they're being used to elevate The World Title, Fletcher & Lashley respectively because they can lose matches in storylines & not lose popularity. Those 3 still get the biggest pops in the company & should be used to elevate other people. What annoys me is if they were on a pedestal, people would complain that nobody else is getting pushed. I think it's pointless to try & please the modern wrestling fan because there's never peace, only another complaint. That's why I deleted social media.

[@erod52]

Agreed. I believe Ospreay should be the one to dethrone Moxley next year at All In. They are just using Darby & Orange to get beat up until the real guys step up. Maybe even Eddie Kingston too

[@TheMaddogmvf]

@erod52 I will probably cry when Ospreay wins the belt, but don't you think Darby should beat Mox to establish a new star? I mean, Ospreay already feels like a World Champion.

[@TonyFleury]

I’m sorry but this sounds like nothing but cope. Solid and consistent booking puts asses in seats; just look at WWE. Tony has a massive habit of stop and start booking that ends up hurting talent in the long run. You can delete social media and live in your AEW bubble but the declining ratings speak volumes.

[@TheMaddogmvf]

@TonyFleury My dude, IDGAF about WWE. They don't exist to me except as another greedy US corporation. I also don't GAF about ratings. I only care about how much I enjoy the shows & how they look on TV, the product is for people to judge individually. Lastly, the fact that you're referencing ratings in 2024 tells me you don't really understand business or media in the digital age.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

I think it's pointless to listen to people who talk about "the modern wrestling fan". So many people think the IWC is a relatively new thing but it goes back to the mid to late 90s. I saw people talk about how "the modern wrestling fan" was impossible to please when criticism of WCW started. I saw it again before TNA was severely wounded and almost died. The "modern wrestling fan" wants good, entertaining shows. If you think that's being "impossible to please" you should really raise your standards.

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

You have produced a well thought out and erudite analysis of a dog shit filled dumpster fire.

[@TAXie-ck7ed]

Isn't Willow recovering from a concussion?

[@danieljackson2496]

Swerve vs Ospreay happened at forbidden door

[@batmang9014]

If you got a problem with AEW you got a problem with me and I suggest you let that one marinate My mom bought me their Youngbucks shoes and they are awesome

[@toshinronin]

this was the most saddest comment ever

[@batmang9014]

Go cry me a river trump boi

[@zeroisnine]

EXACTLY. And emphasis is the promoters job, i.e. promotion. But Tony is awful

[@SandMan1998]

What the hell is de - emphazing

[@blablablaa14]

I think people believe Swerve was planned by TK to be this huge star and he wasn't. Swerve is not one of the wrestlers TK likes the most, he was just a guy who got super over so they pushed him, but much like the Acclaimed, Swerve wont be pushed so strong in the future, nor will he be the main character of AEW or even a top 3 guy for TK. Its clear that's not his role and I expect him to be more like fodder to the stars (like with Lashley) moving forward

[@leronford]

I disagree. Swerve is a top guy for them now and going forward.

[@blablablaa14]

@@leronford That's not how they book him though. He's been losing losing losing. They aren't treating him like a top star. Look at how WWE treats Cody/Roman. That's how top stars are treated and swerve isn't getting that treatment. Okada/Ospreay/MJF are getting that treatment from AEW. Those are their stars

[@codehayter]

you changed from "peace" to "take care y'all" lmaoo

[@Noviak]

@@codehayter I was hoping someone would pick up on that!

[@PajamaZam]

5 years and Kenny Omega still hasnt been presented as the big bad threat that he truly is...

[@BlahBlah-v1y]

Omega has had a major health scare. He may never be able to perform to that level again. It's not AEW fault for that issue.

[@unliimited7937]

@@BlahBlah-v1yits really hard to top the presentation that NJPW did, the best he was presented was as the belt collector but maybe when he comes back he can we’ll see. I think at the early days they should’ve presented him like that but I understand why they did so

[@BlahBlah-v1y]

@unliimited7937 think the NJPW Omega and Okoda is something AEW won't see. Omega due to its young stage as a company and his health concern now. The Okoda long as he is tied to the new elite with the young bucks I don't see him being that fearless monster he was in NJPW. Osprey is maybe the only one that maybe that guy across both companies

[@richborn6700]

A serious tragedy his reign started during the pandemic. Belt Collector was fun even if he was basically falling apart physically. But that exploding death match with Mox was a blemish on the title run

[@kvalentine3]

💯

[@vinnyscaramuzzino8088]

Kenny.

[@6Wheelz]

Blame Moxley and Cassidy

[@MeisterSama]

On C

[@charlesbuckley5615]

Bro no one cared about Swerve title run.You told 3 lies

[@Justanntt97]

All these hate videos, it’s like illegal to talk highly about AEW Jesus Christ.

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

No, this one is reasonable enough. AEW has its flaws, every company does.

[@dalesabandal9113]

Imagine if Swerve/Page/Ospreay were getting the Rhodes/Reigns/Mcyntire treatment where they show up and its a big deal. Like no offense but Kyle fletcher needs to like job to Ospreay in 10 mins and have Ospreay clean sweep the Continental Classic to get his mojo back. Hell look at Jay White. The guy is ice cold, he was winning against Okada and Page not like less than 4 years ago

[@MarlonAnderson-bw6rh]

AEW is wack, Will Osprey is the only real talent and tekshita

[@prowrestlingfan420]

AEW is complete garbage now. Even TNA took back its 2nd place of pro wrestling.

[@YourProfessional-Gachagamer]

LMAO exactly the kind of people that this guy didn't want to attract

[@yodon6867]

The problem with AEW is Tony Khan booking and production

[@unliimited7937]

who do you suggest should replace him as head booker? people always say this stuff but I never see them name anyone so I’m curious

[@yodon6867]

@unliimited7937 Scott D'Amour if I'm saying the name right TNA. AEW have a TV contract with WBD use one of their producers

[@unliimited7937]

@@yodon6867 Scott D’Amore yess would prob be good but he has his own company now so yeah, Sting could maybe be good we don’t know, they have Jerry Lynn as well. They could’ve had Regal as booker when he was there

[@guitarhero640]

This company is hopeless unless they get rid of the ex-wwe/tna guys they got in the writers room

[@Noviak]

Hopeless is a strong word but they definitely do need to clean that room out lol

[@Safetysealed]

Who does that even leave to bring in? lol There's literally nobody with any experience working on a wrestling tv show other than ex-WWE and ex-TNA guys. I swear some of you folk are just shouting any random crap into the ether, itching for AEW to fail.

[@unliimited7937]

⁠@@Safetysealedkinda similar to comments when people say with AEW hiring ex “TNA/WWE guys” when most people went to WWE which isn’t AEW fault