I Love but am confused and frustrated with All Elite Wrestling

I Love but am confused and frustrated with All Elite Wrestling

I have been debating about whether i should write about this or not. I love All Elite Wrestling I love that there is an alternative wrestling product and there is something new to challenge the established wrestling companies and to help everyone raise their game.

When AEW was announced and the press conference took place I was so happy, to see the formation of a new company something which i thought i would never see in my lifetime with the hottest free agents in the world Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson and Cody was a dream come true.

AEW stated that they were going to have rankings and be a sports centric product that took wrestling seriously and was going to be something fresh for the lapsed fan and be something that they could be proud to say they watched.

Fast forward a few months later Oct 2019 and AEW Dynamite, AEW weekly TV show begins and there was so much buzz and so much excitement, new matches, debuts, feuds it all looked fantastic.

I want to be as constructive as I can this isn't a piece to be critical just to be critical, I want to bring up what I feel are important points, things that maybe for one reason or another didn't go as planned or things that have changed which have moved AEW away from the original mission statement of what they were going for.

AEW have also had to deal with the challenges of COVID, Lock downs in various states and having to find ways to work with this, so its important when you read the blog below that you keep that context in mind.

Also keep in mind so much that AEW has done right, the entertaining and engaging matches, the freedom that is given to the talent to be themselves and to wrestle the way they want too, breaking new grounds in terms of being a sensory inclusive company and making huge efforts to cater to all fans.and being a viable different option.

So below i want to look at 4 different areas I feel that AEW could improve on going forward and things that have not gone quite as planned so far.

OWE Relationship

AEW at the aforementioned press conference  promised fans OWE Wrestling. A new exciting Chinese Wrestling company with innovative style and something he have not seen before - sadly we have only seen CIMA on a handful of occasions and never got to see many other wrestlers from the OWE ranks apart from The Strong Hearts (of which Cima was part of). I am unsure what has happened to this, I am aware OWE is running still in China but its presence hasn't been felt much in AEW. Whatever the reason whether travel issues and global pandemic issues have played their part it would be interesting to see more of these athletes n the future and what they have to offer. 

AAA Relationship

Alongside the OWE relationship AEW were meant to be working with AAA and have a working relationship with this group also.

 Kenny Omega is the World champion he has defended the title on a few occasions vs Jack Evans and Sammy Guevara apart from this AAA and his title reign have not been given too much focus. 

The same issue above is the same thing i'm going to say here it would be great to see more Lucha wrestlers maybe even some OWE vs AAA on AEW would be an interesting concept. I know AEW have used Lucha Brothers, Sammy Guevara but i'd like to see more of the pure Lucha style again this is something different and an exciting element to add to Dynamite 

AEW Rankings

To make these rankings mean something to the fans they need to mean something to the promotion itself.

 Rankings will be produced but they don't make any sense in context of the show sometimes. 

Someone who isn't number 1 will get a title shot (Brodie Lee vs Jon Moxley) then at the same time someone at the top of the rankings hasn't had a title shot (MJF) 

In another scenario the 2nd ranked Tag Team got  title shot before the 1st placed team, as the 1st placed team had put their title shot on the line against a team that wasn't in the top two and whoever won that match would face the winner of the 2nd placed team vs Tag Team Champions (See how this can get confusing and hard to follow?)

I don't mind creative license in wrestling but AEW need to make it clear whether they are going with rankings and being consistent of going with rankings, if not then don't have rankings and book the shows the way you ant to book them, if rankings are getting in the way of good booking then don't use them, they should be a help not a hindrance. 

Explain changes to fans 

Not all fans that watch Dynamite are watching AEW Dark and AEW Road to on Youtube. 

Changes seem to happen out of nowhere and fans are left confused as to what has happened and why. 

For Example The Nightmare Collective are a group for a few weeks then suddenly a week later they are not and Brandi is suddenly with Dustin Rhodes. 

QT Marshall he is on his own then suddenly on an episode of Dynamite he is with Allie who the week before was the Bunny with Butcher and Blade. I can't remember seeing an explanation or why this has happened. It may of happened on another show but I haven't seen it.

Same thing happened with Joey Janela and Penelope Ford i actually had to look up online to see why Janela and Ford were not together anymore and why Ford was with Kip Sabian on Dynamite. A short replay feature or a short 30 second video package to fill in the fans who may not seen it on dynamite would help massively, help explain to the fans and keep them engaged. 

Thanks for Reading 

@jon422002