HomeMMA/WrestlingAEW's Struggles: The Need for a Creative Reset

AEW’s Struggles: The Need for a Creative Reset

AEW (All Elite Wrestling) was essentially created as an alternative style of wrestling — borne primarily from those in Japan and the indie scene who wanted to showcase their talents in a way dissimilar from the ‘status quo’ of WWE.

The idea was smart in theory — and there have been some positives to come out of the current five-year run. However, at this point, it’s safe to say that owner Tony Khan has lost the proverbial plot.

One could look at the ratings and see that AEW programming is often being beaten out by WWE’s third show — NXT — every week. NXT is akin to the ‘minor league’ promotion funneling talent up to RAW and SmackDown.

Then, there’s the programming itself.

There have been rumbles of discontentment from members of the active roster — particularly from those who haven’t been used in months. Rey Fenix presumably wants to join real-life brother Penta in WWE. However, reports indicate he’s not being let out of his contract. As a result, he’s not being used on any of AEW’s three shows. We haven’t seen him live since July of 2024.

Britt Baker is in a similar boat. Once the face of the women’s division, we’ve not seen her in quite some time. Rumors are also circulating over her wanting to leave the company and perhaps pursue acting as a primary form of employment.

Ricky Starks appeared to be on the fast-track towards being one of the company’s most ‘over’ homegrown talents. Instead, he’s been banished from AEW programming and has since been working the indie scene. He had a famous in-ring back-and-forth with a newly-signed Adam Copeland (formerly Edge) where Copeland visibly appeared agitated by Starks’ promo — and instead went at him unnecessarily hard. Starks being one of Cody Rhodes’ best friends in real life probably doesn’t help matters. He reportedly asked for his release from the company — to which the request was denied by Khan.

Speaking of Copeland, the creative within the company has truly gone off the proverbial rails. There’s a strange insistence on pushing older ex-WWE guys rather than uplifting younger, more exciting talent.

Copeland (51), Christian Cage (51), Dustin Rhodes (55), Jeff Jarrett (57), MVP (51), Shelton Benjamin (49), Bobby Lasley (48), and Chris Jericho (54) are all being pushed in major storylines. They also all happen to be ex-WWE talents who would appear to be past their proverbial primes. Tomohiro Ishii (49) is another older wrestler performing quite often without any real purpose.

There seems to be a genuine inexperience when booking within the company. Khan ultimately was a big wrestling fan with deep pockets — and his lack of tangible know-how in the business is showing. Though it’s not conclusive, many estimate that Khan’s creative direction within this company is being run by/catered to older wrestlers with decades of experience. This doesn’t mean, however, that the creatives are inspiring in any way.

Segments where a smug Jericho is trying to rile up a a lifeless crowd are tired, boring, ineffective, and utterly bad. MJF — once the biggest rising star in all of wrestling — has truly stagnated over the last year being put into dead-end feuds. His pipe bomb-esque promos have also become repetitive and stale. This isn’t his fault, but rather the direction the company is going.

Perhaps the worst thing currently revolving around the company is the Death Riders angle featuring Jon Moxley (another ex-WWE face). Moxley is the AEW World Champion — yet rarely carries the belt visibly when on television. For the casual fan tuning into programming, they’ll likely have no idea they’re looking at the face of the company.

That’s also in part due to Moxley’s lack of charisma. The Death Riders stable is not exciting nor original. It’s a limp attempt at showcasing a group of vicious people carrying out some apocalyptic wish to try and turn the company into something better. This hasn’t resonated with the fans, and there’s even been strong criticism levied against the company on social media platforms at the insistence of shoving this down everyone’s collective throat.

It also doesn’t help that one of the members, Wheeler Yuta, is arguably the most unintimidating member of the entire AEW roster.

Khan would be very wise to reset his promotion in a serious way. WWE is only gaining in popularity — largely by using strong storytelling elements and pushing the talent for the audience to get behind.

AEW has some legitimately excellent wrestlers. It would behoove the company to focus much of its attention on younger performers such as Swerve Strickland, “Hangman” Adam Page, Will Ospreay, Anthony Bowens, Jamie Hayter, Anna Jay, Emi Sakura, Harley Cameron, Mariah May, Powerhouse Hobbs, Pac, Dante Martin, Darby Allin, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, MJF, and Wardlow.

By doing so, you can create a young, fresh product centering around talent with upside rather than retreads that offer nothing of substance.

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