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I know there are many armchair bookers. Undoubtable fans think they can book companies better than the actual person running it. I am a fan who has driven several hours for shows and would do so again. However, here is a list of things I think Tony Khan could do better with his company.
1. Stop signing new people every few weeks.
This has nothing with the quality of people Tony Khan is signing. Athena, Jay, White, Juice Robinson, and others have added great star power to the promotion. It has to do with the frequency at which it is happening. Now this may be due to AEW's deal with Upperdeck to produce a line of New Arrival Cards. From may to December there was 15 new arrival cards produced. Just this year there has been 5 produced. This averages to over one a month. The constant new arrivals also diminishes the excitement. When Adam Cole, The American Dragon, and CM Punk debuted not only did they get a big pop due to their name but it was still fresh to sign people.
2. Utilization of Talent
Three hours of network television and two hours of YouTube is not enough time to showcase all the talent signed to AEW. This is compounded when you factor in the number 1 item on this list. That is five hours of taping each week however, when there is only one or two competive matches on Dark and Dark Elevation that does not give the signed talent a great spot to shine. Due to the lack of time stars like Kip Sabian who built momentum while injured have gotten lost in the shuffle. Anther talent that disappeared due to the bloated roster is Scorpio Sky. He got injured while chasing the TNT championship. When he got cleared he they haven't had anything for him. Frankie Kazarian even left for Impact Wrestling due to the lack of time for people to be showcased.
The rumored AEW Collision and soft roster split may alleviate this issue. That if rumors are to be believed will happen in June. Still a few months off. Hopefully then Kip Sabian can get the push he deserves and talent like Miro, Archer, and Scorpio Sky can be showcased more.
3. Not Properly Utilizing "Monsters"
Murderhawk Lance Archer and Brian Cage were billed as a monsters, however, when it came to matches he lost to anyone who wasn't a jobber. Butcher and Blade are portrayed as mercenaries and big powerful men. Yet Just like Lance Archer and Brian Cage they lose and just put over other talent. Josh Woods was not billed at a monster but was brought in and built up on commentary as a skilled wrestler yet he is regulated mainly to shows on YouTube and with a stable that means nothing. These five men could be used to build credible heels for Tony Khan. One person who Tony Khan has used a monster is Brody King. The feud with Darby Allin showed him as dominate. The weeks building up to the coffin match between those two re-established Darby Allin as an underdog. Putting the Trios Championship has helped build that momentum of keeping Brody King a monster heel. This proves Tony Khan knows how to book monster heels. Maybe he just doesn't see the same thing in Lance Archer, Cage, and the others that fans, myself included, see.
4. True Underdogs
Darby Allin and Jungle Boy are the two people portrayed most frequently as underdogs on AEW television. The problem is they are also among the highest win percentages in AEW. We as fans are not stupid. We can tell you the essential match of Jungle Boy, Darby Allin, or even Orange Cassidy. The match will start with some fast paced action, move to whoever of those three being beat up. That is then followed by them either reversing or finding an opening to hit a big move to win the match. This same criticism of wrestling the same match has been said for Ric Flair. Here is what Jim Cornette said to defend Flair "... overall people wanted to see the shit he did it well and at a high level for years and years and years it's kinda what made Flair Flair. So you were going to see those things in the course of match that went anywhere between twenty to thirty to forty minutes or more especially in the arenas of his day when he had his druthers and could do anything he wanted to do." I am sure Cornette wouldn't make the same argument for these three but maybe I am wrong. Like Cornette said people paid to see Flair do certain things and if he didn't there were not happy; so maybe it is the same with Jungle Boy and Darby Allin.
5. The Towns They Use
Maybe this complaint is more because they haven't came within two hours of where I live. However, it feels like every few months they are hitting New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Jacksonville or some other venue that they have been going to since 2019. That is even ignoring the pandemic where they were stuck in Daly's Place. I understand that these cities are large and travel is easy. Another factor for AEW using these cities is the bigger potential in ticket and merchandise sales. Places like Tulsa, Oklahoma or Little Rock, Arkansas (two I am familiar with) don't have the same infrastructure as the cities AEW frequents nor do they have the population density. This had gotten better recently with debuting in Toronto, Winnipeg, Los Angeles and soon London. Maybe soon myself and many others won't have to travel so far to see their favorite wrestlers in action.
6.The Commentary Team
I will not dwell on my dislike for Excalibur. The problem with their commentary team is that it does not feel consistent. The broadcast could start with Excalibur, Tazz, and Tony Schiavone then half way JR will replace one of them. That or Tony will leave for an interview. Compounded with that is if the main event is Ring of Honor you will have Ian Riccaboni join. Something that drives in this rotating chair of commentary is when Jim Ross will call a move but be corrected by Excalibur to a name Excalibur prefers. Tazz has done the same thing to Tony Schiavone on occasion but going for a more technical term on a submission. The dedicated announce team for each show is one thing the WWE has over AEW in my opinion.
7. Big or Important Announcements
Just like with new talent Tony Khan has ran this into the ground. Sometimes these announcements are huge. The most recent one was All In going to be held at Wembley Stadium. Another one was Christian Cage being signed to AEW. One of his huge announcements was also purchasing Ring of Honor. Tony Khan should keep these announcements to things like purchasing a new company or a special tournament like the Owen Hart Cup. Using it to hype going to a new city or another new hire lessens the feeling as it seems like every other week there is a new important announcement. It is understandable he is trying to get eyes on his product and what better way than to announce you have big news. I think we all know the story of the boy who cried wolf.
8. Referees
Aubrey Edwards and her style of refereeing is disputatious. Some fans love it; other fans hate it. I fall into the category of fans that dislike her style. Bryce Remsburg has the same dividing style as Aubrey. Criticism of RIck Knox can even be found on the internet. All three of them have jumped when slams or top rope moves are hit. This distracts from the impact that the actual move. Commentary should be the ones getting that over not the ref.
9. Interim Champions
While this is not a current issue it has been one in the past and always the potential for the future. We have had interim World Champion, interim TNT Champion, and interim Women's Champion. January 8, 2022 Sammy Guevara defeated Dustin Rhodes to become the interim TNT Champion because Cody had Covid-19. January 26, 2022 Cody was back in action. Jon Moxley would have the interim World Championship from June 26 to August 24, 2022. CM Punk was injured in May at Revolution but did not relinquish the title. Toni Storm is the last interim champion. Thunder Rosa is still out from her injury at the time of writing this. 66% of those interim championships could have been avoided if Tony Khan would have just waited for the champion to recover. The solution to preventing this as a future issue is to enact a time limit between defenses. The WWE previously had a rule stating champions must defend every 30 days or vacate their title. There is no better rule for a company where wins and losses matter and there used to be a ranking system. It doesn't have to be exactly 30 days for a rule it may be better set as 90 days. While that champion is injured, they could keep the story going via promos, obstacles (MJR is a master of this tactic), or the roster is so big that people may not notice that he is missing.
10. Outside Bookings
I am not sure if this is a problem for AEW or the person making the outside bookings. However, AEW talent have had to pull out of commitments because Tony Khan decided to use them for something. Over the Top Wrestling (OTT) was the most recent victim of this. March 17th Jon Moxley was supposed to appear at their Scrappermania 7. Due to a house show, AEW pulled him from that and sent Eddie Kingston. Kenny Omega was pulled from a AAA event in October because of AEW. Kenny Omega was the Mega Champion at the time.
Agree or Disagree leave a comment below.
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