The Wrestling industry is opening back up and coming back to normal, and All Elite Wrestling is having a south beach party this week! This Wednesday night ends the pandemic era at Daily’s Place, and resumes the frantic touring schedule. As someone who only watches AEW (and occasional Impact), it will be so odd seeing a different arena set up. Seeing Daily’s Place over and over again has been our routine for so long, I almost forget what it was like. Things are changing, and it’s incredibly exciting!
The Pandemic has completely changed All Elite Wrestling, with countless talent additions and a completely new show in Elevation. In a month, they are even adding another televised show in AEW Rampage on Fridays! With so many new things in flux, anything can happen.
In my opinion, these are the main things All Elite Wrestling MUST do in the next few months of going back on tour!
1. Keep up the Production!
Who wants to forget the ending to the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch? I know I do, and I was there! I’m sure Tony Khan does as well. It happened, and the only thing that can be done is improve. That is something I believe AEW’s production crew has done ever since, the Blood and Guts mattress fiasco notwithstanding.
One of the lowest hanging fruits to attack AEW was about its production miscues, with missed moves from camera cuts and audio issues. I actually believe their production quality has greatly improved during the pandemic, which could be an unintended benefit of being at Daily’s Place for an extended period of time.
I want to see them keep up the improved quality now that they have started touring. Road Rager was this past week, and even with the frantic pace of that awesome main event between the Young Bucks and Kingston/Penta, the audience didn’t miss anything. Keep that up, AEW!
Maybe work on your props though…
2. More Women’s Segments!
Along with the production, the other big criticism of AEW is its women’s division. The young company started slow with its women, but that was how it was always going to be. As everyone knows, the wrestling industry in America was a monopoly for too long, and AEW needed to build up their women from the ground up. They built the division around talent with absolutely zero television experience. Britt Baker was dubbed the “star” from the get go, way before she was ready.
Fast forward two years (can’t believe it’s been that long), and the women’s division in AEW is Britt Baker. During the pandemic, Britt reformed herself into the amazing star we see today. Her ‘lights out’ battle with Thunder Rosa lifted both of them into main event stars, which culminated in the coronation of Women’s Champion Britt Baker D.M.D.
Post Double or Nothing, AEW has seemingly reverted back into their old habit of one Dynamite segment for the ladies. That spot is usually taken by the champ, as it should be, but AEW has a solid women’s roster now.
After holding the title for over a year, Hikaru Shida hasn’t been seen on Dynamite since her Double or Nothing loss. Tay Conti and Thunder Rosa have been kept on the Dark shows. Where’s Serena Deeb? Jade Cargill gets occasional segments saying “THAT BITCH” and then goes away.
Kris Statlander has been getting some shine, which I’m happy for. Her win in the mixed tag match with Orange Cassidy was huge, and she looked phenomenal! Her hitting a flawless 450, which she has dubbed the “451,” to win the match was unexpected. I hope they’re building her up as a true contender for Britt, because she needs one. AEW reverting back to Britt versus Nyla over some spilled hamburgers was not what the champ needed right after the biggest win of her career.
There’s a whole new televised hour, build up your women’s division with more segments and programs, please!
3. Proud and Powerful AEW Champs
The feud between The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle started after Revolution, and has been going on for the better part of three months. That is an eternity by wrestling standards, and it’s difficult to keep feuds fresh in long programs like that.
The Blood and Guts and Stadium Stampede matches had great moments, but I left both of them a little disappointed.
The program itself has been successful though, because both factions are OVER. On this past weeks Dynamite, the Trios match between the two teams was one of the loudest contests all night long, and one thing is certain.
Proud and Powerful need to be the next contenders for the Young Bucks, and I think they need the titles. Their booking hasn’t been the best, but every match they have is perfection. Give them a babyface program against the Bucks, and let them win the titles after a battle. They are natural babyfaces, and the crowd will go NUTS.
GIVE ME WHAT I WANT.
4. Make the Different shows feel different
AEW is about to have two televised shows! The long rumored “third hour” of television for All Elite Wrestling comes into the spotlight Friday, August 13th. Now we have Rampage, Dynamite, Dark, and Dark: Elevation on a weekly schedule. That’s a lot of content for one wrestling company, let alone for one as brand new as AEW. We forget the company is only two years old. For one wrestling company to have four shows in a two year time frame is bananas. I look forward to covering all of it, but I have one issue.
The two Youtube shows, Dark and Dark: Elevation, do not seem to be any different. Elevation was marketed a place for the rising stars of the company, with stories and amazing wrestling. So far, the only difference between Elevation and Dark are the commentators. Each show sometimes runs upwards of two and a half hours, and usually filled with enhancement matches.
I fear this will happen with Rampage, just looking and feeling exactly like a ‘mini-Dynamite.’ What I’d love to see is AEW branding each show into it’s own thing, with different looks and independent feels. Up until this point, AEW hasn’t been incredibly clear how they plan on filming each show. Rumors say that they plan on touring with Dynamite and Rampage, and the Dark shows will be filmed elsewhere. That will help.
5. Trios titles
I love faction based Wrestling, and AEW has a lot of them. Off of the top of my head: Team Taz, The Elite, Nightmare Family, Factory, Inner Circle, Pinnacle, and the Dark Order. That’s not even including makeshift teams like the Hardy Family Office or Death Triangle. Bottom line, AEW could benefit from having another championship for these teams to go after. There is a weird dynamic in the AEW roster, where a lot of people are good enough for TNT title opportunities, but it is a stretch to make them AEW championship worthy.
This is where another tag team belt could go a long way. AEW is really good at multi-man matches, with big matches always being the most chaotic and high flying throughout the night. With the extension of more available TV time, why not make a new belt for all of these fun factions to fight over? Seems pretty obvious to me!
AEW has a very good product. Taking the obvious bias of this writer out of it, I still think they have the most complete wrestling program on the planet. There is a style for everyone, and most of it is good. There will always be things to improve on, and AEW absolutely does. It’s a good place to be when the improvements are minor. Things are going back to normal all over the country, and I think Tony Khan fixes them quickly.