'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
AEW President Tony Khan has always been a talking point among pro wrestling fans. AEW faithful talked highly of him when the promotion was booked well. However, he has also received some flak for when the product has been disappointing.
The Revolution pay-per-view is just a few days away. So far, the show has been booked to perfection as massive feuds have been announced. The first event of 2025 is looking good and many wish the promotion to continue the great streak of booking.
The last two years of the Jacksonville-based promotion weren't great as it saw a major decline in TV ratings and ticket sales. The company made some mistakes leading to them landing in some hot water. To make the product great again, here are some of the mistakes they should avoid.
Trending
Is this man the funniest man in wrestling?
#4. Questionable booking of a few AEW champions
AEW has plenty of titles in the promotion. Mercedes Mone, Jon Moxley, Konosuke Takeshita, and Hurt Syndicate are some examples of successful champions. However, some haven't achieved the same success during their reigns.
Private Party, one of the hottest tag teams in AEW, won the titles in October 2024. While they were doing well in the first month of their reign, the hype slowly faded away and there was nothing significant in terms of title defenses. Daniel Garcia, who became TNT Champion in November, has only defended his championship four times so far.
Titles hold huge significance and its lackluster booking may not be good for AEW.
#3. Sudden arrivals of top stars
While stars like Cope and Mercedes Mone had their unadvertised debuts, they received huge pops due to their already popular persona. However, Tony Khan has booked several other stars from AAA, CMLL, and NJPW with much hype and fanfare. While the wrestlers were huge stars in the respective promotions, AEW fans knew very little of them and were therefore mostly silent when they showed up on the ramp.
The AEW President should air vignettes ahead of stars' arrivals, similar to how they created hype around Hologram. If the wrestlers have a little character before their debut, fans get invested in them eventually.
#2. Bringing in recently released WWE stars
Tony Khan has signed a bunch of former WWE stars throughout the years. Some of them are currently booked strongly while some of them got lost in the shuffle. Many ex-WWE stars who are currently All Elite are on the shelf as they have no major role in the promotion.
A few weeks ago, WWE released many stars who will become free agents soon. While the stars are talented, AEW has a stacked roster right now and doesn't need to bag stars from the rival promotion.
This year, Tony Khan must avoid signing former WWE stars and perhaps look to build some stars who are already present within the promotion.
#1. Limited TV time for fan-favorite stars
Tony Khan gave considerable TV time to Jeff Jarrett a few months ago with the latter aiming to go for the AEW World Championship. Fans complained about bookings like this as Hangman Page, Swerve Strickland, Daniel Garcia, and many other fan-favorite stars didn't get TV time.
Promising stars, whose characters are over with the crowd, could help the Jacksonville-based promotion to grow and elevate future main eventers.
It will be interesting to see which of these mistakes Tony Khan avoids and what will be some of the benefits he sees in the product as a result this year.
