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AEW has had a much more difficult 2023 compared to the success the promotion enjoyed from 2021 until early 2022. With numerous stars exiting the promotion, another CM Punk brawl that ended in his firing, and scores of controversial decisions, Tony Khan can't seem to catch a break.
However, as 2023 creeps into December, 2024 is around the corner and provides an opportunity for AEW to start anew. However, in order for the promotion to continue to grow, they will have to make a few dire changes. Continue reading as we list five mistakes AEW needs to avoid in 2024.
#5 AEW needs to focus on younger talent and stop hiring WWE veterans
A lot of the criticism the promotion continues to face centers around the influx of former WWE names who walk into the promotion. The backlash would likely have been lighter by now if most of the stars were better portrayed, but unfortunately, this has become another point of criticism.
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AEW has one of the most stacked rosters in the industry, with many young up-and-coming stars. The promotion absolutely needs to focus more on homegrown talent or stars who are still in their prime, instead of having the majority of the on-screen featured stars being over 45. Notably, focusing too much on veterans is often touted as one of the reasons why WCW ended up failing.
#4 AEW needs to prioritize storylines and sensible booking over great matches
Naturally, there's 100% room for dream matches and athletic fests in any wrestling promotion. Having the most athletic stars on a roster show off in the ring will always get fans to pop and is a reason for wrestlers to compete. However, this needs to be accompanied by sound booking to make the lead-up and conclusion memorable and allow babyfaces to gain momentum and heels to build heat.
Tony Khan often builds pay-per-views around dream matches instead of storylines, even when two stars have a history together like Bryan Danielson and Zack Sabre Jr. While fans could read up on their histories, casual viewers or new viewers would need video promos or a week or two of on-screen clashes and promos to set up a main event match. This would also give much-needed weight to the bouts.
#3 Tony Khan absolutely needs to address the backstage issues and take action against them
CM Punk and The Elite's backstage brawl at AEW All Out 2022 seemingly opened Pandora's Box for internal turmoil in the promotion. In the months after the controversy, multiple reports of other isolated brawls between talent began turning up. While the stars involved were almost always suspended because of the violence, it didn't seem to unify the roster at all.
Tony Khan's seeming reluctance to take charge didn't help the matter at all. Some reports claimed that locker room leaders like Bryan Danielson and Chris Jericho sorted the roster out instead. Arguably, other decisions like letting CM Punk effectively run AEW Collision and divide the roster only worsened issues even more. Khan should simply put his foot down and be the boss of the promotion he's running.
#2 The issues surrounding the AEW Women's Division need to be addressed
Another issue often brought up by fans online is the booking of the AEW Women's Division. Tons of criticism has been levied against Khan and those involved in the division for terrible booking and involving even fewer storylines and angles than the Men's Division. All In featured Saraya capturing the title, only for Hikaru Shida to dethrone her after only 44 days.
On top of this, women often seem to have random matches with each other and appear to have less effort put into their characters. The potential of some of the names like Toni Storm becomes wasted when they simply disappear for weeks and lose all their momentum. Additionally, the same handful of stars tend to be featured while names like Serena Deeb, Penelope Ford, and Athena are either delegated to ROH or never given any meaningful angles or title shots.
#1 AEW Championship reigns need to be more sensible and have better build
With one of the biggest rosters and some of the most praised names in the industry, many believed that All Elite Wrestling would quickly catch up to WWE in terms of star power. However, one of the most crucial issues is how titles are either 'hot-potatoed' or champions are not given the same notoriety as the promotion's marquee names and the EVPs.
Wardlow's TNT Championship reign was set to be one of the biggest payoffs, but much like Scorpio Sky and Sammy Guevara, his run fell flat. Additionally, both the TNT title and AEW Tag Team titles have been passed around in brief, meaningless reigns.
Tony Khan absolutely needs to allow more build-up and better pay-off for reigns, and also allow champions to face the biggest heels or babyfaces to have meaningful clashes.
