5 Things WWE can learn from AEW - Big change to promos, Change in how titles are treated

#3 Use WWE legends correctly

One of the few things that AEW is doing much better than WWE is using their legacy talent properly. AEW has included stars like Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Jake Roberts, and Sting with smart booking decisions. Wrestling legends have even been used in one-off scenarios like Bret Hart's Double or Nothing appearance.

In WWE, they would not feature in storylines specifically, and if so, there would be very rare instances of this. Take the RAW Reunion episode from 2019, where it seemed that the show had no direction and came across as an excuse to pop a rating. The infamous 24/7 Championship had title changes that included Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, and Madusa. Was there a reason for it? The short answer is no! It was just a poor excuse to do an 'entertaining segment' with no real payoff in the end.

Still not convinced? Here's another way to look at it, from an actual booking standpoint. WWE makes a habit of putting over legends at the expense of younger talent (more on this in the next slide).

Take Goldberg. He got booked in a dream matchup with Brock Lesnar when he returned, culminating at WrestleMania 33. Kevin Owens dropped the Universal Championship to Goldberg, who then dropped it to Lesnar as a result.

Lesnar was and is still very much a part-timer, as is Goldberg. Both of them and a few others have been put over at the expense of younger talent. On the other hand, AEW has tried to ensure that legacy talent is booked within reason.

Sting, who most thought would be restricted to cinematic showdowns, has competed in tag matches and won convincingly. Interestingly, most fans have welcomed a 60+-year-old Sting going over the likes of 2.0 and FTR. But it's limited and clever in execution.

Will WWE learn from how AEW has booked their legends? It isn't very likely, but anything is possible.