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No professional wrestling company is perfect. From AEW to WWE to IMPACT Wrestling, every promotion has its share of strengths and weaknesses. 2020 forced everyone to switch up how they operate. Travel restrictions limited what talent could be used, whereas the simple nature of the COVID-19 virus was a constant problem to deal with on a daily basis.
While some plans might have needed to change, the fact still remains that companies like AEW and WWE were both able to continue operations in 2020. Stars like Drew McIntyre, Kenny Omega, Hikaru Shida, Bayley, the Young Bucks, and Asuka have helped carry their respective promotions. But each promotion still had some missed opportunities this year.
AEW is no exception. Even though the action is usually excellent, there were some strange booking decisions made this year. Some interesting choices also were made regarding the use of particular stars and their all-important records.
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Here are five missed opportunities by AEW in 2020.
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#1 Uneven records and reigns in AEW's tag team division
When AEW first started out, the two biggest names in the tag team division were The Young Bucks and the Lucha Brothers. Over the summer of its first year, Santana and Ortiz also signed with AEW, giving the promotion three of the best tag teams in the world.
While the pandemic did play a role in limiting what some stars could do, The Lucha Brothers only amassed tag team records of 6-4 and 6-5, respectively, for El Penta Zero M and Rey Fenix. Santana and Ortiz, who ruled over IMPACT Wrestling as LAX, joined The Inner Circle. Despite being huge signings for AEW, they lost a big feud to Best Friends and are only 8-5 as a tag team in 2020. Best Friends (20-7) and the Natural Nightmares (9-2) both have better records than both the Lucha Brothers and Proud and Powerful.
Another strange aspect of the tag team division involved FTR. Despite the huge fanfare and big deal made about FTR joining AEW, they had the shortest reign as Tag Team Champions. The first titleholders, SCU, had a reign of 83 days. Kenny Omega and Hangman Page held the belts for 228 days. FTR were only Champs for 63 days before losing to The Young Bucks.
While it makes sense that The Bucks are finally holding gold and are the only loss on their record, FTR should have had a longer run. Instead, their short reign doesn't meet the claim of being the best team in the world.
#4 Most of the handling of the AEW TNT Championship
AEW introduced its secondary title in the spring of 2020, called the TNT Championship. A tournament was held to crown the first Champion, and after Lance Archer debuted to target Cody Rhodes, it wasn't hard to see the storyline of how the finals would play out. After dispatching of Colt Cabana and Dustin Rhodes, Archer would meet Cody in the finals. The American Nightmare would defeat Archer, and the Murderhawk Monster would have to go back to picking off lower-hanging fruit from the roster.
Cody's name and the fact that he was an EVP in AEW meant that he didn't really need to win the title. But since he essentially omitted himself from ever being able to challenge for the AEW Championship, it was a no-brainer that he would win other titles in AEW.
Rhodes held the title for 91 days before losing it to Brodie Lee. Essentially, he needed time off to film the Go Big Show for TBS, so the title switch occurred. While it would have been great to solidify Lee and The Dark Order as legitimate heels, Lee would only hold the title for 46 days. He dropped the belt back to Rhodes in a Dog Collar match.
Rhodes said that the TNT Champion was both the face of the company and ace of AEW, so it does make sense that he would hold that title.
If that wasn't frustrating enough, Cody would then lose the belt to Darby Allin at Full Gear, only 31 days after regaining the title. For a Championship to have a little more prestige, it needed longer reigns.
Another issue with the TNT title was that instead of defending it against actual members of the AEW roster, Rhodes defended it against unsigned independent stars. It's great to give independent stars some work and spotlight during the pandemic, but what about the rest of the roster that actually had to have winning records to even be considered for a title shot? It just seemed like things could have been handled much better, and it was a huge missed opportunity to both establish a prestigious new belt and new talent.
Sure, Allin is now Champion and is one of the stars of AEW's future, but the road to get there had several unneeded forks in it.
#3 Miro's booking since his AEW debut
Miro, the wrestler and Miro, the performer seem like two different people in AEW. As the character, he is reminiscent of his wife, Lana, worrying about likes, subscriptions, and comments on digital platforms. When he actually wrestles, the beastly side of the performer comes out. That is what he should lean into.
When he first debuted with AEW, it was exciting but also somewhat strange because it was as Kip Sabian's "Best Man". Instead of simply cutting a swath of destruction through people, his character is more focused on gaming. If that is his creative input on his character, then that is all well and good. But for someone of his size, speed, and athleticism, it's a bit disappointing knowing what he is capable of in the ring.
Another slight issue with his AEW tenure is that instead of being a rising singles star, he's been more utilized in the tag team with Sabian. There isn't a problem with pairing Miro with Sabian, but AEW is already so full of tag teams that it's hard to truly stand out in the crowd. When he was a part of the Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royal, Miro stood out for the right reasons. He went on an elimination spree and showcased why he was such a good signing for AEW.
There is still time to make Miro a bit more serious and vicious. The debut in 2020, however, fell a little flat.
#2 AEW's booking of monster heels
Lance Archer (13-2) should have outright won the TNT title in the finals of AEW's tournament to crown the first such Champion. He ran roughshod through his side of the bracket, but the storyline of the melee centered all around Cody Rhodes. Archer targeted Cody during his debut and destroyed Dustin Rhodes en route to the finals. When all was said and done, he lost in the finals to the American Nightmare.
The Murderhawk Monster would later win a battle royal but then lose to Jon Moxley in an AEW Championship match. Falling to the major Champ of the company is one thing, but he should have defeated Cody Rhodes. It would have made him seem much more dangerous than simply throwing the likes of Joey Janela and Marko Stunt around the ring.
The Young Bucks are among the biggest stars in AEW, but they have lost to the likes of Private Party and others to help build some new stars. Chris Jericho lost to Orange Cassidy twice.
Another example is Wardlow (9-2), who lost to Cody in a cage match that determined if Cody could face MJF at Revolution. Wardlow lost the match after the American Nightmare hit a moonsault off of the top of the cage. It fit the storyline of Rhodes having to jump through hoops in order to face MJF, but it still marked a loss on Wardlow's record.
For these big bad dudes to have any credibility, they need to beat big names from time to time. When it came up in 2020, they all lost to Cody and Moxley. Moxley makes sense because he's the AEW Champ and biggest star in the company.
Cody could have lost to Archer and Wardlow to help build them up. Instead, any time they had a chance to be taken seriously by beating one of the bigger names in the company, they looked like Braun Strowman every time he faced Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns.
Monster heels are obstacles to be overcome eventually, but almost everyone was shot down in their prominent spots in 2020.
#1 Handling of AEW's women's division
Hikaru Shida is the best female performer in AEW and should be holding the title. She's already the longest-reigning Women's Champion in AEW's young history. Her booking and title reign have been perfectly fine. Where things fall apart, however, is looking at the rest of the division.
Due to the pandemic, a portion of AEW's women's division was stuck overseas (Riho, Emi Sakura) or hurt (Kris Statlander, Shanna, Britt Baker). And on top of all that, they released both Bea Priestley and Sadie Gibbs. Gibbs only appeared on Dynamite in backstage segments.
Depending on how it is perceived, AEW had to feature another promotion's Champion on its programming. While it is good to have promotions working with each other, the cupboard was rather barren for AEW, and they relied on featuring the NWA Women's Champion Thunder Rosa prominently for times in 2020.
The cross-promotion is good for pro wrestling, but it also highlighted an ongoing problem regarding the depth in the division. One way things could have been remedied was to give Allie a singles push. She's a well-known name outside of AEW and was one of the biggest signings for the women's division.
Instead, she was placed into a tag team with Brandi Rhodes, and they competed in a tournament. They lost in the finals to Diamante and Ivelisse. Her record was 6-2 as a tag team and 2-0 in singles action. With things so barren in the division, why wasn't she challenging Shida or at least receiving her own push?
When she wasn't tagging with Brandi, she was only used as a valet for the Butcher and the Blade. Unless she is injured or something else is up, there is little reason why she shouldn't have been used as a singles star in 2020. She revealed she has battled with depression before, so perhaps that could be a reason.
That tournament also featured some familiar names that could have been added. One was Tay Conti, who was signed after the tournament, while Nicole Savoy tagged with Big Swole. She might have had other commitments or didn't want to sign a full-time deal, but Savoy would have been a great addition to the division.
Also having brief moments with AEW in 2020 were both Priscilla Kelly (on Jericho's Cruise) and Mercedes Martinez (in the ladies Casino Battle Royale). Martinez would have one more match with AEW in 2020 on AEW Dark before signing with WWE in January.
Adding one or even two of the names like Kelly, Savoy, or Martinez would have done wonders for AEW's women's division. Instead, it remained one of the few areas where AEW missed some huge opportunities this year.
