5 Things AEW can do to improve in the company's second year on TNT

#3 Abide by the rankings or abandon them completely

Rankings have been a mixed bag.

When AEW first announced that they would be utilizing a rankings system for their stars, it made sense. Matches in WWE often just happened to build towards an eventual title match. The champion would lose a non-title contest to a potential challenger but then the champion would win the actual title match.

By having rankings in AEW, it should mean that every match counts and that those that empirically won more of their bouts would get a shot at the champion. For the longest time, however, MJF had been undefeated and at the top of the rankings. But for whatever reason, he didn't get his title shot until All Out. In his stead, the likes of Brian Cage and Mr. Brodie Lee have joined AEW and had shots at Jon Moxley. Cage did win a ladder match but the point remains the same.

Regarding the TNT Championship, rankings don't matter at all. Whichever star confronts Cody seems to get a shot like Jake Hager or Scorpio Sky. It was a nice way to debut Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston but they weren't even ranked. He did claim that he was open to defending the belt against everyone, but shouldn't an established member of AEW like Jungle Boy, Darby Allin or Shawn Spears have gotten shots instead?

The point to be made here is that while it's good to have every match mean something, it doesn't work if the system isn't adhered to. Certain challengers are obviously kept in waiting until big PPVs, but the rankings system has clashed with AEW booking storylines.

The rankings system has hurt the women's division with such an inconsistent booking history in year one. While the pandemic has kept part of the roster out of the US, most of the other women are hurt. The former Champion Nyla Rose is the top-ranked woman while Britt Baker, who has been out for a few months, is still ranked fifth. It was a good idea but if AEW continues to use it, they need to put it to use in a better manner.

And as a random aside, the Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) are ranked (4th) and have a better record (6-2) than both the Lucha Brothers (1-3) and Santana and Ortiz (4-4). Let that sink in. It's true that the Lucha Brothers may have been restricted by travel due to the pandemic, but they still struggled to break into the tag team rankings all year. Weren't they supposed to be some of AEW's bigger stars?