10 Times AEW Got Into Serious Trouble

There is no regulatory body in pro wrestling, but the closest thing to it, in the American majors at least, are the television networks.

The relationship between All Elite Wrestling and Warner Bros. Discovery, according to reputable reports, is mostly very positive. One of the best minds for the economic side of the business, Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, maintains his position that AEW should score a considerably improved rights fee later this year. He has suggested that Warner may have already purchased a small ownership stake in the promotion, which bodes well for its televised future.

It doesn't matter that the word "sh*t" is said with abandon; in fact, Tony Khan was encouraged to shape AEW as a challenger brand and true alternative to WWE's family-friendly direction. WBD knew what they were getting, and indeed actively wanted it.

'Serious Trouble' might scan as hyperbole, but the importance of rights fees cannot be over-emphasised. In isolation, these incidents - not all, but some - may not quite warrant that description. In totality, however, any more transgressions might prove to be significant. The aforementioned "televised future" doesn't require the first word; without television, on which both AEW and WWE in the current forms are entirely reliant, no future exists.

The rules apply differently to pro wrestling, too; the medium has only just rid itself of an age-old stigma, of a carny freak-show watched by the less well-off whom advertisers deemed unworthy of selling to (and for).

Tread carefully and all that...

The relationship between Jake Roberts and AEW started strongly.

He was at his sinister, authoritative best when ripping Cody Rhodes to shreds and promising the debut of a new client on his first Dynamite appearance. This was the power Jake's promo game held; Jake's gravitas made the unseen person, without even an implicit reference to who it was, feel like a monster.

Truthfully, that was his peak in a live setting, though Roberts was very effective in some early vignettes. He hasn't been seen in forever, with Lance Archer iced for whatever reason, but caused something of a controversy when he was featured regularly.

In a disturbing antique of an angle booked to promote his client Lance Archer's clash with Cody Rhodes, after Dr. Britt Baker attacked Brandi Rhodes, Jake hovered over her in a scene reeking of phallic imagery and the dismal blocking of an assault. What the f*ck were they thinking with this?

It was vile, and sensibly - according to Jake himself on DDT Snake Pit podcast - Warner were not remotely happy.

They’re not going to let a snake back in the ring, period," Jake said, when he suggesting using an animatronic alternative (as if the presence of a snake was the only issue).

"They were really pissed off that we used the snake. I guess they told us that wasn't going to be allowed but we tried to do it anyway, they came down hard."