10 AEW Nightmares That Could Come True In 2023
Landmark year of highs for Tony Khan's AEW, or a miserable year of failure?
AEW's launch back in 2019 feels like a lifetime ago.
The company bravely battled through 2020's global pandemic with celebrated aplomb, and Tony Khan's group has been responsible for some of the absolute best wrestling moments since. In-ring, All Elite's pay-per-views are a quarterly delight, and fans tuning into TV shows like Dynamite know they'll see some cracking pro wrestling.
It hasn't all been sunshine, rainbows and puppy dogs though. The roster is reaching WCW-levels of busy, 'B' show Rampage has become a miserable weekly nuisance for Khan to book (or, at least, that's what it seems like from a fan's perspective), and several backstage controversies have wobbled AEW's PR machine.
You know the drill by now. The phrase, "AEW Nightmares" in the article title gives the game away - those aforementioned rainbows and puppy dogs have no place here. No, this is a snapshot of everything that could go terribly wrong for All Elite Wrestling in the new year.
Will legal action drag on? Is TK destined to become the next Vince Russo? What of ROH and the AEW roster at large? Time for some nightmares, people...
10. CM Punk Legal Action Drags On And On
This needs to be addressed early.
CM Punk didn't so much walk through the AEW exit doors as run through them screaming with a baseball bat in hand. His incredible performance at the post-All Out press conference flummoxed Tony Khan, and it was quite the way to go out. Subsequent scuffles with The Elite meant a suspension and exhausting legal action.
Nobody on the outside has any real clue how this'll end, but it does look like that's a wrap on Punk's AEW career. Some predict a bold WWE return in 2023, or perhaps some dates for New Japan if things shake out that way. However, it doesn't seem like ol' CM has any place in TK's world from here on out.
It'd be a nightmare for Tony if the legal fallout from Punk's departure drags on and on and on for much of the new year. Such things can be very costly, and Khan would likely just love to move on right f'n now. Hopefully, this is all sorted out ASAP.