10 Moves Tony Khan Must Make To Save AEW

10. Make A Rule #1: End Or Severely Limit Recruitment Storylines

All worthy, traditional narrative fiction adheres to a set of rules.

For it to make sense - and for the audience to invest - it must be trusted. Things have to matter, characters should behave in a certain, consistent way. Establishing a fixed set of rules allows the author/show-runner/booker not to fall into traps and make a sloppy, trope-ridden mess. Break this discipline, and problems mount.

In short, Tony Khan must remember that which made AEW so vital at its peak.

Khan needs to erect a dry erase board and bind himself to a certain set of rules. The core issue, and it's a sprawling one, is that there's so little narrative discipline to AEW's product of late. It is imperative that Khan tightens his sh*t up.

The faction-boss-recruits-new-acts thing is almost laughably passé at this point. It used to work as a key narrative driver, but what's happened is that joining or forming a stable is hardly a guarantee of career progression, and the device is unconvincing.

Consider Private Party. They were once over because they burst onto the scene as a breakout indie act with agency. Now, they've spent the last two years under the guidance of Matt Hardy, and then Andrade, and now, Matt is trying to win them back. It's ridiculous. Why would they bother? They're in the semi-frequent Rampage abyss. They're better off on their own. The premise of this story is impossible to take seriously.

In turn, so is AEW all too often.