10 Reasons AEW Fans Should Be Worried

10. The Bloated Roster

For almost as long as AEW has existed, there have been complaints about Tony Khan picking up too many “WWE guys” or signing too much talent in general. A lot of those takes were made in bad faith and Tony Khan’s booking generally proved the doubters wrong.

Sadly however, it does seem a tipping point has been reached, with guys struggling to stand out on an overcrowded roster. It’s hard to look at any one guy and say, “this guy isn’t All Elite!” You can see why reDRagon, Keith Lee, Jeff Hardy or others would be tempting pick ups for any promotor, and each one brings something to the table. Nonetheless, at some point Tony Khan needed to exercise some discipline.

AEW is full of acts who could be franchise players but so few of them get to resonate as stars. With only three hours of TV to play with each week, even Dynamite and Rampage’s break-neck pacing can’t compensate for the bloat. There are just too many talented wrestlers to fit in and that problem carried over to an overlong, multi-man match stuffed PPV.

There was a time when bringing in super talented free agents like Johnny Gargano or Cesaro would have been a no-brainer. Fans would love to see what those guys can do outside of the WWE system. Sadly, it’s reached the point where you have to ask if that’s the best for the talent or the promotion?