7 Ways AEW Can Improve Their Women's Division
As good as Riho and others have been, how can AEW elevate their women's division to the next level?
It is safe to say the women’s division has been one of the major criticisms levelled against All Elite Wrestling thus far. While the show has certainly suffered other issues, the lacklustre treatment of the women has arguably been the biggest source of disappointment among fans and critics alike.
Now yes, this is by no means the performers’ fault. The women of AEW are all phenomenal athletes (go away AJ) and have been putting on amazing matches since day one.
The problems with the division are all to do with how they are presented, the amount of spotlight they are given and how much AEW are willing to invest creatively in these wrestlers and their storylines. This also makes it a bit strange listening to someone like a Kenny Omega defend this by pointing out the efforts put in by the likes of Riho. Neither their ability nor their popularity was ever in doubt.
The fingers pointed are mostly at the booking and angles these women have been handed. A blame that, ironically enough, falls largely on the people in charge behind the scenes such as Mr. Omega himself.
With all that being said, the sheer talent AEW have at their disposal means that they may only be a few key tweaks away from enabling the division to soar. These are seven ways they can achieve just that.
7. Fewer Random Matches
If you want people to care about the action happening inside the ring, then it has to come with real stakes. The same applies to the performers themselves. You become more invested in them if you see they are facing the consequences or enjoying the benefits of the losing or winning respectively.
Hence it became quite the source of frustration when for a significant period of time AEW kept booking their women in random singles or tag matches every week on Dynamite. It was also around this time the champion Riho simply vanished for a number of weeks.
While this has improved since the turn of the year with more meaningful matches being put up on Dynamite, it doesn’t excuse the fact that the company squandered weeks of opportunities to build up stories and characters by only assigning their women random filler matches on the show.