10 Awesome Ideas That Were Cut From AEW

8. The Joshi-Heavy Women's Division

The Fist AEW
AEW

At Double Or Nothing 2019, AEW's first-ever pay-per-view, Hikaru Shida, Riho and Ryu Mizunami defeated Aja Kong, Emi Sakura and Yuka Sakazaki.

With the exception of Kong, a terrifying pro wrestling legend, the audience wasn't familiar with any of the women. This was by design; Kenny Omega had the inspired idea to introduce unknown joshi wrestlers as a means of emulating the mind-blowing thrill elicited by the cruiserweights in the halcyon era of WCW Monday Nitro. They tore the house down with a frantic trios match that blended speed, charm and blistering violence elevated by the unexpected source. Watching diminutive women operate as stiff badass killers is key to the wonder of joshi wrestling, and Omega was smart enough to grasp its crossover potential. Riho was an early quarter hour ratings hit.

Sadly, this vision amounted to very little. Even before the pandemic formally scrapped the idea, scheduling conflicts undermined it; many of the talents were shared imports, even inaugural Women's champion Riho, and could not appear regularly in long-term storylines.

Dark Twitter rumours suggest that there was another factor at play: a whispered power struggle between Omega and Brandi Rhodes, the latter of whom transitioned into the role of the women's division "big bad" as 2019 drew to a close.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!