10 Awesome Ideas That Were Cut From AEW
2. Trios Titles
Is there a single soul alive who didn't throw their arms up in the air and say "For f*ck's sake!" when Tony Schiavone announced in June that AEW was announcing a new title that wasn't the long-rumoured Trios tag belts?
It's just as well that PAC is as incredible as he is, because the tertiary men's title had looked doomed from the onset.
Fans have been clamouring for Trios titles. The promotion books trios matches frequently, and they excel at the genre. The complex, relentless rush is invariably amazing, whether its the hypersonic athleticism of Death Triangle or the hard-nosed battery of the Blackpool Combat Club in there. The stable-based narrative framework almost demands their introduction - trios matches are used to logically build programmes frequently - and they would solve an inherent problem with AEW's patient booking approach.
In order to build quarterly PPVs as mega events, Tony Khan is reluctant to beat his top acts and often pits them against obvious fall guys in superb if very predictable TV matches. A Trios title would allow more all-star clashes without the stigma of a mano a mano loss. Several AEW factions have a lower rung teammate in a position to eat pins. If for example the Blackpool Combat Club were to face the House of Black in a tournament final, Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley or Malakai Black and Brody King would be protected by Wheeler YUTA or Buddy Matthews taking the fall. That match would be far less predictable than, for example, Danielson Vs. Matthews in singles competition.
All of this was set to happen shortly after Revolution 2020 - hence why Death Triangle and Best Friends were set to begin a trios programme - but the pandemic ruined the plan teased by Kenny Omega on Chris Jericho's cruise.
Khan barely had a roster to book at all in April, much less for a title that demands six men in one ring several times per month.