10 Awful Things Wrestling Needs To LEAVE In 2023

5. Battle Of The Belts

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AEW

Nobody wants Battle of the Belts.

Warner obviously don't care about a brand that was originally envisioned to be a Clash of the Champions-style quarterly two-hour special. Battle of the Belts, with its gentle plagiarism via alliteration, was meant to be AEW's equivalent to the "B-level" pay-per-view.

Something happened, it was shortened, and it transformed into a throwaway one-hour "special" that nobody cares about. AEW certainly don't seem to care. Just one actual title change has happened in a shade under two years. The AEW World title - the men's one that AEW has positioned several levels above the women's - has not been defended on the show on one single occasion. The fans don't care either. Nobody has ever fantasy booked nor raved about Battle of the Belts.

Battle of the Belts has played host to such legendary clashes as Samoa Joe Vs. Tony Nese, Jonathan Gresham Vs. Dalton Castle, and the Lucha Bros. Vs. QT Marshall & Powerhouse Hobbs.

It is closer to AEW Jakked than AEW Clash of the Champions, and exists only to water the content farm and remind fans that AEW promotes far too many championships. It would be nigh-on impossible to do a bad version of the show between 2019 and 2021.

It isn't going away - it is supplemental content that is easy and inexpensive to produce - but it epitomises this new, bleak filler era of AEW.

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!