10 Biggest Missed AEW Opportunities

4. Women Making An IMPACT

Cody Rhodes AEW World Champion
ImpactWrestling.com

Kenny Omega's run atop the food chain as the AEW World Champion brought with it Kenny's Belt Collector reign that saw him simultaneously hold the AAA World Championship, the IMPACT World Championship and technically the old TNA World Championship in addition to being the man in All Elite Wrestling.

With the worlds of AEW and IMPACT Wrestling colliding during that time, audiences saw IMPACT talents such as Rich Swann, Moose, Eddie Edwards, Chris Sabin, Sami Callihan, Willie Mack, and the Good Brothers getting to tangle with AEW stars.

Unfortunately, in terms of a missed opportunity, there was absolutely zero involvement from IMPACT's fantastic Knockouts division during all of this.

The Knockouts division may not be as vast as its AEW or WWE counterparts, but there's an argument to be said that IMPACT houses the most engaging, high quality female action in North America. For talents like Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary and Tasha Steelz - all of whom were competing for IMPACT at the time - not to lock up with AEW names such as Britt Baker, Thunder Rosa, Jade Cargill, Hikaru Shida, and Serena Deeb feels like massively missing the boat on some fantastic match-ups.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.