10 Bold Predictions For What AEW Will Look Like This Time Next Year
9. Ring Of Honor Will Only Exist As A Tape Library
The Ring Of Honor purchase hasn't worked out.
It felt like an impulse buy; certainly, there don't appear to be any long-term plans for it. Obviously, Khan is trying to negotiate a TV deal, but the reboot has already been stigmatised as an imposition on AEW programming.
Matches are either shunted onto Rampage or Battle of the Belts, and while the quality is often high, that is nowhere near enough in 2022. Very good matches take place in every promotion every week. The Triple H-led WWE is competing for match of the week honours and many had Sheamus Vs. Gunther as the runaway winner very recently.
ROH can't exist as a must-see separate entity because by definition, it cannot have a distinctive identity. AEW is the "catch-all" promotion. the idea is to draw every fan who likes at least one style. Blistering trios action; bloody brawls; technical masterclasses; slow-burn US traditional; lucha libre; strong style: every genre is accounted for. Prime NXT worked perfectly to supplement the soapy WWE main roster because it provided something that Vince McMahon would not: thrilling, state-of-the-art action with smaller, more technically accomplished wrestlers. ROH does nothing that AEW does not promote already.
It feels lukewarm and inessential, a failed attempt to expand, and Khan will take the hit at some point very soon.