10 Booking Steps For The AEW World Title Tournament

9. Banger Bracket

Kenny Omega Orange Cassidy
AEW/Lee South

The announcement of the tournament was timed wonderfully to develop the long, long-term Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page storyline. As conveyed via some deft, mirrored booking, Page only learned of Omega's inclusion at the precise moment he was framed with his intentions firmly set on a different championship.

Those initial feelings - Kenny Omega is a right d*ckhead, playing poor Hangman like that! Fénix and Jungle Boy are both absolutely fantastic, hook those bangers into my veins! - subsided to pose certain, glaring questions. Fénix is the most mind-blowing talent in the world, but he's predominantly a tag team competitor, and the Lucha Bros. aren't even in the top 5 of their primary division. Jungle Boy isn't ranked in the singles top 5, either.

Their inclusion is a fairly transparent and not particularly logical excuse to promote world class singles action on Dynamite. It makes no sense within the framework of how AEW books, but you can't complain in earnest: it's a selective approach to booking, but if they're going to only half-recognise it, they might as well double the fun by creating a banger bracket of Kenny Omega, Jungle Boy, Fénix, and Orange Cassidy, who while unranked has a very meaningful win over Chris Jericho to support his entry.

These complaints can be offset by creating, in parallel...

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!