10 Creeping Problems AEW MUST Fix
5. The Rankings/Appearances Balance
The rankings system should stay in place forever.
Every wrestling company that actually considers itself a wrestling company should implement something similar.
That doesn't mean AEW's rankings system is perfect.
It's close. It's such an effective storyline driver that gets a wrestler over as a credible winner, and it has been heavily emphasised in 2021. How Hangman Page's setback allowed PAC and Orange Cassidy to overtake him - and how PAC being cheated out of his shot has dovetailed into an anti-Elite alignment with old enemy Eddie Kingston - is the sort of deft long-term booking that AEW has perfected to render the competition all the more stagnant and meaningless.
The rankings system however comes at a cost. Because wins count, only the talents in the title hunt are booked to win. This leaves a huge block of the roster not winning nor wrestling all that often.
Wins and losses should matter; equally, the best and most entertaining wrestlers should appear frequently. A good wrestling show utilises its best talents. Not every week - nobody with taste wants RAW on a Wednesday, or even a Monday - but frequently.
MJF, Ricky Starks before he got injured, John Silver, FTR, Santana and Ortiz, Riho: none have appeared in action anywhere near enough. AEW could resolve this with the all but confirmed Trios division.
AEW balances this currently by penning long long-term grudge feuds alongside the title pictures. The Inner Circle Vs. Pinnacle saga excuses many of the aforementioned - but when you look at which wrestlers have worked Dynamites in their place, you get a sense of what is a nice problem to have that remains a problem.
Said problem is compounded by...