10 Major AEW Stars Who Publicly Savaged The Company

2. Thunder Rosa

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AEW

Recently, Thunder Rosa expressed frustration with her lot in All Elite Wrestling in an under-reported story.

This news story marked a very suboptimal milestone. It's one thing for a barely used undercard act who has peaked to express unhappiness with their position because this happens in every promotion. Even when Tony Khan found itself in the promoter's sweet spot - generating endless critical acclaim with a small roster that didn't require much in the way of juggling - some talents weren't happy. In early March 2020, following the seminal Revolution pay-per-view, Jack Evans complained that his style had been "handcuffed". It's simply the nature of this and any other business.

It's quite another thing for a champion in the promotion to complain.

"Publicly" is a stretch here, because Thunder Rosa hasn't taken to social media in an unprofessional rant, but her frustration has been made public. Rosa is purportedly under the belief that her title match at Double Or Nothing was badly under-sold on the follow-up Dynamite, and that this afterthought portrayal is all too consistent with the way in which her Women's title reign has been handled thus far.

She has a point, and it's not an ideal one, optically, for AEW. It damages the credibility of the championship and indeed the idea of even winning it, if it's considered a valuable achievement by the wrestler holding it.

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!