10 Most Desperate Ways AEW Got You To Watch
1. The Jokers
This is another example of the long-term storytelling promotion not quite thinking things through.
The Joker was a winning gimmick originally. Everybody loves a hot new signing; as much as most fans have realised that the AEW roster is thoroughly bloated at this point, to the detriment of the booking, the pop Claudio Castagnoli received at Forbidden Door surely justified yet more mystery opponents.
This was an aberration, you'd expect, because Khan has very much normalised that which is not meant to feel normal. The irony is intense at this point.
The Joker worked when AEW benefitted from new names. Brian Cage was the ideal journeyman type to eventually put Darby Allin over as the imminent TNT Champion, where there are few better wrestlers than Matt Sydal at putting somebody over in a brilliant match. Khan loves the mystery opponent deal in many contexts, but that booking device is feeling increasingly desperate; Nick Gage and Juventud Guerrera were massively inspired debuts for two wonderfully different reasons; W Morrissey and Big Damo were underwhelming and frankly pointless diminished returns.
The Joker gimmick reached a desperate nadir in the Owen Hart Cup; Johnny Elite and Maki Itoh both lost, and while the latter is always well-received by AEW fans, it felt like a desperate plea to tune in when the existing division badly needs focus.