10 Storylines AEW Dropped COLD

5. The Gunn Club Vs Paul Wight

Jon Moxley
AEW

There was a powerful backlash to this bland load of sh*te for a very good reason.

Since AEW’s debut, debate had raged about the quality of its women’s division and representation of women on the show in general. Being plunged into pandemic circumstances just months after launch didn’t help anyone, but the booking wasn’t anywhere near as thoughtful or considered as it had been for men.

All men.

All men, including the lame or ancient ones that were about as far away from the “Elite” tag on the marquee. On the All Out 2021 go-home Dynamite, Billy Gunn led his Ass Boys in an assault on Paul Wight ahead of the former Big Show’s pay-per-view time filler with QT Marshall.

There’s not a single line of text in that paragraph that doesn’t reek of boring dated nepotistic at best and rotten institutional sexism at worst. Predictably, this resulted in zero follow-through beyond Austin and Colten Gunn turning heel full time. The abandonment just furthered the feeling that this was very literally wasting everybody’s time.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett