10 Things AEW Needs To Stop Doing IMMEDIATELY

6. Battle Of The Belts In Its Current Form

Bryan DAnielson
AEW

To date, there have been five Battle of the Belts specials - with a sixth scheduled for this April - yet these events just aren't clicking in their current format.

Of course, AEW is tied to delivering quarterly specials for TNT, but surely there has to be something better than this that the promotion can do with those quarterly slots? Currently, Battle of the Belts events are just there, serving no purpose, providing no drama, and being completely and utterly skippable if you're looking to see something newsworthy take place.

Yes, Battle of the Belts has housed some very decent wrestling bouts across those five outings so far, but nothing of significant note has happened on these shows, and the most prestigious belt of all - as in, the AEW World Championship - has yet to feature on these offerings designed to showcase AEW's grandest prizes.

To show how little suspense there is for Battle of the Belts specials, there has so far been a total of 15 matches to take place under the BOB banner, and in all 15 instances, the respective champions have retained their gold. Not just that, but the contests themselves rarely drum up even the slightest uncertainty when it comes to who will emerge victorious in these bouts.

Not to knock on the talents involved, but did anyone really think that Dustin Rhodes was going to beat Sammy Guevarra to become TNT Champion at the first Battle of the Belts? How about Nyla Rose beating Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women's Title at Battle of the Belts II? Or Jay Lethal taking the TNT Title from Wardlow at Battle of the Belts III? Maybe the Gates of Agony besting FTR to become AEW Tag Team Champions at Battle of the Belts IV? Heck, what about Sky Blue being the one to bring an end to Jade Cargill's record-setting reign as the TBS Champ at Battle of the Belts V?

While some of those named matches featured pretty solid wrestling, nobody in their right mind genuinely thought a title would be changing hands.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.