10 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About AEW

7. "The Women's Division Is Terrible"

Brandi Rhodes AEW
Scott Lesh

It's not great, but it's no worse than NXT's thin and makeshift tag team division, and since the Dynamite era started, AEW is 1-1 with WWE's more talented Women's main roster in the criteria of bangers: Riho Vs. Emi Sakura at Full Gear was about on par with Becky Lynch Vs. Sasha Banks at Hell In A Cell.

And yet, the soil keeps falling as part of a mass burial that feels at times like an unfair response to attack AEW for its big talk, which, what else are they going to do? Not hype the make-or-break product in the guise of a wrestling promotion?

The clue's in the name.

Riho's run as Women's Champion has been plagued by scheduling conflicts, which also smothered AEW in humiliation when nobody bothered to check Kris Statlander's calendar. AEW is inviting the criticism, but doesn't entirely warrant it. Statlander has proved a revelation in recent weeks by retconning the failed Britt Baker push with a series of powerful performances. Emi Sakura's work - particularly in tags - has allowed the likes of Shanna to offer an all too brief glimpse at her quality. Hikaru Shida is another excellent, honed talent that has improved by the division by orders of magnitude with her charm offensive.

It's not great. Nobody, your writer included, is saying it's great, but it's hardly the disaster the discourse suggests, and if it is, blame Kenny Omega, and not Britt.

That's what too many people are getting wrong.

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!