10 Things That Prove January Is The Best Month For Wrestling

9. AEW Gets Refreshed

The Rock John Cena
AEW

2019 has been an historic one for professional wrestling for the simple fact that All Elite Wrestling has arrived. Love or loathe it, AEW is the first potential, genuine competition that WWE has faced since WCW's doors were closed in 2001. A billionaire-backed wrestling company could, and hopefully should, be enough to cause some legitimate change in the industry over the next few years.

What does AEW have to do with January, though? Well, according to Nick Jackson, each January is going to see AEW reset the win/loss record of its talent.

Despite one win seemingly landing title shots for Darby Allin and Scorpio Sky, AEW is pushing the narrative that wins and losses matter. Incorporating win/loss records into AEW storytelling is a smart move that feels almost like a fresh, new concept in a pro wrestling world that has lost track of wins actually meaning anything.

There are certainly some teething problems with how AEW has set about handling its rankings, but the idea in principle is a fantastic one. And knowing that win/loss records reset every January means AEW has an easy, instant way of refreshing its programming at the turn of each year.

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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.