10 Things That Will NEVER Happen In AEW

8. Booking Legends To Go Over Current Stars

Cody Rhodes Michael Cole
AEW

For all the toxic, bad faith "AEW just pushes ex-WWE guys!" complaints, the company has proven itself capable of creating numbers-drawing acts that have never worked for WWE - not that pushing talents with an in-built audience to show WWE's failures up is remotely a bad thing. The stars you know, only better is a fantastic pitch for fans and brochure for talent.

Darby Allin is a hit with viewers on Wednesday nights, drawing 1 million+ to a recent match with Ricky Starks. The Young Bucks drew another seven-figure number for their Falls Count Anywhere match opposite the Butcher and the Blade in the summer. The process is working.

WWE only books, for example, Goldberg to go over The Fiend out of total desperation. The star-making system is broken. Parachuting a big name into WrestleMania season represents a short-term ratings boost. Goldberg spiked the FOX numbers, and going back to 2016, Shane McMahon drove tens of thousands of ticket sales for WrestleMania 32. But it's untenable, and looking at offseason numbers, destructive.

AEW's entire business plan is modelled around doing that which WWE does not. The top stars spent much of 2019 and 2020 losing to get the future generations, plural, over. Cody Rhodes only defeated Darby Allin twice to arrive at his coronation when it resonated the most, when it felt so hard-earned.

It's a company bereft of ego. Omega and the Bucks in particular have spent so long raging against norms and old, toxic practises that it is unthinkable for them to fall into the old, hubristic traps.

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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!