10 Times AEW Saved Something That STUNK
7. The Women's Championship
Make no mistake, AEW's Women's Title scene still isn't perfect - you only need to see last week's booking mis-step for proof - but it's in a much better state now then it was in the promotion's debut year.
The problems started with their choice of champion. Put bluntly, Riho should never have been given the belt. Not because she's a bad wrestler - she's actually a damn good babyface - but because AEW wasn't her priority. Riho spent the bulk of her time wrestling for World Wonder Ring Stardom in Japan, which
a) immediately made the AEW Women's Championship seem second-rate and
b) made it impossible for the audience to form any real attachment to her.
Nyla Rose dethroned Riho, but her reign never really got going and she was beaten in only her second title defense. Fortunately, the woman who beat her was the right one to carry the division forward.
Hikaru Shida's reign marked a notable improvement in how the Women's Championship was perceived. Shida was (and arguably still is) the best female worker in the company, and she put on some great matches during her lengthy run as champion. AEW rightly made a big deal out of Shida being AEW's longest-reigning champion in any division, so when she lost the belt it felt like a huge deal.
It also helped that AEW chose the right woman for Shida to lose the belt to...