10 Ups & 10 Downs For AEW In 2019

7. Off The Boil

As hot as Cody became in the build to Full Gear, that AEW cooled him off as soon as he lost to Chris Jericho is disappointing and may have contributed to the ratings slip. The promotion effectively benched their top babyface. Beaten down by the Inner Circle one week then by The Butcher and the Blade the next, he feels significantly less important than he did when he cut that awesome “same silver spoon” promo on ‘Le Champion,’ and he isn’t the only hot face AEW has taken off the boil as they were gaining traction.

Darby Allin is another. The former EVOLVE standout built immense crowd support through do-or-die performances against Cody, and Jericho, getting over to such an extent that younger crowd members started appearing at shows in his face paint… then nothing. Allin wasn’t booked for Full Gear. He has since wrestled Jon Moxley in another bout designed to propel him up the card: again, though, no follow-up.

He isn’t a babyface, but Jake Hager is another example. ‘The Big Hurt’ had an awesome debut angle and has starred in a number of other beatdowns since then. Still, where at the promos? The matches? Was he brought in solely to play Jericho’s muscle, or are we going to see more from him?

Cycling wrestlers in and out works to prevent oversaturation. Unfortunately, these examples feel more like AEW failing to strike while something’s hot. It’s disheartening as a viewer.