10 Ups & 10 Downs For AEW In 2019

3. The Women’s Division Hasn’t Taken Off

While Kenny Omega’s promise to augment AEW’s women’s division with new wrestlers, a tag scene, and increased screentime in 2020 wasn’t an outright admission that things hadn’t gone to plan, it may as well have been. ‘The Cleaner’s’ words show a tacit acknowledgement that AEW’s women haven’t soared as high as was promised when Brandi Rhodes beamed about the group’s prospects at the Jacksonville press conference.

Britt Baker, who was immediately promoted as a potential ace, has underwhelmed. Champion Riho has had next to no character development outside of what goes on between the ropes. The much-anticipated joshi connection has yielded only a handful of full-timers. Emi Sakura was thrown into a title programme with little-to-no build, despite her student/teacher connection with the champ. TV time is in short supply, with only a handful of slots made available each week and the likes of Shanna, Big Swole, and Sadie Gibbs largely restricted to Dark. These are but a handful of the scene’s problems.

The division hasn’t been without its successes (most of the biggest matches have been electric) and the likes of Shanna, Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida, and potential signee Jamie Hayter signpost a bright future. Regardless, there’s no excuse for a subpar women’s scene in 2019. This is something that Omega and AEW must work tirelessly to turn around, even if the past few weeks have delivered marked improvements on the promotion’s early days.