10 Wrestlers Who Will Change The Business Over The Next 10 Years
6. Dustin Rhodes
The AEW Women's division remains the one definitively poor aspect of Dynamite.
The division is in stasis, and this can't change, or at least AEW won't change it, until AEW or indeed the world changes. The greener reaches of the roster can't develop under the conditions in which wrestling is currently operating. They can't get reps on the indies, AEW can't send them on a NJPW-style excursion to for example STARDOM, and the talent working in front of no fans or next-to-no fans can't improve with no feedback system in place. Over-exposure holds the potential to damage their confidence, but AEW's failure to expose the women beyond the penultimate hour has created a stigma around their ability and AEW's perceived apathy.
But, in the background, Dustin Rhodes is quietly honing the women's roster in his capacity as a coach. He might yet reveal himself to be AEW's own Fit Finlay: the secret but hugely influential architect of women's wrestling in WWE.
One can already see the improvement in Britt Baker, mechanically and from a character work perspective: she has dropped the folly of imitating the fashionable hybrid style, learned how to lay 'em in, and has developed considerably as a more convincing, stripped-back heel.
The Women's division, at present, is undesirable. Dustin's graft behind the scenes might one day make it undeniable.