15 Misconceptions About AEW You Probably Believe

The stories, the fumbles, and the Feeling of All Elite Wrestling.

by Michael Sidgwick
Tony Khan
AEW

The most irritating thing about AEW bad faith discourse is that there is plenty to criticise about the promotion in good faith - and what’s more, founder and General Manager Tony Khan will actually listen to it and take it on board.

In a quite remarkable turnaround, having finally exorcised the ghost of CM Punk, AEW is in a stunning position in the summer of 2025. The product could improve yet further, but at this point in the history of the most scrutinised promotion ever, it must be difficult for Khan to determine who is worth listening to.

Problems include but are not limited to:

The lack of parity in the women’s division continues to be appalling, and it’s worse now that the best of the division is often the best aspect of the show overall: the Hollywood Ending was the critical peak of AEW’s 2025, pre-All In. The random babyface super-team is a cheap booking cheat code. Yes, the trios matches are often fun, but they are familiar and inessential. Tony Khan often forgets these friendships have been forged when a babyface is getting beat down, too. Problems remain with the logic of the booking and the hierarchy of the roster. Hologram’s unrewarded winning streak is ludicrous. The most prominent tag teams never interact; as was the case in 2022, FTR’s lack of involvement in the AEW title picture makes no sense. Obviously, Tony doesn’t want to beat them - but this has not been adequately explained in the narrative.

And yet, driven by a sub-industry of a grifter subspecies, a lot of total nonsense is invented about AEW. This speckled, hardened crap sticks to the promotion and gets in the way of earnest fan feedback.

Now, you could argue that screaming all of this into the void is a pointless task - but AEW is catching fire again, drawing into the flames the worst people who cannot deal with its success. They went away for a while, when bashing a cold and perennially uneven AEW wasn’t as lucrative as it once was. But they’re coming back.

Don’t listen to them, and don’t listen to the following misconceptions…

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Contributor
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!