5 Things AEW MUST Do In 2021 (And 5 They Must Avoid)

3. Kenny Omega: Sports Entertainer

That Kenny Omega won the AEW World Championship in a very un-AEW manner rang early alarm bells amongst purists who'd rather All Elite stuck to its original promise of sport-like presentation.

With Omega wiped out after being launched into a heater, Impact Wrestling's Don Callis hit the apron, distracting the referee long enough to slip 'The Best Bout Machine' the microphone he used to fell Jon Moxley. It made sense in-character, as winning this way after making a "gentlemen's agreement' with Mox gave Omega the opportunity to add hypocrisy to his growing list of heel traits, and the match was generally well-received. Regardless, the villainous 'Cleaner' was still a new character in this universe. There are currently few ways of telling whether this will become a habit or not.

It shouldn't.

Rather than putting heat on Omega and Callis, regularly resorting to tired, Sports Entertainment tropes would make fans weary of Kenny and his World Title reign, despite his popularity. AEW is a clean finish territory. On occasions, they will use a distraction, countout, or disqualification to further a storyline, but going full Bullet Club (who got over because their Western heel tactics clashed with NJPW's clean presentation style) won't work here.

AEW has built a great level of trust with its audience, who tune in safe in the knowledge that matches will actually finish. They'd be wise not to violate that.