5 Things AEW Must Steal From WCW (And 5 It Shouldn’t!)
5. No: Giving Too Much “Creative Control”
Too many cooks, and all that.
WCW's "creative control" powers got out of hand towards the end of the 90s. It seemed like early wrestling news sites online and magazines were rammed full of stories like, 'WCW wanted Hulk Hogan to feud with *insert wrestler here*, but the 'Hulkster' vetoed that idea by playing his creative control card'.
AEW offers significantly more individual freedom creatively than WWE in 2023. Workers like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Saraya and more have hefty input into what their characters do on screen. That's great on paper, but selfishness is a real concern - everybody wants the best for themselves, naturally.
This is presumably why Moxley is allowed to bleed all over the place during random bouts on Rampage, or why Jericho just gets to pick his own feuds. Tony Khan must be wary of handing over too much control, because all those chattering voices could be detrimental to the product.
Some will argue they already are.