5 Ups & 7 Downs For AEW In 2023 (So Far)

Downs...

7. The TNT Title Mess

Wardlow AEW TNT Title
AEW

Wardlow-related grumbles technically started in 2022 when he lost the TNT Title without being pinned/submitted at Full Gear. Samoa Joe choked out Powerhouse Hobbs to grab the gold, then AEW began passing TNT around like it was the old WWF Hardcore belt.

Darby Allin won it, Joe regained the thing, Wardlow had his second go-around, Powerhouse Hobbs "enjoyed" a short reign, then Wardlow won it again in mid-April. Some consistency would be nice, because all these start-stop pushes are doing nothing for the title or the wrestlers chasing it.

WWE would be (rightly) blasted for this sort of sh*t.

Of the five title changes thus far in 2023, only one has felt like it actually mattered; Wardlow's win over Joe at Revolution should've settled things down, but it didn't. In fact, the company just went wild by booking Hobbs' rubbish stint before putting it back on Wardlow anyway.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.