8 Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About AEW

6. The Women's Division Has Been An Afterthought

Riho Women's Champion
AEW/FITE

AEW has laid the foundations for some great, forward-thinking progression for the promotion’s women’s division. Even before AEW was officially launched as a weekly wrestling product, the company went hard with its public comments to say how its female roster would have the opportunity for the same financial rewards as AEW’s male roster.

This was ground-breaking, this was revolutionary, and this was something that should have been addressed so many years ago by other wrestling companies.

Despite the prospect of equal pay, AEW has largely managed to make its Women’s Championship feel like an afterthought.

While the recent build to Cody going after Chris Jericho’s AEW World Championship was an engaging story that was fleshed out week after week on AEW Dynamite, AEW Women’s Champion Riho and the women’s title picture was left with minimal buzz.

To date, the only female talent in AEW who has had any real story arc is Brandi Rhodes and her descent to the dark side. And while rankings have been nicely discussed on AEW TV, there’s been no juice whatsoever behind Riho and those desperately scratching and clawing for the opportunity to tangle with the current AEW Women’s Champion.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.