8 Things AEW Need To Do To Reach The Next Level

In a recent interview, Rusev claimed his, ahem angle, with Lana and Bobby Lashley is the best story WWE have had for quite some time. Looking beyond the Kool-Aid inspired logic, it is in fact getting more social media clicks than anything else on WWE.

In this day and age, that is what matters the most. Of course it doesn’t mean AEW need to have Shawn Spears bone Brandi Rhodes; storylines such as the Rusev-Lashley-Lana nonsense need to be sealed in a titanium box and transported to the bottom of the Mariana trench. But it does show how modern audiences work.

You need those big eye grabbing moments that a random person scrolling Facebook will stop, watch and possibly share despite not even knowing what any of this is. Be it through ultra-brutal roasts, or stunts so mind numbingly ridiculous even those who never watched wrestling will take note, this is how you get more eyes on the product. And possibly, more viewers.

And it’s not like they have to make sweeping changes to the layout of the show, as they have already shown they’re more than capable of creating memorable moments. The segments involving Cody and the Inner Circle have provided top entertainment value and the kind of GIF worthy material that can woo the masses. All they have to do is take that formula, perfect it, and then apply to other parts of the show.

Give us the madness, give us the invading a man’s funeral and driving off with the coffin containing the corpse surreal hilarity, or the blasting a whole group of people with drinkable fluid from a hosepipe insanity.

While they shouldn’t be copying WWE by any means and hence we probably won’t ever get Pac stealing Hunter Horse Helmsley’s coffin from Hangman Page or Jericho unleashing bubblymania on the Elite, it’s the kind of thinking the AEW creative engine need to have, alongside their sports centric outlook, in order unlock new levels of popularity for their product.