9 Ups & 9 Downs For AEW In 2022

5. The Ring Of Honor Problem

Chris Jericho Daniel Garcia
AEW

On the Revolution go-home show, Tony Khan announced the purchase of Ring Of Honor. The build to Revolution was the best, most consistent period of AEW's 2022, after which the promotion declined on PPV and at the box office. Are these two things connected?

There are several problems with Khan's ROH reboot.

Unlike WWE rebooting ECW - which was a great idea heralded by two amazing shows before they WWE'd it - ROH is no true alternative to AEW. It did nothing that AEW didn't, boasting no unique, alluring identity of its own. There were no lapsed nor disenfranchised fans to coax back, and even if that were the case, ROH wasn't dead long enough for those fans - the vast majority of which migrated to AEW, anyway - to truly miss it. It wasn't cruelly taken from them, either; it died a lonely and unmourned death long after it had failed to capture the imagination of even the super hardcore fandom. The brand value just isn't there no matter how many major stars compete for its prizes.

It was an imposition on AEW programming throughout 2022, even if many of the matches and storylines surrounding it were often very good. It was all very inessential, and the sheer volume of titles meant that everything felt more weightless than it did. Wrestling only works when fans are emotionally invested in it, but even the good ideas - carny Chris Jericho sullying its good name - never clicked at a truly unmissable, top-tier level. ROH made AEW, a legitimate challenger to WWE for a brief period in 2021, feel small.

The future looks bleak, too, looking ahead: how can Khan launch something that has already been launched, in effect, and that few people truly care about?

Advertisement
In this post: 
AEW MJF
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!