AEW Worlds End 2023: 10 Nightmares That Could Come True
WWE reunions nobody wants on a night when AEW boss Tony Khan loses the plot?!
Saturday night is a biggie for All Elite Wrestling.
There's no major WWE PLE this month, meaning Tony Khan has the supershow marketplace all to himself as 2023 comes to an end. It's important that everyone associated with AEW hits a home run then, because they might entice some fresh eyeballs from folks who fancy ushering in the new year with a pro wrestling pay-per-view, and first impressions matter.
Creatively speaking, Tony has taken a lot of flak in 2023, but his Continental Classic tournament has been a rip-roaring success of a round robin that could (in theory) elevate someone into the main event mix permanently. Or, y'know, everything could go wrong and Worlds End should be renamed "AEW: Bitter End" instead.
This is a nightmare article, after all! There isn't much room for stinkin' positivity here. The clue's in the name - this is everything that could go wrong in Uniondale this weekend, not everything that fans are looking forward to.
Unwanted WWE reunions might spoil the party, and a reveal months in the making may well end up being AEW's biggest damp squib. Start getting worried, wrestling fans!
Horrors await.
10. Fans Yawn Through Undercard Bouts
There's no point in ignoring this.
Worlds End's undercard will play host to some bouts that'd probably be more at home on an episode of Rampage than on a pay-per-view. Hook vs. Wheeler Yuta for the FTW strap and Julia Hart vs. Abadon for the TBS one, in particular, could well struggle to maintain interest from the live crowd on the night.
Similarly, Riho being brought back into the frame to challenge Toni Storm for the main Women's prize lacks that necessary punch that screams 'this is a big time, can't miss pay-per-view' to punters. All three of those matches, regrettably, feel rather second rate. That's a huge concern for this guy, personally.
The undercard on Saturday might end up coming across as regular TV rather than something people are thrilled to pay hard-earned cash for. Therein lies the problem with heaping more pay-per-views onto AEW's schedule; some of them will be more In Your House than WrestleMania.