AEW's Next Big Thing (... Is The Last Thing YOU Want)

Not to drown fun fantasy booking in numbers discussion, but there was a brief spell in 2021 where All Elite Wrestling felt like one star or storyline from competing with Monday Night Raw in viewerships and demographics on a weekly basis. Company cornerstone Chris Jericho was even confident enough to predict it, such was the momentum at the time.

AEW had roared back into life as crowds were let back into buildings, making the best of the fabulous creative from the pandemic and rewarding live audiences with a fully-realised version of a serving-all-masters mainstream pro wrestling show.

CM Punk's iconic debut was incredible before he walked through the First Dance curtain, but even better by the time he'd finished cutting one of the best promos of his career and set up a dream match against Darby Allin. A month later, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole were on board, and just after that, the company were able to pay off the Kenny Omega/Hangman Page AEW Championship story that had been part of the organisation's DNA from the off.

Unfortunately, the new heights were in fact a ceiling, and it's a ceiling that hasn't been hit since those halcyon days. Goldberg - especially in what should be this relatively short sharp shock of a run - isn't the wrestler to bring about a permanent return to the former highs, but he'd likely be a much-needed spike. If Khan's creative juices are still flowing, he can use that added and unexpected exposure to ensure the passing trade sticks around for the diverse range on offer.

Bill Goldberg's an answer to a question few people have ever asked when it comes to AEW. We are beyond the era where they actively avoid doing anything WWE has ever done, and thankfully the organisation's growing pains appear to have passed too. There's less to fear than what first appears.

"Goldberg Is #AllElite" is reflective of the ever-changing anything-can-happen landscape that established itself in 2022, and if 2023 is to be remembered as the year where the market leader didn't fumble Cody Rhodes, why can't it also be the one known for when the challenger brand made the best of one of the boom period's most legendary Champions?