How AEW Collision Will SOLVE Wrestling's Biggest Problem

5. Trial And Error

AEW Miro Thunder Rosa CM Punk FTR Cash Wheeler Dax Harwood
AEW

As alluded to, Tony Khan had to operate on a trial and error basis when it came to assembling his initial AEW roster.

While the smarter, more die-hard wrestling fans may have been aware of the work of some of AEW's inaugural roster, there's never any guarantee that a talented indy worker with a passionate fanbase will be able to step up and become a TV wrestler. Even more so, in AEW's case there was no developmental system in place to help these rough diamonds sharpen their skills and learn the ins and outs of how to tell stories, how to develop characters, and how to do more than simply put on a great, spot-centric match.

By the very nature of starting a brand new wrestling promotion which you sought to take to national and international TV markets, some of the talents you sign up will swim, while others will unfortunately sink. For example, when looking back at the early Dynamites, there's names like Joey Janela, Jimmy Havoc, Marko Stunt, Emi Sakura, Q.T. Marshall, and TheHybrid2 as relatively regular TV presences - with none of those names having set AEW alight during their time with the promotion, and some of them even no longer #AllElite nowadays.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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, 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 dayjob, his role as the 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, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.