Inside AEW's Creative Process | How It Works

When AEW launched, the creative was booked via committee.

President Tony Khan and the Executive Vice President team of Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks mapped out a long stretch of programming. While they had to contend with the small matter of building the infrastructure of a major cable outfit from nothing, they did benefit from the (obvious) fact that AEW hadn't actually made its debut in the early months of 2019. They had not yet found themselves in the voracious maw of politics. They had not yet signed a major free-agent star for whom existing top-level creative had to be shredded. They had not yet had to contend with injuries disrupting plans. They hadn't endured the reality of a huge week-to-week operation and the frazzle that comes with it. It's difficult to map out multiple intricate long-term storylines when the demand for content is relentless.

The committee envisioned and followed through with various plans, even booking the first handful of World champions well in advance. While taking a market share from WWE was an unenviable task, a star-studded company debuting at the arena level months away was key. Five passionate, intelligent minds, totally fresh, raring to go, not yet pummelled by the intensive soap opera workload requirement: it was an unprecedented advantage, and AEW grabbed it.

Chris Jericho was the recognisable mainstream-adjacent star whose endless creativity allowed him to develop a priceless 'Le Champion' act as the first World champion. MJF was a sensational heel prodigy, and because of that precious time, AEW was able to plot a long evil masterplan to get the character over. The Elite's internal strife was explored through respective losing streaks, which while controversial at the time - Dave Meltzer, despite his apparent bias, was adamant that this was a huge mistake - allowed AEW to do a lot. It allowed Jericho to establish the brand as a trustworthy concern on top. It allowed Jon Moxley, as the best version of his awesome self, to carry the company through 2020. This in turn allowed AEW to propel the Elite to the forefront in 2021. The famous shot at Full Gear 2020, with a despondent Hangman Page in the tunnel unaware that he would be redeemed a year later, proved that AEW was right. The World singles and tags title scenes were reimagined in the image of the Elite, who were instrumental in that white-hot summer of 2021.

By this point, though, the committee had been abandoned. After the dismal December 18, 2019 episode of Dynamite, Tony Khan broke it up and took "final cut" of the promotion where, previously, he had allowed certain developments to unfold that he wasn't happy with. "I just needed to probably take more ownership of what I was doing because at the end of the day, there were a lot of cooks in one show," he told Moose & Maggie on WFAN in 2021 (h/t the Sportster). His language was euphemistic.

Nobody has spoken on record about this change, at least candidly, and nor have they disclosed any details behind the heavily rumoured fall-out between Cody Rhodes and the Elite (and the rumoured power struggle between Kenny Omega and Brandi Rhodes).

Nonetheless, by 2021, AEW had established the perfect model.

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