It's Official: A New Era Has Begun In AEW

by Michael Sidgwick
CM Punk Hangman Page
AEW

Bryan Danielson casually threw out the idea that Daniel Garcia should stop hanging around with a comedy heel act and inspired several rounds of fantasy booking when that was never the intended direction. Everything worked out in the end, but the era of calculated long-term booking with unparalleled forethought is over. There were never any fixed long-term plans for Andrade; AEW just hung a lantern on how awful and meandering the AFO was. The same is true of Malakai Black, Keith Lee, and several more free agent signings. It made business sense at the time to recruit these acts, even if Khan had no real long-term plan for them.

A new era is upon us, one in which Page didn't really feel like the one when he won the big one. Punk was the correct business choice, and his work was magnificent. But there's a sadness to it, all the same.

What's ironic is that Punk was the man Khan wanted to build the promotion around in the first place, before the initial offer was politely rebuffed. If you know you know, but we're almost closer to World's Best Wrestling than All Elite Wrestling.

If you enjoyed this article, why not order my book Becoming All Elite: The Rise of AEW? It is available on Amazon at this link!

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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!