The Simple Solution To AEW's Biggest Problem
It takes a good doctor to treat an unhealthy division.
All Elite Wrestling's seeds were sown long before the Double Or Nothing rally on 8 January 2019, but that was when the promotion planted its flag into the monopolised American wrestling market's crust.
Executive Vice Presidents Cody and The Young Bucks outlined an alternative product seemingly designed to recapture lapsed fans and create new ones, with meaningful wins and losses, a purported "real sport feel", a two-way audience/company relationship, and other DNA strands forming AEW's identity. Bold statements, but they worked: existing Elite supporters who'd followed them through ROH, NJPW, and beyond were energised alongside those left disaffected by almost 20 years of WWE dominance.
Brandi Rhodes spoke on AEW's women's division. The Chief Brand Officer wanted to build a strong scene with "the best female wrestlers in the entire world." A wide net would be cast to secure top global talent, women would be paid equal to the men depending on card position, and Britt Baker was introduced as the division's first signing, though other details were scarce. "More on that to come," Rhodes said of discussions with "some of the top Japanese wrestlers in the world."
22 months later, Rhodes' ambitions are yet to be realised onscreen. Dozens of talented, exciting, and hard-working women have competed for AEW, though they are hamstrung by a lack of weekly screentime and slipshod presentation, giving the impression they are an afterthought to the bookers. Hikaru Shida and Nyla Rose's Full Gear "feud" is a prime example of this: prior to the go-home show, AEW spent just 3:02 of television time building this programme, 2:30 of which was on Dark, the YouTube series. Other storylines have suffered similarly, though this is the worst instance.
That NXT does such a sterling job with its own women's division means AEW's criticism is often amplified, though much of it is warranted. This is not the division fans were told to expect on 8 January - and the numbers tell a grim story too.
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