What AEW's Second Show MUST Look Like

by Michael Sidgwick
Hikaru Shida
AEW/Lee South

Presenting a midcard programme under the lights of a featured main event can only illustrate how deep that bench is and measure who can really bring it. The third hour can continue to enable the meritocracy at AEW's core.

However the third hour manifests, it is imperative that it addresses the rot within the Women's division. This week's segment with Hikaru Shida was a joke. Upcoming Full Gear opponent Nyla Rose hasn't even won any token Dynamite squash matches of late. If anything, much as it's great to see a breakout star of her quality return, Nyla really should have mowed through a pair of jobbers in Britt Baker's place.

AEW didn't even do the bare minimum to build a match that is totally backwards - we've already seen the stipped-up original, this doesn't even work as a lazy sequel - much less plot a story advanced through angles and promo segments.

The AEW Women's division is a paradox from which there is no escape on Wednesdays: the women are largely too green to warrant valuable TV time, but they won't get any less green working so infrequently.

The third hour does represent that escape, and it will indict AEW, formally, if nothing changes.

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Contributor
Contributor

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!