AEW: Three things AEW must avoid doing to be successful
By Jason Reed
3. Avoid using too many former WWE stars
The biggest pop of the night and the biggest surprise of Double or Nothing was the arrival of Jon Moxley (known as Dean Ambrose in WWE) at the end of the show. Moxley appeared, delivered Dirty Deeds to Chris Jericho, before ending the show with a Dirty Deeds to Kenny Omega on the top of the display poker chips.
It truly got a massive pop and no one really knew what Moxley was going to do after leaving WWE, aside from the fact that he was changing his name back to Moxley. There was a lot of speculation, but no confirmation.
Moxley was not the only former WWE star on the card though as there were some notable names. Tye Dillinger, now wrestling under Shawn Spears, was in the Casino Battle Royale, Jericho obviously main evented the show and Awesome Kong (known as Kharma in WWE) made a surprise appearance.
Heck, even Bret Hart showed up and unveiled the AEW World Championship.
These instances were not so bad. Moxley was extremely popular in the indies prior to being Ambrose in WWE, Spears never did much in WWE and Awesome Kong was known more for her time in TNA. Jericho has already wrestled Omega and Hart has his infamous past with Vince McMahon.
However, if having former WWE stars show up as a surprise becomes a trend, it is going to eventually become a bit redundant and turn the fans sour. It is OK if done properly, but just doing it because it is a familiar face and will receive a pop is a failure waiting to happen.
AEW will only reach the WWE’s level and maintain it if they can build stars of their own, even if they come from other indy promotions. Relying on former WWE stars is a formula that other companies have already failed to do.