AEW: Tony Khan’s comments about the women’s division need action

Speaking to the media at the AEW Full Gear Virtual Media Scrum, Tony Khan discussed the women’s division.

After Full Gear, Tony Khan took questions during the AEW Full Gear Virtual Media Scrum. He was asked about the women’s division.

He put over Hikaru Shida and Nyla Rose. He thought their match was excellent. He said that he understands what people are saying about the women’s division. Khan also admitted that he should’ve done more to remind people that Nyla said she wouldn’t wrestle on TV until she got a title match.

Khan said that there were times that Vickie was unavailable to come to TV, and he granted her time off. He reiterated that he should’ve done more with Nyla’s story on TV.

He then said that the AEW Women’s Champion is a priority and that he considers Shida a top priority.

AEW needs to prioritize multiple women at once

Of course, it’s nice to hear that the women are a priority. But until there is follow-through, it’s hollow. We have heard since AEW‘s inception that they would treat the women’s division as a priority, but we haven’t seen that.

Shida has lost just one match in 2020. There have been weeks when she has literally sat in the crowd. They had nothing for her to do while an injured Britt Baker was getting TV time nearly every week. The story that was built between Baker and Big Swole was one of the most entertaining things going. AEW did an excellent job telling their story.

It seems like AEW can’t focus on more than one women’s storyline at a time. If they put all of their focus on one, the other women are left floundering or not on TV at all.

Currently, there is a secondary storyline of Allie/The Bunny leaving QT Marshall after maxing out all of his credit cards. It’s groan-worthy and beneath Allie to be involved in such a dated idea of a woman using a man for his money and then ditching him.

Penelope Ford is currently being used in segments with her fiancée and his best man. She occasionally has matches on Dark. She had great matches at Double or Nothing and at Fyter Fest. It looked like she was going to finally get a push, but there was no real follow-through.

AEW needs to book longer women’s matches

Dark has been having supersized shows with 15 or 16 matches. On average, there are two women’s matches. There have been a few occasions where there are three women’s matches. Sometimes they are tag team matches so they can cram four women into a match. The women’s matches on Dark tend to be under five minutes.

Dark uses independent wrestlers, which is great. However, for the regular talent, they don’t have much time to develop a character or showcase their skills. There’s no denying that there are women who are inexperienced be it in the ring or on TV. How else are they going to learn?

There’s only so much their coaches can do off-camera. At some point, they have to at least be on Dark. However, they need longer matches and more camera time, including promos and interviews.

The “Undesirable to Undeniable” segments were great for getting talent over. If there are women ready to be featured more on Dynamite, this would be a great way to tell their story. If AEW wants fans to care about women, they have to give them a reason.

The problem is not the talent. It is in the execution. They aren’t getting enough onscreen time on Dark or Dynamite. They aren’t getting time to tell stories in and out of the ring. They’re not getting backstage segments. In other words, they aren’t getting what the men are getting.

This cannot still be a problem heading into 2021. Yes, they are a young company and are still figuring things out. But, the men have the Tag Team, TNT Championship, FTW Championship, and the AEW World Championship. It’s a lot to have to book, but that’s not an excuse to continually book the women poorly. Maybe the third hour of programming will give them flexibility with the women’s division. Until there’s consistent execution, it’s just one giant empty promise.