AEW can’t repeat the mistakes from the Women’s tag team tournament

AEW is starting another women’s tournament, with the ultimate prize this time being a championship match. The AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament will feature singles wrestlers and is for the number one contender slot for the aforementioned title.

Sixteen women are competing, with eight representing the United States and the other half representing Japan. Representing the U.S. side of the bracket are NWA World Women’s Champion Serena Deeb, Thunder Rosa, Britt Baker, RIHO, Tay Conti, Anna Jay, Nyla Rose, and Leyla Hirsch.

The Japanese half of the bracket will be represented by some familiar faces to AEW fans: Aja Kong, Emi Sakura, and Yaka Sakazaki. New women to the company are Veny, Ryo Mizunami, Maki Itoh, Rin Kadokura, and Mei Suruga.

The promotion has revealed that the first match will be Deeb vs. RIHO. It will be RIHO’s first AEW match since last March. A tournament start date has not been given as of yet.

AEW’s Championship Eliminator Tournament needs to be on TV

According to Bell to Belles, half of the tournament will take place in Japan. It is not yet known how these matches will be aired. The tournament is being advertised during Dynamite, so the assumption is that the U.S. matches will air during the show.

The Japanese matches need to be shown during Dynamite as well. During the AEW Women’s Tag Team Tournament: Deadly Draw, it was shown only on Youtube. This did not sit well with fans, as they thought that AEW was once again slighting the women’s division. The Championship Eliminator Tournament cannot be treated the same way.

Matches in Japan will obviously be pre-taped due to the time zone difference. This has led to concern that their matches will be shown only on YouTube. As it stands, Dynamite only airs one women’s match per episode. The rest of the time is filled with men. There are male commentators and save for Aubrey Edwards, all-male referees. Other than occasional women’s segments, there is barely any female representation.

AEW has to make more time for women’s matches. They aren’t time fillers or bathroom breaks. The company has made plenty of time for all of the tournaments that include men. For the AEW Women’s Championship to be seen as important as the AEW World Championship, the tournament needs to have every match aired on national TV.

With new talent involved, they should debut on national TV. That’s how many fans learned about the inaugural AEW Women’s Champion, RIHO, and its current champion, Shida. More eyes are on the product due to AEW’s relationships with Impact, NJPW, and the NWA.

AEW needs to make the Championship Eliminator Tournament feel like a big deal

In addition to TV time, AEW needs to hype up the tournament. With the Deadly Draw, it was barely discussed on TV for a majority of the tournament. In the beginning, AEW affiliated social media accounts weren’t talking about it much. With new women being showcased, this the perfect opportunity for their social media to build them up.

So far, it appears that they’re utilizing social media more. It’s how fans learned that Shida is currently in Japan. AEW on TNT is also bringing attention to Itoh’s introductory tweet. Fingers crossed that all of AEW’s social media accounts keep that same energy all tournament long.

AEW has to capitalize on this by promoting the Championship Eliminator Tournament and by putting all of the matches on TV during Dynamite. Not Dark. Not its own show on YouTube. On TNT.

AEW has been making strides with its women’s division, but to show fans that they really care about the women’s division, they have to make a big deal out of the Championship Eliminator Tournament.