AEW Rankings: Last week proved the system is all but done

Since its inception, AEW has worked to find ways to set itself apart from its competitors. That includes things like a strong focus on tag team wrestling as well as the AEW rankings system. The theory was that wins and losses would matter in AEW.

While the idea is nice in theory, the AEW rankings system has not proven to be particularly useful in practice. In fact, AEW has demonstrated their impressive level of creativity by constantly finding inventive ways around it. The time may have finally come to pull the plug on the whole exercise.

AEW rankings since day one

The AEW rankings system has played a role since even before Dynamite launched. Cody Rhodes and others had been clear that they wanted wins and losses to matter in their company. As such, those wins would play a factor in how matches were booked.

On paper, that idea actually seems pretty solid. Pro wrestling always struggles with being perceived as legit. It’s detractors constantly point out that it’s “fake” because certain elements are predetermined, as if it’s the first time that point has been made.

A rankings system would give AEW more of a pro sports feel, where those kinds of statistics are incredibly important. Unfortunately, the reality of the AEW rankings system has played out much differently in its practical application.

Getting around its own system

The entire point of the AEW rankings system is that the people on the top of them are the first in line for title shots. There are individual rankings for the Men’s Division, the Women’s Division and the Tag Team Division.

But there is a major caveat to the Men’s Division. Those wrestlers in the top five are in line for shots at either the AEW World Champion or the TNT Champion. That was is one of the big places where the entire system has become more than a little confusing.

Not everyone in the Men’s Division are main event players who are ready to be taking shots at the World Championship. And main eventers probably shouldn’t be chasing the mid card belt. As such, having two groups of competitors mixed together in one ranking group is a little confusing.

AEW rankings also pigeon holes the company into who the number one contender is. That’s been decided by the numbers. and it fluctuates. But that’s also not always the match AEW wants at the time, so they’re constantly left to find ways around their own ranking system.

This included drawing names out of a tumbler to decide which teams would participate in a Fatal Four Way. The winner of that match would then face FTR for the titles. It was all done to make The Young Bucks the number one contenders, bypassing the rankings.

A bad week for AEW rankings

The February 3, 2021 edition of Dynamite was a stiff shot to the gut of the AEW rankings. There were several instances of AEW implementing workarounds to their own system, completely undercutting even the perceived validity of it.

Dynamite opened with a ten team, over the top Battle Royale to decide the number one contenders to The Young Bucks. This was despite the fact that FTR is number one in the rankings and should be receiving a title shot.

Even stranger was the fact that Inner Circle members Chris Jericho and MJF won. They were in the top five tag team rankings going into the match, meaning they already should have been in line for a title shot. It was unnecessary for them to win a title match this way.

Then, AEW announced that Joey Janela would be getting a title shot against Darby Allin for the TNT Championship out of the blue. This bypassed the five wrestlers in line. Rey Fenix, Miro and Pac all should have been getting title shots before him based on the current AEW rankings.

AEW is also implementing a new women’s tournament that actually looks really cool. It has two brackets, one filled with wrestlers from America and the other with wrestlers from Japan. For some reason, Big Swole has been left out of the entire tournament.

The winner gets a title shot against Hikaru Shida. Again, this bypasses the Women’s Division rankings. Four of the 16 women in the tournament are already in the top five. They should probably be booked for title shots by now, regardless of the tournament.

Bye bye, AEW rankings

While the AEW rankings system was a good idea on paper, the reality of implementing it has proven to be confusing and perilous to manage. Fans are left wondering why number one ranked Jon Moxley, Serena Deeb and FTR are not being given title matches.

In the long term, this system simply is not viable. If the AEW rankings don’t impact booking or who is getting title shots, then it doesn’t serve a purpose. Honestly, it would make more sense to not have the system at all, and it would be more practical.

At this point, no one would fault AEW for simply eliminating their ranking system and moving on from it. In fact, most fans probably wouldn’t even notice if the AEW rankings system just quietly went away. As AEW moves forward in 2021, it’s a real conversation they need to have.