How AEW and IMPACT Wrestling can make the crossover even better

A few months ago, Kenny Omega showed up in IMPACT Wrestling and went on to become their champion. The Good Brothers, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, have been featured on AEW Dynamite many times. Of course, “The Invisible Hand” Don Callis has accompanied Omega on both shows.

When Matt Hardy and Private Party went to the IMPACT Zone, Tony Khan, Tony Schiavone, and Jerry Lynn were ringside. The trio came to confront Chris Sabin and James Storm and faced them for their tag team titles. For a while, Khan & Schiavone also appeared in hilarious “paid ads” during IMPACT.

When the Forbidden Door was first V-Triggered open, fans immediately ponder which dream matches would be on the other side. In particular, there was a lot of hope for crossover in the women’s divisions. So far, however, that has not come to fruition.

Tony Khan discusses crossover plans

While attending the media scrum after Double or Nothing, I had the opportunity to ask Tony Khan about whether or not we’d get to see any of the women from IMPACT Wrestling in AEW. Khan responded “Yeah, I’m open to more crossover. The only stuff we’ve done really, other than the stuff with Kenny has been — I did go with Matt Hardy and Private Party. That was a thing we worked out. We all liked it and I had suggested it actually and they really liked it. I thought it would be a fun thing. It was a great experience for Private Party. It was good character development as they’ve developed as heels. They were a huge part of that Casino Battle Royale and have been in a lot of big matches and are going to keep being in big matches. I have huge plans for Private Party. For them and Matt Hardy to go was a big deal.”

“So, I think more collaborations, whether its men, women, any wrestlers, we’re really open to doing stuff like that. But, mostly it’s been about Kenny, being the World Champion in multiple promotions. We do lots of crossover stuff. Kenny, of course, being the IMPACT and TNA and AAA Champion. And Mox being the IWGP US Champion. And the NWA Women’s Title being held by Serena [Deeb], who is on our roster. The Lucha Brothers are the AAA tag team champs. A lot of outside collaborations, so I really appreciate you asking and I want to keep working with all these companies.”

AEW and IMPACT Wrestling can grow women’s wrestling on national TV

There is so much potential here. There is even the possibility of involving the NWA here. Even if it’s not for any championships, there could be a battle of the brands. Britt Baker vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Serena Deeb would be a fantastic match for women’s wrestling.

Another great matchup would be Fire ‘N Flava (Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz) vs. Big Swole and Red Velvet. Rosemary vs. Abadon is a match that has been mentioned quite a few times. Here’s some more fantasy booking: Jordynne Grace vs. Thunder Rosa, Kris Statlander vs. Taylor Wilde, Hikaru Shida vs. Rachael Ellering, and Nyla Rose vs. Havok.

This is something that can’t go untapped. A crossover between these women’s divisions must happen. It will boost both AEW and IMPACT’s women’s divisions. It’ll expose fans to new wrestlers. Most importantly, it will grow women’s wrestling in a major way on both national television and in major promotions. It’s a no-brainer and should happen sooner rather than later.

OMG, is that Private Party?

From the quote above, big things are on the horizon for Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy. They’ve been a promising tag team ever since their upset victory over the Young Bucks in the Tag Team Tournament to name the number one contenders to the AEW World Tag Team Championships in 2019.

Pairing them with a legend like Matt Hardy is brilliant. He has so much knowledge as both a tag team and solo wrestler. He also has incredible knowledge on how to build unique characters and how to achieve longevity in a business where many leave after just a few years.

Letting them gain experience by wrestling tag teams in other companies is priceless. Besides the Hardy Boyz, Sabin and Storm are two of the best tag team wrestlers of the last two decades. IMPACT has a nice mix of veteran and newer talent. It seems very possible that Private Party could even work in Mexico and learn from the tag teams in AAA. Being able to travel through the Forbidden Door will help Private Party immensely. It’s another reminder that AEW is building the stars of tomorrow and not just in singles action.

Khan also mentioned having more men crossover. The more crossover storylines, the better for fans. It keeps things interesting and can help them to get to know other wrestlers that they might not normally see. Since the focus on the crossover thus far has been men, it would be great to give the women storylines and matches as well. There’s so much that both companies could do and I hope we see it this year.

AEW and IMPACT have the opportunity to do some really special things and I hope they really embrace what a true crossover relationship can do for the wrestling industry and the fans.