AEW must improve Thunder Rosa’s title booking and time

AEW is in a precarious position with the booking of the latest Women’s World Champion, Thunder Rosa. Seventy-nine days into her run as the champion and fans are widely critical of what they’ve seen, or the lack thereof to date. She’s the woman many wanted to see dethrone Britt Baker and now that’s happened the sense of “now what” has taken hold. AEW has a champion that fans were excited to embrace and the company must book her title run with care.

Professional wrestling is a scripted form of entertainment and valuable television time is carved out for the current stars expected to draw viewers and those being developed for the future. Champions are the face of their divisions, and usually, the individuals that fans are paying to see are treated as such. For the AEW women’s division, it’s clear that Jade Cargill is booked like a superstar, and Baker still receives valuable television time and strong booking. But what about the champion?

Rosa won the title back at St. Patrick’s Day Slam on March 16 in her hometown. The moment was met with praise as one of the hardest working women in the business reached her biggest career peak to date.

Since then, she’s had two matches in AEW, one on April 15 and then the title defense against Serena Deeb at Double or Nothing on May 29. AEW has done an excellent job of keeping its champions active with both non-title and title matches. And even in moments where they aren’t wrestling, on-air vignettes keep the champions in the front of the minds of fans watching. Rosa and Deeb put on what some consider to be the best match of the PPV and the best women’s match in AEW to date, but it wasn’t mentioned or spotlighted with a video package during the Dynamite that followed. That’s a peculiar decision.

Rumors started this week about Rosa potentially being “frustrated,” with her booking, while Mike Johnson of PWI Insider noted that he was informed she wasn’t on the taping because of not feeling well and being sent home by the company’s doctor. Rosa mentioned that she was going to be off her social media for a few days, furthering the speculation.

It’s clear that the creative focus in AEW for the women is on Cargill and Baker. Cargill’s superstar presentation was further elevated with not only a new entrance of sorts but the addition of Stokely Hathaway and a hot feud against the new signee, Athena. Baker picked up another “title” with the Owen Hart Cup and the company has put another belt around her waist.

Where’s the future of Rosa’s title run headed? Where is her next important feud coming from? What’s made the men’s championship runs so impactful is that AEW continued to book viable contender after contender, putting together matches for the champion, even if the outcome was widely predictable. There was always a “next up.” That tapered off for the women during the tale-end of Baker’s run and is further evident now that Rosa has the championship.

Yes, AEW has Dark and Dark Elevation to develop talent, but there’s an additional need and step that includes featuring more women on Dynamite and Rampage. If the promotion can’t dedicate quality time to this division, not only will this impact Rosa’s run as champion, but the trend will continue through whoever carries the title.

Thunder Rosa is a champion of the people and a star in the making for so many reasons. AEW has an opportunity to build her as such and they cannot make the mistake of failing to book her as the champion fans want to see.