Belt or no belt, AEW keeps the heat running through the roster

Championships are a big deal in professional wrestling. Legacies are built on them and they drive the stakes of big matches. But how do organizations keep those without belts “over” in the eyes of fans? That’s a tough question but All Elite Wrestling is successfully finding a way to answer it. Even as the company finds a way to bring in new championships, they have found the formula to keep many names on the roster hot even though their waists and shoulders are wide open.

Does AEW have a lot of championships? It sure does. Three men’s singles titles, two for the women, and the tag team titles round out all the prizes on the roster. That number grows when factoring in the Ring of Honor titles that show up on AEW television frequently. With the possibility of AEW trios’ titles and perhaps women’s tag titles in the future, there may be more to come.

However, that doesn’t mean the rest of the roster is forgotten as such happens in other organizations. Eddie Kingston, Chris Jericho, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, HOOK, Wardlow, and many others stand out as names that fans push to see, even though they aren’t carrying a championship. Unfortunately, that same roster elevation doesn’t occur on the women’s side, even though that group boasts exceptional depth, but that’s another conversation.

AEW keeps several of its performers hot with a perfect mix of victories on television, squash matches on AEW Dark and Dark Elevation, vignettes, and much more. The special sauce on top is finding the perfect theme songs to boost their performers over the top. Look at the current interim champion, Jon Moxley, or even Orange Cassidy’s latest theme. AEW isn’t afraid to spend the big dollars to license songs that help get fans excited, and it’s working.

This is an especially crucial time that AEW has been so careful in keeping many individuals on the roster warm. Injuries are running rampant in the locker room. Forbidden Door was hit by injuries but that didn’t stop AEW from still putting on a great show. That could only happen because of the depth availability by keeping positive heat on such a substantial portion of the roster.

Now, the next part is figuring out how to elevate more individuals on the roster that fans want to see. There is still some apprehension around how high individuals like Keith Lee and Swerve will rise on the ladder. Eyes are watching closely how long AEW keeps the heat on another fan favorite, Claudio Castagnoli, after what was an exceptional first week with the promotion. How high will he go? Only time will tell, but one thing is clear is that he’s red hot.

AEW continues to do a fantastic job keeping the heat on a large part of their roster. Doing so has positive benefits that can be seen in times like this, allowing the company to navigate not only the injury bug but keeping a full roster that fans care about every week.