Five reasons why AEW fans should be worried

All Elite Wrestling continues to put out some of the hottest wrestling content on a consistent basis. AEW is past the honeymoon phase and has some growing pains to fix if they want to stay on that track.

However, AEW seems to have had problems with its growth over the last year. Tony Khan’s booking of the women’s division and the rise of unhappy talent over the last couple of months have been a discussion in the wrestling community. Khan has been able to silence his critics by putting together entertaining wrestling shows from start to finish, but how long can the problems continue before fans turn on AEW? In this article, I will discuss five reasons AEW fans should be worried.

5. No Follow up on MJF Drama 

When Maxwell Jacob Friedman has a live microphone, you know it will be must-watch television. One of the most exciting storylines in wrestling today is the real-life saga involving the MJF AEW contract. The headlines were made at Double or Nothing weekend when MJF was a no-show fanfest. The MJF storyline has been the most exciting thing about AEW because it involves a wrestler who is frustrated with his boss and the company.

AEW may have missed a chance to have one of the hottest real-life storylines become part of its weekly television program. It has been two months since we saw MJF, and he hasn’t been mentioned in the programming. MJF’s problems with AEW prove that everything in AEW isn’t as good as fans would want to believe. It would be wise for AEW to bring MJF back as soon as possible before they miss the chance to create a big storyline surrounding him.

4. Too Many championships

The AEW All-Atlantic Championship and the Trios Championship are the new titles that AEW have recently introduced to their fans. AEW has to be careful adding another mid-card championship and now tag team championship because there is only so much they can do with limited television time. I understand that Tony wants to keep ROH fresh in the minds of the fans so that when they get a television deal, fans will have a connection with their champions, but that is causing fans to not care because of all the championships on the show.

AEW having multiple championships gives wrestlers who wrestle in the dark the chance to go after a good title, but it can make fans lose interest quickly. Khan needs to separate ROH and AEW championships as he’s figuring out how to reintroduce the world to that brand.

3. Rampage is Becoming WCW Thunder

When AEW announced that they were going to be introducing another hour of content, wrestling fans were happy because many felt two hours wasn’t enough because of how extensive their roster is. AEW Rampage started hot because it was used as the show where CM Punk would make his return to the world of professional wrestling on the second episode of the show. The ratings for that show hit one million, but that number would be complex for Rampage to keep.

AEW Rampage hasn’t gone exactly how they wanted it to go because of the lack of build, and it is coming on at 10 p.m. on Fridays. Rampage has had great wrestling on the program, such as Bryan Danielson’s war with Minoru Suzuki, Eddie Kingston, and CM Punk’s heated exchange in November. But over the last few months or so, Rampage has been challenging to watch and is starting to feel like an AEW version of WCW Thunder, which is not a good thing for a company that is still new. Khan needs to find a way to make Rampage must-watch television every week.

2. The Treatment of the Women’s Division 

The AEW women’s division has some of the best women wrestlers in the world, but they aren’t being booked as top talents in the company. AEW has two leading women’s champions, Thunder Rosa and Jade Cargill, who both have the talent to carry the division on their backs. AEW has talent like Britt Baker, Toni Storm, Athena, Kris Statlander, Serena Deeb, and Ruby Soho, to name a few. That is an exceptional, great talent to have in the company, but that does not matter when there are no excellent storylines and momentum to get behind the women so fans will care about the division.

When given the ball to run with, AEW can produce amazing matches for the women, such as Baker and Rosa in a Lights out match and the classic cage match they had. When it comes to the booking of women, Khan seems lazy when it comes to booking the women. If this tired booking continues, there’s a good chance these talented women will turn their attention to the WWE, where Triple H seems to focus on booking the women’s division just as good, if not better, than the men.

1. Communication issues between CEO and talent 

The grass might not be as green on the other side as many people may think it is when it comes to AEW. Tony Khan needs to understand that he won’t be able to make everyone happy, but he can communicate when it comes to his vision for a certain wrestler. Over the last couple of months, AEW has had talent such as former ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham, Marko Stunt, Brian Cage, and Joey Janela, who have all said recently that they had trouble getting in contact with AEW higher-ups, mainly Tony Khan. Former ROH champion Jonathan Gresham recently requested his release on the back of communication troubles and frustrations with the ROH/AEW President. The fact that the same complaints are popping up more often is something to be worried about. Tony must fix this problem before he has more talent to speak out against the company.