Tony Khan must make a creative shift in All Elite Wrestling

There's an interesting conundrum occuring in the AEW main event picture. The promotion which was started as a breath of fresh air to the tired booking that was happening in WWE, finds itself crafting a main event scene that is all to familiar to the years of what was sitting at the top of WWE. Fans are pushing back against the main event announced for an upcoming edition of AEW Collision and it shows that it is time to shift away from the current direction.

The January 18 edition of AEW Collision is currently slated to be headlined by a "big" main event. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta will team with Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith. They will take on Will Hobbs, The Outrunners, Adam Copeland, and FTR. Yep. That's the match that's meant to move the most important story in the promotion forward.

One look at the response online and it's clear that fans are not happy. Now, in any other entertainment space, online backlash is typically seen as a "minor" voice in the equation. But that isn't the case with All Elite Wrestling. Tony Khan's online presence has become a part of his personality, whether he likes it or not. There are situations in the past where the company has pivoted due to feedback from its loudest voices online. And it looks like fans are wanting Khan to call an audible with this match and this angle.

There's a lot to not like here. The Death Riders angle feels without a direction. They don't feel like true threats to the company because the biggest names in the company aren't even threatened by them. As great as Moxley is, this direction just isn't clicking and building momentum. Then, there's the vortex master himself, Chris Jericho. There's no reason why Jericho should be this close to the main event, but here he is once again, demanding time in the main event that should be going to other, younger performers.

In many ways, that's a huge issue with this entire angle. AEW is finding itself leaning more on older performers. Copeland, now known as Cope, is 51. Christian Cage who holds an immediate title shot is also 51. Jericho is 54. Even Moxley is coming up on his 40th birthday this year. All Elite Wrestling was once the place where the younger names were seemingly headed for the opporutnities to carry the main event. That's no longer the case and it is a critique that has to be addressed.

AEW fans are right to be so passionate about the product. It's that passion that has made this promotion so important and successful in its short tenure. Tony Khan has to make a shift in the main event because the current direction is not only losing momentum. But it's beginning to drive fans away completely.