With only 2 television shows for 3 hours, how can AEW fit their whole roster into compelling stories? Tommy Starr explores this question.

The scope of All Elite Wrestling’s roster has drastically changed in two years.  They have rapidly signed some of the biggest free agents on the market; they have accumulated more recognizable names, such as Sting, Christian Cage, Matt Hardy, etc., just to name a few.  Now with the recent signings of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole (and possibly not too far off the grid with Bray Wyatt), it appears that AEW has taken a different approach with the overall structure of their roster.  Two years ago, AEW’s approach banked more on bringing in lesser recognizable talents from the independent circuit in order to give them mainstream exposure; all the while, their main stars mostly centered around names like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, and Cody.  And even by that token, the only name there that may have had any real mainstream appeal would have been Chris Jericho.

As AEW’s roster grows, a very important question continues to escalate, “How is AEW going to be able to effectively feature, promote, and get over the talents they have under contract?”  There is a laundry list of ways they could go, but it is important to layout as many scenarios as possible.

1).  Easy enough, AEW Needs to Cut Talent:

AEW seems to be following Eric Bischoff’s WCW approach of the mid-late 90s, where the idea is to sign as many people as possible, cultivate a larger roster to have plenty of material for multiple shows, and ensure that “match repetitiveness” does not become an issue.  It seems like a good model in theory, but it is also important to remember that, even though WCW assembled a giant talent pool during the hottest period in pro wrestling history, a great number of those talents were either jobbers and under card talents from the Power Plant system or potential stars that never got to live up to their full potential, because of the stars above them that made it impossible for those wrestlers to reach that potential (i.e. Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, etc.).

At this point, AEW would probably not benefit from the territorial approach of having a subset of main event talents, mid card talents, and under card to rotate their roster around; they have too much programming now.  Although arguably, it would make it easier for them to narrow their focus on trying to get over a specific number of guys at a given time.  That said, Tony Khan has a very different perspective on talent cuts than Vince McMahon does; Khan would rather let wrestlers ride out their contracts and decide whether or not those talents are needed after the fact.  Regardless, “roster gutting” would be an effective measure for AEW to restructure their talent pool, prioritize who they want to feature, and help with saving costs in the long run.

2). Roster/Brand Splitting

A lot of AEW fans seem to oppose this idea, and it is difficult to understand why.  With the amount of programming the company is trying to feature at the moment, AEW could benefit from centering particular talents and stories around those designated shows.  If AEW ever wants to grow their audience– and that should be priority number one if this company ever wants to succeed, they need to give fans as many incentives to watch the shows as possible.  Moreover, the shows need their own identities.  Who are the top wrestlers on the programs?  What are the key stories Rampage focuses on, as opposed to Dynamite?  Why should fans have any vested interest in AEW Dark?  What if AEW made the women’s division exclusive to Dynamite to give that show a unique, distinguishing contrast to Rampage?  What happens if “Hangman” Adam Page and Kenny Omega are contractually separated to wrestle for different programs in order to prolong their eventual feud?  What if CM Punk becomes the main face of Dynamite, while Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson become the main faces of Rampage?

If AEW ever decides to introduce six-man tag team championships (God forbid), what if those belts are mutually exclusive to the YouTube shows?  That way, it gives fans an incentive to watch those shows to see if the belts will ever change hands.  Again, this would make it easier for the company to anchor itself down on effectively building storylines and making sure that they are not cramming in too much material into one given show.

3). Cutting out Meaningless Filler

One of the main issues with the crash TV/Monday Night Wars booking mentality is that, while it does make for compelling and unexpected viewing experience, the reality is that it does not provide for the best form of television.  Professional wrestling has always been primarily viewed as a male soap opera drama, and while the sports element to wrestling is very important, the storylines and booking are equally as important (if not, more).  Discounting fan bias, AEW struggles with time management on their shows, especially when it comes to video packages and backstage skits.  How many times have we seen hastily thrown together skits with a thousand different things going on at a given time, too many people trying to get over at once, and we have no idea what is going on?  How many random brawls do we see between wrestlers that we had no idea were feuding in the first place?  How many interviews do we see where promos do not have the time to sink in and resonate with the audience, because they have to quickly cut away to something else?  How many video packages do we see that are cut down for television time, despite having longer versions of them uploaded on their social media platforms?

All of this can be avoided if AEW simply limited the amount of content they feature from week-to-week.  Not every wrestler needs to have a story at a given time, not every wrestler needs to be on screen in some capacity each week, and not every skit needs to end in some chaotic brawl just so you have a reason to get “bodies” on television.  Cool your jets!  Instead of including backstage skits and promos that already scream “WWE Lite” to begin with, what if they took WCW’s approach with how Mean Gene Okerlund conducted interviews?  Have Tony Schiavone or Jim Ross by the entrance ramp, have them set exclusive parts of the show to bring out wrestlers for promos, or have follow up interviews with wrestlers before and after their matches.  That way, wrestlers can have their matches, get their points across, and you can present a distinctive method of promo delivery that counteracts what “the other organization” is doing.

Conclusion:

Overall, the swift changes with AEW’s roster are really changing the course of their direction in monstrous ways.  The ultimate question is, “How promptly are they thinking of these changes?”  These are important questions going forward, especially if AEW is going to continue to follow the hiring spree method of sucking up as much talent as they can.  Whether or not it is a good idea can be debated, but it can not be argued that they need to have a game plan.  The last thing the company needs is for all of these new attributes to get lost in the shuffle (i.e. Andrade el Idolo, Malakai Black, Ruby Soho, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, etc.).  Or worst case scenario, they lose sight and focus on their younger stars at the expense of their newest “flavors of the month.”