The All Elite Wrestling women’s division is an interesting case, to say the very least. As they proceed to take steps forward, their booking pushes them two steps back. The division has come a long way since the start of the company, but there are still issues keeping them from getting to that next level. Here are some of those issues and a few possible solutions they could put into play to help the AEW women’s division.
The Lingering Problems
Lack of Pay-Per-Views With Multiple Women’s Matches
AEW announced the full card for Double Or Nothing and there was something painfully obvious about the card. Something that has become a common theme for these big shows is that there is only one women’s match to be seen. Of course, they don’t need to fill the card complete with women’s matches, but having more than one would do wonders. It would help the women get big show experience and show that the company has enough faith to put them in a big spot like that.
There have been many men’s matches in the past that were not pay-per-view quality matches. However, they got on the card, and it could attribute to the next issue.
Failure to Be Able to Have 2 Storylines Going at Once for the AEW Women’s Division
Some of those matches that made PPV, but weren’t up to par, had a reason they made the card. They often had stories added to them along the way, so there was an excuse. They had feuds that had been built on TV for weeks that would lead them to PPV. The AEW women’s division has an issue that they’ve always had: they fail to have multiple women’s storylines going on at one time. It’s like they have to handle the storylines one at a time. This is only hurting the division, even if you argue they want to focus on the AEW Women’s World Championship.
As seen in the Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa rivalry, as well as Jade Cargill versus Red Velvet, undercard feuds can help establish wrestlers. This can be in regard to their in-ring or character work. These mini-feuds will do nothing but help them improve and showcase the talent in the division that will eventually be colliding for the Women’s World Championship. However, the feuds also need time, which brings us to the next issue.
AEW Needs to Give Proper TV Time to the Women
Some small one-show feuds have been built on AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation, but they should be on Dynamite. It’s very simple that more people are going to tune into Dynamite as opposed to the weekly YouTube shows. If they build up someone on Dark and slap them on Dynamite, the viewers who don’t watch either YouTube show will be confused. In addition, AEW has a big issue giving the division proper TV time.
Sometimes AEW hits a one-match quota with the women where they do one five-minute match, and they feel like that’s enough. They may also air one promo and leave matters there. The AEW women’s division needs multiple segments and more match time. They aren’t going to be able to showcase their talents and gain TV experience when they receive less time than the average AEW men’s in-ring segment.
AEW Dynamite will be moving to TBS in 2022 and a new show called AEW Rampage will debut on TNT on Friday, August 13 🍿
Big things coming @AEW pic.twitter.com/1EcFDeaadY
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) May 19, 2021
The Potential Solutions
Solution 1: Showcase Them on AEW Rampage
AEW announced that they will be airing a second TV show called AEW Rampage. It will run for one hour; if AEW doesn’t wish to showcase the women on Dynamite, they could utilize Rampage to showcase them more. With Dynamite, it feels as if it’s a chore for them to book women. Some of the content seems like it’s just thrown on TV so AEW can say they booked women.
Rampage is still a TV show, which is big. Furthermore, there is no pressure for Rampage to be Dynamite levels of successful. Rampage is a show the company can experiment with and help showcase the talent they have. However, there is a simpler solution at hand.
Solution 2: Just Give Them Some Time on Dynamite
The AEW women’s division is loaded with talent who can make an impact now and in 5 to 10 years. Putting the women on Dynamite now, getting people more acquainted with them, and giving them reps will only do wonders for both the division and the product as a whole. Using the excuse “some of the division isn’t TV ready” is lazy. Nobody just appeared as a superstar without having previous reps on TV. Performing in regular shows on the indies and working on TV are two different concepts.
Everyone on that roster that’s on TV weekly needed reps to improve their work. There are many women who aren’t being used from week to week. There were several weeks where Hikaru Shida has been placed in the crowd and she is the champion. When Riho came back to TNT, it was the highest viewing point for both NXT and Dynamite that week. The AEW women’s division can indeed draw. This isn’t to say that the booking is entirely awful; the AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament, for example, was fantastic. However, after Ryo Mizunami lost to Shida, she did a TV tag team match and was soon on Dark.
Overall View of the AEW Women’s Division
With the great mix of veterans and future stars, AEW has all the tools to have a great women’s division. In the end, however, they are getting in their own way. Hopefully, this changes, but only time will tell.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TNT and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube.
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