It has been beautiful to see AEW grow before our eyes. From starting with a select group of wrestlers, they now have over 100 on their roster and three weekly shows (AEW Dynamite, AEW Collision, and AEW Rampage). The idea of a AEW brand split has been lingering around for months. Having wrestlers on a dedicated show will help showcase more talent. Along with providing more quality storylines as the stories will remain on each show with the wrestlers.
With the new year starting, it is a perfect time to introduce a brand split. AEW is now featured on MAX, so the audience will have the privilege of returning to catch up on any missed stories and follow whichever brand they choose.
With brand splits, there are top picks, surprises, and sometimes tag team separations. What would AEW have in store to separate the roster?
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When and How?
Hopefully, Tony Khan will soon make another of his infamous special announcements, announcing the roster’s separation.
The announcement should be made at a significant event, such as AEW Homecoming or AEW Grand Slam, so the weeks following Dynamite and Rampage can be spent preparing for the split.
But who will decide who will go on which brand? How will the roster draft be conducted?
Yes, Khan could pick who goes on what brand, which may happen, but there are more interesting ways that AEW could do. With the return of EVP Kenny Omega, it would be interesting to see Omega in charge of Dynamite or Collision and The Young Bucks in charge of the other.
#AEWDynamite NEXT WEDNESDAY 1/8@FMBankArena | Clarksville, TN
LIVE 8pm ET/7pm CT | @TBSNetwork & @StreamOnMaxAEW EVP, ‘The Best Bout Machine’ @KennyOmegamanX, makes his highly anticipated return to Dynamite NEXT WEEK on TBS and MAX! pic.twitter.com/C5PQtuHEJS
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 2, 2025
If they go through with the brand split, it must be done differently than WWE and how they draft the superstars. It will help AEW stand out more as a prominent wrestling promotion coming up with its unique executions.
Choosing the rosters for each brand could be done through backstage segments or even entirely at random, Royal Rumble style, but instead of picking a number, the wrestler picks a brand.
The EVPs could be in charge of each brand, while Khan overlooks all of them to ensure fair matches, considering The Young Bucks don’t have the best reputation with that.
Since Rampage is only an hour long, it should be a show that allows any crossovers and combinations within brands so the audience can see some diversity in opponents.
Who Will Be The Leaders?
As I mentioned, seeing Omega and The Young Bucks each run a show would be interesting. Considering their positions as EVPs in the company and the tension between Omega, The Young Bucks, and Okada, this would make sense.
But who will be the top wrestler among each brand? Setting aside the EVPs themselves, Jon Moxley and the Death Riders would be top leaders of one of the shows. The faction comprises strong wrestlers such as Marina Shafir, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Pac.
They are already trying to take over the company, and if anything is in their way, a brand split may be what they need to boost this story.
There are talents such as Darby Allin and Will O’Spreay, and the spotlight will follow them no matter their actions. They are fan favorites and have sacrificed their body weekly for the industry. Those two will be top stars no matter what show they are on. This includes other wrestlers like MJF, Adam Cole, Toni Storm, etc.
For women running a show, one of them had already given herself the perfect nickname, the CEO, Mercedes Moné. Love or hate her, she is a big name in AEW and does a phenomenal job as a heel.
Even though she is already a top star, with the brand split, it would be interesting to see someone like Kris Statlander or Julia Hart become the top star of the other show. There is a lot of potential behind stories with House of Black, too.
Splitting up the AEW roster would open spots for more talent to get featured weekly and many stories to follow. If this happens, it will be interesting to see how they approach it.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – 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 on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube.
