5 Big Changes AEW Must Make To Compete With WWE In 2023

AEW took some steps in the right direction last year, but in 2023, the company must do more to close the cap with WWE.

Let’s highlight some of the positives for AEW in 2022. Tony Khan’s rising promotion did a masterful job of creating and elevating new stars, ranging from MJF to Jamie Hayter to Ricky Starks to Jungle Boy. It also delivered some legendary feuds, including MJF vs. CM Punk and MJF vs. Wardlow, and a long list of phenomenal matches, like Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson or FTR vs. The Young Bucks, among a slew of others.

Even more improvements are on the way, too. One change that’s already coming is a revamped look and feel of AEW’s TV shows, Rampage and Dynamite, which Khan has confirmed are just the start of a fresher TV product. That should bode well for AEW’s TV look, which hasn’t changed much since its inception, but of course, the company must make more than simple cosmetic changes to stay on pace with WWE this year.

Here are five big adjustments AEW needs to institute in 2023.

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Reestablish Rampage As An Equivalent To Dynamite

Here’s what Khan had to say about Rampage viewership during an ROH media call last month (h/t Wrestling Inc): “I definitely am looking to put strong matches on Rampage…With the depth of the roster, I think it’s a time for me to really put all hands on deck to put the strongest shows I can on Friday. And I always try to listen to the feedback from the fans, so going forward, I’m going to try to put things on the Friday show that I think will have the best chance to bring in that audience.”

It was just last month that Rampage’s audience really bottomed out, and it’s not difficult to ascertain why: Especially in comparison to Dynamite, the star power—and storyline development—simply hasn’t been there. While Rampage started off with strong match cards and numerous appearances from top stars when it first launched in August 2021, that strategy quickly changed, and Rampage went from being a complement to Dynamite to being the clear-cut B-show.

Here and there, AEW has utilized top stars—like Orange Cassidy and Jon Moxley—in attempts to spike the Rampage audience, but it has not been at all consistent in that regard. That needs to change this year, as Rampage should be an extension of Dynamite and a show that feels significantly more important than Dark or Dark: Elevation, which it currently doesn’t.

But the good news? It already appears that Khan is taking strides toward dramatically improving the star power on Friday nights.

Far Fewer Matches With Obvious Outcomes

In pro wrestling, there have to be winners and losers. Yet, much of AEW’s programming last year was booked with the philosophy that its top stars couldn’t be losing. Of course, AEW should protect its biggest names to an extent, but when it becomes clear that most matches are booked in a way that ensures the top names are often beating stars much lower on the card, that results in a serious lack of intrigue.

The lone truly memorable upset on AEW programming in 2022 took place just last month when the debuting Action Andretti pulled off a 1-2-3 Kid-esque upset of Chris Jericho. But other than that? AEW has booked far too many matches with incredibly obvious outcomes. After all, who thinks that a top star like Moxley, Jericho or Page is going to lose to someone like Serpentico, QT Marshall or The Blade? Virtually no one.

Booking squash matches—or predictable ones—isn’t always a bad thing, but when it happens far more often than not, it results in a lack of fan interest and a lack of compelling storylines. Let’s put this on the 2023 wish list for AEW to stop booking some lopsided bouts so often, only utilizing them when they fit the story or the direction of a character.

Make ROH An Entirely Separate Entity

When Khan purchased Ring of Honor in early 2022, it wasn’t clear how the promotion that helped develop names like Punk, Danielson and Samoa Joe would be used by AEW. But within mere months, it was painfully evident that ROH would be more intrusive—than helpful—for Khan’s promotion.

ROH, rather than being a place to develop new talent, instead took over Dynamite and Rampage in a way that left both of those shows feeling disjointed and overcrowded. Khan himself has even addressed that, and with ROH’s weekly show set to air on ROH’s Honor Club streaming service in the near future, he has said it’s time to “take the training wheels off” ROH and has hinted that we will be seeing less of the brand on AEW programming moving forward.

That hasn’t exactly been the case thus far, but it absolutely must be the case in 2023. AEW’s focus on ROH not only limited TV time for many of AEW’s stars, but it created such a crowded roster that AEW was forced to jam too much content into Rampage and Dynamite. That seriously diminished the quality of AEW’s flagship shows, with a rushed pace leading to a product that felt like it was about shoving too much content into too short of a span.

More Focus On The Women’s Division

AEW’s women’s division has been a target of criticism for years and for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is its lackluster booking. As the division has churned out a number of homegrown stars—like Britt Baker, Jade Cargill and Jamie Hayter—and brought in top outside talents, including Saraya and Toni Storm, there are no longer any excuses for AEW to overlook the division as a whole.

Yet, that is often the case. How many 2022 episodes of Rampage and Dynamite featured little to no storyline development or match time for its female stars? Throwing a short squash match with rarely seen talents isn’t the answer, either. As uber-popular stars like Hayter have proven, there is a clear thirst among AEW fans for a focused women’s division that is highlighted as much as the men’s singles, tag team and trios divisions have been spotlighted over the years.

The talent is there. The interest is there. The charisma is there. What isn’t there, however, is a consistent effort into showcasing the long line of female stars just waiting for their opportunity to shine. If AEW is ever going to develop its equivalent to WWE’s Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch or Charlotte Flair, it has to start with baby steps, like giving the women’s division multiple lengthy segments per show and developing in-depth characters.

Stop Signing So Much Talent

AEW having such a stacked roster is the definition of a double-edged sword. On one hand, you might argue that having too much talent can never be a bad thing, but on the other hand, too much of anything is never a good thing, right?

If AEW hasn’t crossed the line of having too many stars to know what to do with, it is about as close as it can possibly be. Even Khan recently admitted that pleasing everyone on the roster is impossible, but when it becomes such a common occurrence for marquee stars to disappear from TV for long stretches and/or grow disgruntled as a result of it, that creates a domino effect that is hard to overcome.

Dissatisfied stars lead to lower morale and backstage problems, among other issues, and one of the biggest reasons why AEW or WWE stars grow so frustrated is that they often find themselves in a logjam of stars, with very little hope of breaking out of the pack. If you look at AEW’s current roster, it is so big and so star-studded that Khan doesn’t need to sign anyone—especially anyone who first made their name in WWE—anytime soon.

In 2023, AEW needs to utilize the talents it has, and the only stars it should even consider signing are the ones who can be game-changing stars right out of the gate, like a Brock Lesnar or a Roman Reigns—which probably isn’t happening.