Since day one, AEW has very clearly been a company made up of factions. Even most of those without a defined faction have loose allies and relationships which have been built up over time. Due to the sheer number of factions in the company, there are bound to be some poor booking decisions or questionable directions taken.
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When it comes to certain stables, there have been some things that haven’t made sense, defying logic and at times attacking the intelligence of the audience. AEW doesn’t do this as much as say WWE, so it stands out, even more, when Tony Khan books something which makes little sense.
10 Cody Rhodes’ Distance From The Elite
When AEW began, Cody Rhodes and The Elite were among the biggest names involved in getting it started. However, as time went on, despite Rhodes starting out as a member of The Elite, his storylines veered away from the other members.
Him leaving The Elite was something that happened without any form of announcement, with them all going their separate ways and almost never being seen together on TV. It was awkward, and fans have never really got an answer as to why this occurred.
9 The Firm As A Concept
The Firm debuted together at Double or Nothing, with the mix-match group of individuals being said to be paid thugs for MJF, though aside from that, they would do their own thing.
However, The Firm quickly turned on MJF and became more of a defined group instead of hitmen. That being said, the likes of Lee Moriarty and W Morrissey are barely on AEW TV. It isn’t clear what AEW wants The Firm to be.
8 Anthony Ogogo Not Being With The Factory
On the likes of AEW Dark and Elevation, Anthony Ogogo is accompanied to the ring by The Factory, whom he has been aligned with for the last year. When it comes to Dynamite and Rampage, he is always absent.
AEW doesn't seem to know what to do with Ogogo, seemingly keeping him off TV to protect him, but not putting him on TV to push him. He feels in limbo, and it doesn’t really make sense to not use him with The Factory when they’re on TV.
7 Everything About The Nightmare Collective
One of the biggest early failures in AEW was the Nightmare Collective. They were a cult who liked chopping off people’s hair, but that was pretty much the scope fans got of their incentives.
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The group made little sense and seemed to just be an attempt to create a dark and spooky gimmick. Brandi Rhodes spoke with overly goofy language in promos, with a lot of unintelligible metaphors.
6 Trent’s Dislike For Wheeler Yuta In Best Friends
Wheeler Yuta was brought into AEW as a kind of protégé for the Best Friends, but Trent Beretta always gave him a hard time. Whether it be angry glances or talking down to him, it became a running thing of Trent not liking him.
In terms of AEW television, there was never much of an explanation for why this dislike was so harsh. If some storyline thought was put into it, it could have made for a strong feud.
5 Adam Cole & reDRagon Leaving The Undisputed Elite
Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Bobby Fish looked to dominate AEW as they did in NXT, but injuries left them unable to gain any proper steam. At some point, a split with the Young Bucks felt inevitable, but it made no sense that AEW pulled the trigger when they did.
Cole and O’Reilly were both not cleared for in-ring action when the turn took place, and Fish left AEW shortly after. This meant that there was no pay-off, short or long-term, for this angle. At the time, it made for a good shock, but it received zero follow-up.
4 The Ownership Of The Family Office
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“Big Money” Matt Hardy procured the services of several random AEW talents to create the Hardy Family Office. However, Andrade El Idolo eventually bought a stake in the group, only for Hardy to eventually get kicked out despite his contractual ownership.
All the percentages, contracts, and leaders were hard to follow, especially now that it seems as though Rush is in control of the stable without “owning” it.
3 The Pinnacle’s Dissolution
In 2021, the creation of The Pinnacle felt like one of the biggest angles in AEW, with it feeling like the company was about to enter a new era with the modern-day iteration of the Four Horsemen. After a feud with The Inner Circle though, The Pinnacle began to falter.
FTR steadily left the side of The Pinnacle, and Shawn Spears became nothing more than MJF’s lackey rather than a fellow group member. It is surprising that AEW didn’t try to make this group work for more than just one storyline, especially when they had so much potential as a unit.
2 Anna Jay Leaving The Dark Order
Anna Jay had no issues with any of the Dark Order members, but it took just one backstage promo from Tay Conti to turn her allegiance and make her drop years of friendship in an instant to join the Jericho Appreciation Society.
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There was no backlash from the Dark Order either, even though it set up a natural feud between the Dark Order and the JAS. No one has really benefited from this, as Jay hasn’t found a way up the card as a heel.
1 Lack Of Tag Title Pursuits
This last point goes towards many of the factions in AEW, and it concerns the steadily depleting depth of the tag team division. For whatever reason, members of factions haven’t recently banded together to try and go after the World Tag Titles.
The likes of John Silver & Alex Reynolds of the Dark Order, 2.0 of the JAS, Brody King & Buddy Matthews of the House of Black, and several more seemingly have few aspirations as far as championships go. AEW should be stacking up the division with all the stables they have, but have instead left the division lacking, with teams like Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett gunning for the gold instead.
