Controversy creates cash is a quote that wrestling pundits like to use when claiming wrestling should always have that vibe. AEW is only four years old, but their higher profile with a national television deal and PPVs led to some controversial moments playing out. However, the results following this style of storyline can be quite hit or miss.
RELATED: Top 10 Most Awkward Moments In AEW History
AEW witnessed stronger interest and fans enjoying the better instances of controversy coming from the company. However, there are opposite scenarios of the same kind of storytelling leading to terrible results. Each side will be showcased to see how things shaped out. The following controversial storylines either worked or missed the mark for AEW.
10 Worked: MJF Referencing Contract Ending
The current AEW World Championship reign of MJF is the payoff of his wild promo calling out Tony Khan and leaving television for a while to pay it off. MJF referencing his AEW contract ending in 2024 and having WWE interest was a shocking advancement.
RELATED: 5 Past Gimmicks AEW Wrestlers Should Bring Back (& 5 They Shouldn't)
The controversy of an AEW star referencing contemplating going to WWE actually worked since it had people talking about MJF more than ever. MJF’s return and his AEW World Championship win captivated the audience to help him become a bigger star.
9 Didn’t: Brandi Rhodes Feuding With Dan Lambert
Brandi Rhodes originally had a huge presence in AEW as one of the first signings and a chief brand officer role. AEW tried a few storylines for Brandi that always seemed to disconnect with the audience and had to be dropped.
Dan Lambert leading the American Top Team faction had a gimmick of basically just saying offensive things in promos and started to target Brandi. The promo exchanges felt like two people saying shocking things to force conflict. Both characters were reaching the end of the road after this failed angle.
8 Worked: Britt Baker & Thunder Rosa's Tension
Real-life tension playing out on-screen is always a big aspect of wrestling when heat exists. Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa clearly don’t like each other with years of hostility after working together. The duo had great chemistry to break out after an epic match together, but they can’t get along outside of the ring.
AEW tried to utilize that in the second chapter of their feud, and it led to some personal promos. There were some flaws of AEW waiting too long for the Thunder title win, but the overall angle felt like a real issue of two enemies facing off in the ring.
7 Didn’t: Wardlow Getting His Hair Cut
Wardlow’s push in AEW has been polarizing with fans being mixed about his future. The moment of Wardlow winning the TNT Championship could have started an ascension into a top role, but the inconsistent push has fallen apart.
Samoa Joe cutting Wardlow’s hair was meant to be a way to get fans rallying behind him, but many were just disappointed when Joe lost to Wardlow. Even the follow-up of Wardlow having a new look has hurt his momentum with fans viewing his new look as a downgrade.
6 Worked: CM Punk & MJF Exchanging Pipebombs
The feud between CM Punk and MJF was something fans wanted from the start of rumors that Punk was coming to AEW. MJF and Punk went fully into the controversial side when they had their first major promo exchange of vicious insults.
Punk calling MJF a weaker version of Miz and MJF calling out Punk’s previous failures had the wrestling world talking. Even the personal stories of MJF’s background growing up as a Punk and having his struggles added to the story of fans feeling more connected.
5 Didn’t: CM Punk & Adam Page's Hostile Promos
AEW tried to find more success from CM Punk's tense promo battles during his feud with Hangman Adam Page. The slow burn culminated in them having to cut promos declaring why they would be a better champion than the other.
RELATED: 5 Promising AEW Superstars That Are Busts (& 5 That Can Still Be Saved)
Page’s promo saying he wanted to save AEW from Punk played into his previous feuds with MJF and Eddie Kingston. However, Punk felt this was more personal since Hangman and the Young Bucks were friends of Colt Cabana adding to that hostility to start the chaotic real-life issues that followed.
4 Worked: Kenny Omega's Losing Streak
One of the storylines to get criticized about AEW in the early months featured Kenny Omega having a losing streak of his first big matches. The first three traditional PPVs saw Omega losing each time to Chris Jericho, Pac, and Jon Moxley.
All three of those names benefited from the huge victories. Omega getting his wins back after that time and building momentum set up his eventual AEW World Championship reign. The entire evolution made sense why Kenny became ruthlessly obsessed with winning every big match and every world title.
3 Didn’t: Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo's Romance Angle
AEW using the real-life relationship between Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo led to fans souring against them. Guevara making his love life such a part of his character forced fans to react one way or another when he proposed to his long-time girlfriend in the ring before breaking up and dating Tay right after.
Tony Khan made a bad mistake having them play a face couple together as the audience started to turn on them. Tay and Sammy had a terrible run of playing the controversial heel couple that hurt each of their momentum. Guevara initially feeling out of place in the four pillars world title feud is a result of that negative pushback from the audience never turning around.
2 Worked: Chris Jericho Setting Up Attack On Britt Baker
One of the more recent controversial segments in AEW featured Chris Jericho orchestrating an attack for Saraya to destroy Britt Baker in front of Adam Cole. The segment felt like something one would see in a movie or television show rather than wrestling in terms of the mental attack on Cole by Jericho.
This ended up making the Cole vs Jericho and Britt vs Outcasts feuds each feel more important. All four of these main characters involved badly needed a segment like this. Cole and Baker were much better faces after having a sympathetic moment, and Jericho and Saraya felt like more credible heels.
1 Didn’t: Cody Rhodes Losing Chance To Challenge For AEW World Championship
Cody Rhodes was the one to come up with the idea of losing his chance to ever challenge for the AEW World Championship, and it turned into a huge mistake. The idea of not wanting to be the top guy while holding a management role saw Rhodes putting that stipulation up to challenge Chris Jericho.
A loss when MJF threw in the towel for Cody saw him never able to challenge for that title again. Rhodes’ character felt aimless always in the TNT Championship picture or trying to get others over. This factored into Cody’s desire for more when leaving AEW for WWE.
