Tony Khan and the entirety of AEW have had quite the year. That cannot be said enough. If it wasn’t the incredible wrestler debuts, then it can surely be because of the noise AEW has undoubtedly made on social media.
They have definitely become a household name by now, and that’s after only just about three years of existence. Their success has made many question the speed at which they made it to the forefront of the pro wrestling business, they giving the conglomerate WWE competition—finally—in an industry they dominated for the greater part of two decades.
As the year progressed, WWE released many stars and AEW gobbled a lot of them up and in quick succession.
So much so that many felt at some times during the year that AEW was perhaps nabbing up way too much talent for their own roster. Many even accused them of misusing the talent they did acquire. These sentiments have now been proven false, as the talent is being used, and how, as we have seen Adam Cole come to the forefront as well of the roster in recent weeks and with recent developments.
I myself proposed the idea of AEW perhaps possibly having to consider a brand extension at some point in the future, and although that’s a good idea moving forward, it seems like there’s a place in the limelight for everybody right now. But we can only guess at what 2022 will bring in that department for right now.
Tony Khan addressed a few of these topics and more in an interview with Sports Illustrated. On there being too much talent in AEW as it is, Khan said:
“We’ve been expanding our programming over the past year, and I’d like to always keep AEW at the forefront of the fans’ minds as the home of professional wrestling. It’s the place where you will see the best pro wrestlers, so the roster is constantly evolving. There is a ton of great talent in the world of wrestling right now, and I’m always looking for ways to make the show more exciting. I always want to upgrade the roster. That’s what we did with Kyle O’Reilly, CM Punk, Adam Cole, Ruby Soho and Bryan Danielson. We also have Thunder Rosa under a full AEW contract. Christian Cage came in as a free agent and wrestled at as high a level as he ever has. Malakai Black, Andrade El Idolo, we keep adding to our roster, expanding our programming and growing.”
Cody Rhodes has had an interesting finish to the end of the year, as he’s being severely booed by the fans. Many are requesting that the newly-crowned TNT Champion turn heel, but he has disagreed with that notion, stating that he doesn’t wish to go in that direction, despite the fact that his behavior can be at times a tad heel-ish, if you’ll allow me to say it that way.
via AEW /YouTube
There are definitely plans for his character and in the end, I think that fans should be pleased wherever it goes. You can’t keep a Rhodes down for long as the family has proven time and time again.
Tony Khan in the same interview spoke on this matter and what Cody brings to the table and how valuable he is to the machine that is AEW. He said:
“Cody is important on and off camera. He’s a great person backstage, but he’s also a tremendous star on camera. That was a great pro wrestling main event he had with Sammy Guevara on Christmas, with a very polarizing result that got people talking. It’s great buzz going into this week. Cody has the ability to generate that type of buzz and have that caliber of great matches. He’s also doing a lot of charitable work off camera with our community outreach team. He worked with WarnerMedia to become a prominent part of their shows, too, but his bread and butter is still pro wrestling.”
via Sports Illustrated /E-Wrestling News (Transcription)
