2024 is here! And in the name of the new year instead of New Year’s Resolutions I have six New Year’s Aspirations, things that I would like to see happen, think would be a good idea, or am just flat out hoping for.
Adam Copeland, AEW World Champion
The logic behind this is very simple. Copeland is the last guy remaining that they have who has reach outside the AEW bubble and who either hasn’t already held the title (Jericho, Moxley) or whose window to win the title and do something with it hasn’t been squandered. Bryan Danielson’s window has passed as the injuries keep piling up and Tony Khan continues to give in to his indulgences. And CM Punk is, of course, no longer there. If Tony has any hopes to expand beyond the AEW bubble that grows ever tighter he needs somebody out in front who will garner at least a look from fans who watch WWE or the lapsed fans who do exist albeit nowhere in the numbers that Khan and the Dave Meltzers of the world believe. Copeland has multiple generations of fans to draw from, and even a few thousand of them tuning in consistently or buying a pay per view is something. You tell me who else there can do even that?
The plan is simple. Copeland wins the title sometime in 2024, carries it into Wembly Stadium for All In and drops it to whoever you want to crown as your next number one guy. Beating Adam Copeland in front of 50 thousand people or more is a much better launching pad than beating anyone else on the AEW roster would be, tell me how I’m wrong. Are there some great inside the bubble talents in AEW? Yes. Do people care about them outside of AEW? Not much, other than speculating when and if they’re coming to WWE. Punk was bringing some of that attention before he got injured the first time and things went south. This is likely their last, best shot at doing it for the forseeable future. In the words of Rick Pitino, John Cena isn’t walkng through that door. Brock Lesnar isn’t walking through that door. Roman Reigns isn’t walking through that door. Better use what you got and see how well it can work.
(By the way, there’s enough time to get Samoa Joe a good run in as champ before Adam wins the title from him or the next guy)
Split the WWE tag team titles
One of the biggest sore spots on WWE television has been how the tag team divisions have been handled. Despite a growing tag team roster (there are 11 healthy active teams on the main roster, along with the injured Viking Raiders and the seemingly split up Brawling Brutes and the soon to be returning AOP), there is still only one tag team title, the Undisputed titles held by the Judgement Day. Having one title is fine when you only have a handful of teams across both shows, as was the case in the 2000s and early 2010s, but when you have a dozen plus at your disposal then you need two of them.
But it’s not just a numbers issue; the tag belts have been a part of the top factions story since the Usos unified them in May 2022. There was a chance to split them after Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn beat them, but it wasn’t taken advantage of. And once they moved over to feuding with Judgement Day they became an object in that feud. Now that Judgement Day has them, they are a plot device in their story and won’t change hands until it’s time for a dramatic turn of some kind. Which means that those dozen teams have a dead end creatively until then. We’ve seen a pattern this season: the teams get into a few skirmishes, management responds booking a muti team match to whittle down the competition to a number of early contender, and that contender loses.
- The Street Profits, early into a heel turn with Bobby Lashley? They lose to the Judgement Day.
- Creed Brothers, new to Monday night raw? They lose to the Judgement Day.
- The New Day, back on TV for the first time in a while? They lose to the Judgement Day.
- Pretty Deadly, new to Smackdown? Lose to Kevin and Sami.
- Street Profits, fresh off winning the showcase match at WrestleMania? Lose to Kevin and Sami.
And that’s not even counting the multiple time the Street Profits lost to the Usos in 2022, and that the Brawling Brutes lost to the Usos and the Judgement Day. This has gone on for over a year, through three different championship teams. The tag team division has been basically a random opponent generator for whoever the Undisputed champs are at the time, and as soon as the failed title shot ends they go right back to spinning their wheels. It’s hard to get people to stay invested in these teams when there’s no point to their existence for almost two years. Time to change that. Whenever the Judgement loses, split those belts up and give the teams on both shows something they can fight for and actually win.
Athena on AEW Dynamite
Athena had arguably the best kayfabe year of any woman in wrestling in 2023. Wire to wire Ring of Honor Women’s champion, 16 title defenses, and closed out the year main eventing Ring of Honor Final Battle. And now here comes the part where you say you had no idea she did all that, wherein lies the problem. Even if we throw out WWE’s dominance of the landscape Athena’s stellar year was missed by a lot of people who do follow wrestling outside of WWE, because her work was hidden behind the paywall that separates ROH from the rest of the world. While AEW’s women’s division has improved they are still badly in need of somebody who can step into the ring on camera and immediately convey that they’re to be taken seriously as a competitor and not just a TV character. Athena has always been the former and now over the past year she’s found her way as the latter. Time to put her on the show that people can see every week without shelling out more money, and her challenging for the AEW Women’s Title should be your number one women’s match of the year in the company, whether she takes the title there or not.
If you’re not gonna do that then it’s time to let her leave and bring her act to NXT where she could really rule the brand this time around.
Impact signs a significant male wrestler
Impact has made some great strides over the past year, and as it returns to its former name of TNA is getting some real financial investment from it’s owners in Anthem. There are two things that are keeping it from getting even bigger, though. One is it’s TV channel home and the other is a lack of a significant male star that can at least get the wrestling bubble audience to pay more attention to it. The former isn’t changing seeing as how Anthem owns the channel that Impact airs on, but the latter is doable. Now who would that be? Scott D’Amore has already announced that there is a major signing to be announced at Hard to Kill; maybe that’s the guy. But if not, and it very well may be a woman, then we’ll be waiting. Not that I don’t want them to sign a big name woman; I do hope that they re-sign Trinity and Mercedes Mone would be the best addition of the year for any company even if it’s for a short run.
Do I think they can land somebody like, say, Drew McIntyre? No. But can they can get somebody who can perform at that level that they can build something with? Absolutely. Mustafa Ali, for example, with the full backing of creative to explore the kinds of things he pitched to WWE and never got to go all the way with, could be that guy. Speaking of Drew McIntyre……
Drew McIntyre goes to AEW
Drew is caught in the numbers game in WWE. Roman, Cody, Seth, Randy Orton, and now CM Punk are ahead of him. As is Brock Lesnar for that matter. In AEW he can go right to the front of the line; he’s not enamored with side quests like Danielson and he’s a better option to run in that spot than most of the people they have there. There’s also the chance to walk out of Wembly Stadium as a World Champion. For a guy who sees himself as capable and worthy of being the top guy then if the money’s right then to be honest I’d say that’s a better way to spend the next few years than topping out at losing to Roman again or Cody or Punk.
But that’s not it. I and many others have said that the continued existence and future success of AEW is a necessary thing no matter what you think of the company. The wrestlers as workers need more than one company that can pay big contracts, because as soon as there is only one again those contracts are going to become less and less frequent. Having AEW or someone else available as on option is crucial for the well being of the talent. But having an option isn’t enough; like Chekov’s Gun it’s no good unless somebody uses it. And by somebody I don’t mean midcarders or people who were hit in a round of WWE releases. It needs to be somebody who is a big deal, and who WWE would rather keep (or get) than lose or miss out on. McIntyre seems as good a candidate as any with his WWE contract reportedly ending soon.
A speedy recovery for Charlotte Flair
Charlotte suffered her first major injury in December and is reportedly out for nine months. Here’s to a speedy but proper recovery. Her absence has obviously forced changes to booking and creative for the next several months going into WrestleMania but that’s not the only place she’ll be missed. At the time of her injury Charlotte worked the most house shows of any women on the roster for 2023, the most matches on Smackdown, and the second most total matches (tied with Bayley) to Iyo Sky. And she did that in 10 months, not 12. Whoever fills in for her is going to have to take on that entire workload and not just a WrestleMania match or a few more pay per view matches. But beyond just that seeing anyone go down to injury just stinks so here’s to a glorious return before too long so the Queen can get back to doing what she does best.
So there were are; six things I think it would be good to see in 2024. Here’s to the New Year everyone.
Stroke of Genius 