There was a lot of love for AEW over the last five years, but even the most loyal All-Elite Wrestling fans have to admit that there have been some lulls here and there in 2024. Towards the end of the year, in the “Full Gear” and “Worlds End” seasons.the main event scene felt particularly dry.
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Jon Moxley's hostile takeover story had some promising moments, interesting developments and a lot of potential, but a lot of it is already dull and stale, mostly because the likes of Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin failed to get as hot and steamy aspiring babyfaces. Looking to the future and looking for ways to shake things up, AEW can learn something from WWE's approach to main eventing during the Attitude Era.
The main event scene in AEW has gone dry
AEW is struggling to develop new babyface stars
- Jon Moxley's feuds with Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin have not thrilled fans.
- The AEW main event cover photo doesn't seem to be all that important right now.
- There aren't enough big stars in the World Cup scene.
It wasn't too long ago that AEW was a red-hot promotion full of stars competing in the main event scene. In 2024, however, the picture of the main event seemed increasingly dry. For example in the last phases of the year Jon Moxley fights with the likes of Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin with the AEW World Title at the center. This is far below the level of the past, where the likes of Kenny Omega, MJF, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk and Adam Page performed were in the race for the top positions in the company. For a number of reasons, including a lack of momentum, lack of star building, injuries and more, AEW's main event scene isn't particularly exciting.
When the main event scene works, success can often spill over into the rest of the card, but that wasn't the case with Jon Moxley's hostile takeover story. There was hope that this would help new names achieve greater success, but the likes of Cassidy and Allin are no more popular than they were a year ago, and frankly, perhaps even less so. One of the biggest problems AEW faces in the main event scene is that there are often only two or three people in the match at a time. This is because AEW focuses on a single title match at a PPV and doesn't opt for multi-player title matches very often. This was a formula that worked in the past, but now it's failing. To provide relief not just for the main event scene, but for the company as a whole, one should look to the Attitude Era for inspiration.
The Attitude Era was a wild and chaotic time for the main event scene
Many top stars fought to become WWE Champion
- WWE's Attitude Era featured many multi-man matches.
- Top WWE stars like The Rock and Steve Austin fought regularly.
- Wrestling fans never got tired of seeing the same matchups in WWE.
One of the main reasons for this Success of the Attitude Era was the sheer number of main event stars in attendance. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Mankind, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Kane and Big Show are just a few of the top stars featured on WWE programming each week and you see They often interact with each other on a weekly basis. These names have always been involved in the main storylines looking for a path to the WWE Championship.
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Even though there were countless multi-man tag team matches and rematches galore, with the same big names competing on show after show, the WWE audience at the time was never bored for a moment and raved about all these big names every time they came out. Tony Khan has often been hesitant to regularly line up big names to avoid oversaturation and ensure dream pairings are maximized. However, if the company desperately needs some momentum and lift, learning from the Attitude Era's chaotic main event scene could help. As far as the Attitude Era goes, the cards weren't always fantastic overall, but the main event scene was so wild and busy that WWE reached an all-time high in terms of popularity.
AEW should adopt the Attitude Era style and revitalize the main event scene
AEW has enough big names to spice up the world title picture
- AEW doesn't always have to wait to pull the trigger on big matches.
- Multiple notable AEW stars can interact with each other at the same time.
- AEW has to rely on guys like Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, etc.
It might be time for AEW to change some of its philosophies to avoid falling even further down in terms of excitement and viewership. For the likes of MJF, Adam Page, Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland and Kenny Omega, for example, it feels unimaginable to be in the same segment at the same time, but it's possible if Tony Khan changes his booking approach. AEW has the star power to create a packed main event scene with names like those mentioned, as well as top names like Will Ospreay, Adam Cole, Adam Copeland, Kazuchika Okada, Christian Cage, Bobby Lashley and more.
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These wrestlers simply need to interact with each other more and on a more consistent basis, and if AEW took this approach, weekly television would become more exciting and the product's fan base could grow once again. In the second part of 2024, the main events of Dynamite took place included games like Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler YutaFTR vs. House of Black and Swerve Strickland vs. Shelton Benjamin, and while these were good matches, the buzz surrounding AEW would be much greater if Dynamite took center stage with matches featuring the biggest and best stars instead. The AEW World Title also needs to be a bigger goal for AEW stars, with the champion needing to be a goal for everyone, leading to high-profile number one contender matches and even more multi-man main events at PPVs. The Attitude Era was a prime example of how to do this right, and if AEW plays their cards right, they can regain a lot of buzz and “feel.”
