WWE has entered what may are referring to as the company's "renaissance era," and unfortunately for AEW, that's shined a spotlight on the company's inadequacies.
The days of AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage (there's no real point mentioning AEW Collision) nipping at the heels of RAW and SmackDown's ratings are long gone and neither show is even really a match for NXT these days either.
Not helping matters is the fact AEW has a lot of top stars sidelined with injuries. During a recent interview, AEW President Tony Khan addressed the status of both AEW World Champion MJF and former Women's World Champion Dr. Britt Baker.
"It's something to keep an eye on with MJF," he said, offering the usual non-answer. "He's a great wrestler for AEW and has been a great world champion. He was very injured and I would love to have MJF back anytime and we’ll see what happens here."
As for Baker, Khan added, "Britt Baker's been out. She was injured and there's a lot of times we have a lot of great wrestlers out injured. So I think this year will be great, not only for the great free agents, but also for some of the stars that have been side-lined coming back."
Boasting about being able to sideline free agents because such a large number of regular roster members are injured isn't exactly a good look. In fact, AEW's stuffed roster still appears to be a source of frustration and resentment backstage.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, many AEW stars remain frustrated with Khan due to a lack of television time. Slow ticket sales, falling ratings, and an overall downturn in critical acclaim and the company's popularity also seem to be causing problems among talent.
Wrestlers are said to be calling for major changes in the hope of turning things around but it's currently unclear whether Khan will take any of that on board. He is, however, thought to have signed Mercedes Mone and Kazuchika Okada to lucrative deals which, unfortunately, reek of hotshot booking.
It seems Khan found it easy to compete with a Vince McMahon-led WWE, but Triple H (and Shawn Michaels) are proving to be more than the fanboy-turned-company President can handle. Is this the beginning of the end for AEW or a mere bump in the road? It's too soon to say, but 2024 is shaping up to be an important year for the company, especially with a dominant WWE breathing down its neck.
Check out the full interview with Khan below.