One of the best things about heading into a new year is that it gives you an opportunity to reinvent yourself.
Maybe you get in shape, or pick up a hobby, or start wearing a cool new hat; something to tell the world, “Hey, I may have screwed up last year, but now I wear turtlenecks, and that means everything is going to be different from here on out”.
Between backstage controversies and stagnant booking practices, this hasn’t been the best year for AEW, and hopefully Tony Khan will use the New Year as an opportunity to look ahead at ways to surprise us in the coming months.
While most of us will be looking into cooking classes of a gym membership we’ll never use, Khan will likely be thinking about all the crazy twists and turns he can pull out to shock the fans in 2023.
But what kind of shocks might we be looking at? Here are a few suggestions…
7. A Gimmick Pay-Per-View
This is probably the most difficult thing for AEW to book (even more so than a WWE crossover), because it requires coming up with an idea for a brand new type of match that is both engaging and not overly complicated.
That being said, it would also create a ton of attention for the company if they somehow managed to pull it off.
People like the Elimination Chamber, they love Money in the Bank, and they love the Royal Rumble, with the latter being one of the persistent highlights of the wrestling calendar.
If AEW could somehow come up with something that leads to half as much high drama – and potential storyline implications – as either of those things, they could strike wrestling gold.
Of course that’s much easier said than done.
AEW has already tried its hand at some original gimmick matches – the Casino Ladder Match, the Casino Battle Royale, the Casino Casino Casino – but they all end up coming across like pre-existing gimmick matches with some unnecessary extra steps added to make them legally distinct from those of other companies.
The simplicity of WWE’s most iconic gimmick matches is what makes them great – a 45-minute match where anybody could show up, a ladder match for a briefcase that lets you interrupt the main event of WrestleMania if you want to – and that’s the thing that AEW need to capture if they’re going to base an entire pay-per-view around the thing.
I have a pitch if you’re interested, Tony: all we need are a couple of shark cages, a “penalty area”, and a complicated point system I’ve devised using-
6. CM Punk Returns
No matter how you feel about CM Punk, you can’t deny that the man is good business.
Regardless of his personal and professional issues with other people in the company, it would be a little weird if Tony Khan doesn’t at least try to bring Punk back into the fold in 2023.
His differences with the roster may be insurmountable – although if you believe Dax Harwood of FTR they are no such thing – but it’s worth a try for the simple fact that not doing so would leave a lot of money on the table.
Whether crowds would accept him is a different story – fans have been pretty vocal about taking sides in recent weeks, and there’s no clear consensus as of yet.
But maybe that’s a good thing.
Punk always felt like he was building himself up to a heel turn during his first AEW run, with his insincere-feeling “gee golly gosh I’m just happy to be here” promos and weird backstage gamesmanship.
The real issue was that there was nothing he could have done to get the crowd to turn against him, leaving him permanently stranded in white meat babyface-ville.
That probably isn’t going to be an issue anymore.
Plus if you get him to return, there’s a ton of unfinished business to settle. A proper conclusion to his feud with MJF. A feud with Danielson. And…
5. CM Punk Feuds With The Elite
AEW sometimes leans into the worked-shoot stuff a little hard, but there’s a very good reason for that: wrestling fans are messy bitches that love drama.
We love hearing that two wrestlers had beef backstage, and then seeing those wrestlers pretend to beat each other up for our entertainment.
We love pointing at the screen with our chubby little fingers, mouth agape, and saying, “Oh my God, Dave was right”.
And we would really love to see CM Punk and the Elite settle their very real personal issues in a kayfabe environment.
AEW thrives on the type of storytelling that relies on its fans being smart to the business, so a feud between top stars who we’ve been told hate each other is money in the company’s pocket – if they can pull it off.
It goes without saying that Punk would have to team with FTR in order to even the odds against Kenny and Pals, which would have the nice side effect of getting FTR back on my television more often.
Who would be the face, and who would be the heel?
Based on their recent behavior, it’s safe to assume the Elite would slide right back into their heel personas, but with the current heat on Punk from some fans, it really could go either way.
Honestly, it’s not even a dynamic you have to establish that clearly – people are just going to want to see these guys go at each other regardless of their opinions on the matter.
4. An AEW/WWE Crossover Show
Six months ago, if you would have asked me if I thought there was any chance of a WWE/AEW crossover show I would have laughed so hard and for so long that you would have called me an ambulance.
Now, with WWE’s change of management, and Triple H’s personal relationship with many members of the AEW roster, you can probably skip the ambulance (but keep your finger on the speed dial just in case).
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still super unlikely, but both parties are likely to be significantly more amenable to the idea than they were just a short time ago – don’t forget when Jericho and Danielson recorded messages for John Cena’s anniversary episode just a short time ago.
Short of things like the Rock returning at the Royal Rumble, and impossible things like Roman jumping ship, a crossover between the two largest wrestling companies in North America is probably the biggest surprise that could happen in the wrestling world at the moment.
From a fan perspective it’s just an objectively cool thing to think about. How do you set it up? Who gets paired up with who? Where does the first shot across the bough take place – Double or Nothing or WrestleMania?
For wrestlers who are locked into long deals with their respective companies, it would provide an opportunity for matches that may literally never have a chance to happen again: Elite vs New Day; a Bullet Club melee with Cody, Styles, Omega, Page, Cole and Balor; Asuka vs Hikaru Shida; MJF vs the Miz (I’m not kidding, the promos would be off the charts).
This probably isn’t happening any time soon, but we do live in the age of multiverses and shared IP, so you never know.
3. Wardlow Beats MJF For The AEW World Title
After years of fantasy booking it’s finally happened: MJF has won the big one.
Wrestling fans have waited so long for MJF to take his rightful place at the helm of AEW, and now he’s finally here there’s only one thing to do: immediately start talking about who should take the belt off him.
There are a couple of contenders for the person who should finally dethrone the best of the best – Bryan Danielson would be a worthy candidate, and Punk could be a good shout if he ever returns – but in terms of actual story (and people who are definitely still with the company) there’s really only one guy who fits the bill.
Putting the belt on Wardlow would be risky, and break from AEW’s tradition of crowning people who have either a) been famous elsewhere or b) have had their reigns hinted at since the company first formed, and organically gotten over that way.
But maybe it’s what the company needs to get out of its current rut – a big, unexpected title change to remind fans that AEW is the place where anything can happen.
I know – shades of WCW 2000 – but AEW hasn’t exactly been hotshotting its titles around for the past three years.
Doing the occasional Foley-style shock win once in a while couldn’t hurt.
2. Sasha Banks Debuts
It’s been 84 years since Sasha and Naomi walked out on the May 16 episode of WWE Raw. While we can’t say for sure exactly where she’ll end up, all signs are currently pointing to Banks showing up at January’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, which means there’s a very good chance that she could eventually show up in AEW.
And it couldn’t come at a better time – honestly, as much as I’d love to see her back in Triple H’s Hall of Highflying Hurt, AEW’s women’s division could definitely benefit from Banks’ presence a lot more.
While Saraya was a good get in theory this year, Sasha would really help to up the star power of the entire division (and maybe even convince Tony to book women in more than one segment a week).
That’s not even to speak of the potential matchups Banks could have against Britt Baker, Kris Statlander, and – excuse me while I catch my breath for this last one – Jade Cargill.
Plus, with AEW’s lax attitude towards its wrestlers venturing outside the company bubble, it could afford us an opportunity for a cheeky little Stardom run (which I know a lot of you Joshi nerds have been clamoring for).
It might rob us of a Four Horsewomen fatal four-way anytime soon, but it would be worth it to see AEW get its women’s division the shot in the arm it so desperately needs right now.
1. The Golden Lovers Reunite
It was recently reported by Dave Meltzer that Kota Ibushi’s NJPW contract is up in January, so you know what that means: ONE. MORE. DEBUT!
I’m being flippant, but of all the male wrestlers Khan could realistically bring into the fold at this point, Ibushi is probably the one who could make the most impact in the company.
A reunion between himself and Omega, rekindling their partnership/rivalry/love story from NJPW would allow for some great storytelling, and give Omega’s character a real shot in the arm too.
It also provides an opportunity for AEW to work on its storytelling – particularly their recapping of stories that took place outside the company – to help bring people up to speed on one of wrestlings’ most complicated relationships.
Thos one feels pretty likely, as commentary made a few references to Ibushi during Omega’s reign of terror as being the only person to successfully kick out of the One Winged Angel – a record that exists to this day (Laredo Kid doesn’t count).
In a company that seems to be coming down with belts, it would be nice to see a feud where the stakes are significantly more personal.
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