2024 is not the banner year AEW anticipated. Ratings are down significantly on TBS since Jan. 1, storylines are more stop-start than Los Angeles traffic and top draws such as Kenny Omega, Eddie Kingston and Adam Copeland have missed time with injuries.
There’s a laundry list of problems that deserve in-depth analysis, but one simple issue has plagued the product for years: way too many championships.
The men’s division alone has four singles titles and two sets of tag-team belts. The world championship has always been the central focus and awarded to main-event talent.
The TNT and International champions are a notch below in significance and heavily featured in the mid-card. The straps are redundant, with little differentiation between the two since they have the same contender pool, without a concrete brand split to help bolster their importance on separate shows.
Then there’s the Continental Championship, awarded to the winner of AEW’s Continental Classic tournament. Despite the tournament only occurring once a year, the belt is defended year-round. The champion must also put the belt on the line during the annual contest, which begs the question: Why is it a physical title at all? It’s more mid-card fodder with extra steps.
A standard set of tag belts is typical for major promotions, but the trio’s championships have been nearly irrelevant since their arrival. There aren’t enough natural groups of three to help bolster the division, which means they tend to get relegated to the background and only get featured when convenient in targeted storylines.
If that isn’t disjointed enough, AEW routinely features other companies’ straps across programming.
New Japan, AAA and Ring of Honor often find their top prizes across Dynamite and Collision. ROH has been a particular point of contention since it operates as a standalone brand under the AEW umbrella, running its own branded shows and pay-per-views with a largely separate talent pool.
So why are main roster AEW talent consistently holding the ROH World Championship and having title matches on AEW television?
Having so many belts devalues what it means to be a champion. It also clutters the product and devalues the roster hierarchy. In this climate, storylines tend to fall flat when trying to convey significant stakes.
Condensing the title presentation would make each show more digestible and allow for a needed pecking order. It’s a small step to fix one of AEW’s many lingering issues, but it would go a long way toward revitalizing the brand.