All Elite Musings - #5 Booking AEW on TNT Ep.1

All Elite Musings

Booking AEW on TNT Ep.1

   Today is the start of the Wednesday Night Wars in America, or for those of us the UK tomorrow is. In anticipation of the first television episode of AEW, I am going to attempt to book the card in the blog post below. I will suggest what would be the decisions that should be made to give the company a strong first show.

Cody vs Sammy Guevara

   Cody has ended up being positioned as the premier babyface in AEW as the show proceeds through it's genesis. I still find this a little strange in light of his outstanding heel work during his ROH/NJPW run. However, he is so intensely likeable it works. Solid in the ring with a great look and a strong promo, Cody is well positioned to shine at the front in the early days of AEW.

   Guevara looks a supremely talented worker with decent charisma, especially as a heel. He is young, was relatively unknown before AEW and seems to have his finger on the pulse. Guevara won't rise up the card quickly but will eventually due to his buckets of charisma.

   How to book the match? Cody wins. It will be a showcase to punctuate the beginning of AEW on TNT. Cody will build his momentum as he heads towards a World Title match with Chris Jericho. However Guevara will get time to put his best foot forward and get his moves in.

Brandon Cutler vs MJF

   What a build to this match it has been! Built around Twitter and comments around Dungeons and Dragons, it has been a refreshingly different narrative to build the feud.

   Cutler could do with a win here to help establish himself as a competitor out with his friendship with the Young Bucks. It could be suggested MJF doesn't need the win, that it wouldn't affect his character. However, in MJF, AEW have a star in the making. He must cut a promo, it's a guaranteed home run for AEW. This should come after the match after MJF wins. He is a valuable commodity in the early days of the 'war' and should be utilised.

PAC vs Adam Page

   This is a hard one to call. It seemed at the beginning of AEW that Page may be one of the biggest stars of AEW. However the loss to Jericho really harmed Page's momentum. A lack of star making charisma and a truly star-making feud or match means he has taken the loss to Jericho heavily. A victory over someone as renowned as PAC would be the ideal solution.

   PAC is a star. A potential mega-star. The way he carries himself, his angry charisma and unreal talent in the ring. The AEW World Championship must be in his future. PAC just defeated Kenny Omega in his only AEW match to date, momentum is very much on his side.

   The deciding factor here could be the relationship between PAC and AEW management. Is he in it for the long haul? Because Page most certainly is. This may lead them to push Page ahead of PAC. PAC should win. Page isn't a main-eventer yet, PAC is and could become a huge draw for AEW.

Riho vs Nyla Rose

   AEW's women's division is the weakest part of their product. Neither Nyla Rose or Riho are established nor have they really built any intrigue in their characters. The cultural differences are a factor for Riho and the other Joshi talent and Nyla Rose's character is hampered by the disparity between her on screen and off screen rhetoric.

   With Nyla they have a dominant heel champion for the babyfaces to chase. A safe and engaging tactic. However her comment on Twitter was both extremely inappropriate and unintelligent.

   Riho provides a deserving champion and sets up a unique women's division. This would be an unexpected move and may build up a lot of interest. This is the path they should take, Riho wins.

The Elite vs Jericho, Ortiz and Santana

   Despite the criticism of the reveal of the formerly LAX being prematurely debuted, this will be a barn-stormer of a main event. The dynamics here are great! Jericho vs three of the companies EVPs that he keeps antagonising, Kenny's continuous slide into defeat after defeat and delirium, and the potential of Ortiz and Santana putting themselves on the tag team map in AEW.

   A win for the Elite would establish them as a force in AEW which would work for the fans would followed them to AEW. It would also fit in with Kenny's arc having him struggle when he is without the Young Bucks. However this isn't the best way to go in regards to potential storylines.

   A win for Jericho, Ortiz and Santana should be the result. Jericho needs to be booked strong to build him as a champion that will be a challenge to dethrone. A loss to the Young Bucks makes no sense and it's too soon for him and Omega is the last person who should be pinning Jericho at the moment. Jericho pinning Omega could work, elevating Jericho and further building Omega's story. 

   The obvious route is for one of the formerly LAX to pin Matt or Nick Jackson thus elavating them as a legitimate top-tier tag team immediately. Having this pin fall occur with something significant going wrong for Omega would be the smartest booking. Jericho could 'Juda's Affect' Omega in the closing sequence to take him out of the equation.

Additional Points

• AEW should give promos a prominent platform. MJF and Moxley must be given significant mic time.
• WWE or NXT shouldn't be referenced.
• The women's match needs to be noteworthy in terms of match quality.
• Promotion of women wrestlers in backstage segments. An unlikely return from Kylie Rae would be incredible.
• No Jake Hager. He just doesn't fit what the product should be.