AEW has had another strong year in 2022 with Tony Khan helping to take his company to the next level. Of course, not every match or storyline has gone to plan, but there's no doubt the effort has been clear to see from everybody involved, but there were some majorly missed opportunities.
From a booking standpoint, some chances could have been taken that weren't, with Khan making some mistakes at points. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but certain opportunities weren't taken this year when they likely could have taken the company to a new level.
10 Undisputed Elite Fallout
The arrival of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly should have been an interesting one, but in the end, neither man managed to make much of an impact. Placing them with Adam Cole seemed to tease some Elite turmoil with Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and even Jay White turning up as a surprise.
However, rather than striking while the iron is hot, Tony Khan opted to play the long game and now this storyline is no longer an option for a multitude of reasons, with this being stuck as a missed opportunity.
9 Cody Rhodes Heel Turn
Toward the end of 2021 and early 2022, before he departed AEW, it was clear that fans were turning on Cody Rhodes. However, the company committed to it and went along with the turn which led to fans just booing him more out of frustration, rather than benefiting from it.
The chance was there for AEW to get one final great storyline out of Rhodes, possibly ending in a loser leaves town match that would have put someone over massively. Instead, it ended up being a strange mystery that didn't tap into things properly.
8 The Briscoes In AEW
The Briscoes are officially signed on the dotted line by Tony Khan, however, their contracts currently only exist as part of the Ring Of Honor roster, not AEW. Even though they're one of the best tag teams in the world, and they're two men who offer something completely different to anyone else they are yet to physically appear on AEW.
There's been footage used in packages of their matches against FTR, but they've never turned up. This is reportedly because Warner Media doesn't want to use them due to homophobic comments Jay made in the past, but given AEW has featured others with controversial moments, it does feel like a missed chance with them.
7 Getting Behind Private Party
The booking of Private Party has been strange throughout their entire time in AEW. However, there was a clear missed opportunity in 2022 that could have helped them. The duo should be top babyfaces with their style, and the company teased the idea of Matt Hardy managing them once again as a babyface trio.
Instead, they all ended up trapped in a storyline involving their contracts being controlled by Ethan Page and The Firm, which people aren't interested in seeing. Fans want to cheer for the tag team, especially when they have a legend like Hardy in their corner.
6 All-Atlantic Championship Around The World
When AEW added the All-Atlantic Championship there was a lot of confusion because fans didn't think there was a need for more titles, especially when all the ROH belts were thrown into the mix. However, the idea of it being defended all around the world is something that is incredibly interesting.
It would help grow other promotions, spotlight independent wrestling, and create a genuine traveling champion once more. However, that hasn't been the case as the title hasn't been put on the line much, and it has led to a lot of fans forgetting about it completely.
5 Eddie Kingston's Feud Against Chris Jericho
Eddie Kingston's storyline against Chris Jericho was an interesting one, but was something that did end up dragging on longer than people expected. There were lots of when this rivalry could have ended, as they ended up having three major stipulation bouts in a row with their factions and as single competitors.
While Jericho's crew were able to showcase themselves, the opportunity was there for Kingston to win the entire feud to put him over. However, the final match of this series saw Jericho come out on top, which was not a win that he needed at the time.
4 Not Making Toni Storm An Official Champion
This is a situation that AEW has rectified, because after stating that Jamie Hayter is the official AEW Women's World Champion, the company announced that Toni Storm's reign was as well. However, that didn't get acknowledged until after her time as champion came to an end.
When she took the gold and Tony Khan knew Thunder Rosa was going to be gone for a long time, there was an opportunity to make the announcement. It would have taken Storm to another level, which would have worked perfectly with her great run as champion.
3 A Dominant Wardlow TNT Championship Run
The TNT Championship is something that has been booked poorly ever since the fiasco with Scorpio Sky and Sammy Guevara, but Wardlow was the person to put it right. He was fresh from dominating MJF, and he had tons of momentum behind him, yet AEW didn't capitalize on it.
Rather than making him a top champion that ran through his opponents and built credibility back to the title, he ended up in a tag team with Samoa Joe, which completely took away from his title run and hurt both him and the gold.
2 CM Punk's World Title Runs
Neither of these situations were the fault of Tony Khan, but there's no doubt that both of CM Punk's reigns as AEW World Champion were missed opportunities. Punk was the biggest star in the company, and putting the title on him was something that Khan built toward for a major moment.
Unfortunately, both times he has captured the gold he's ended up suffering an injury. Punk had to relinquish the title both times, with the post-All Out press conference adding to the drama, these golden opportunities ended up being disasters.
1 FTR vs. The Young Bucks III
There was a time when it seemed like FTR facing The Young Bucks was the perfect match to not only happen, but headline All Out in 2022. FTR held the ROH, NJPW, and AAA Tag Team Championships, while The Young Bucks had the AEW World Tag Team Championships with each team having a win each over the other.
That was the ideal way to create final match between them to settle who was truly the greatest tag team.