Not to say that Cody Rhodes left AEW at the right time, but since he left, things have been very up and down when it comes to the direction of AEW. 2022 has seen a lot of controversy, questionable booking, lackluster moments, and the loss of big stars, and the ball seemingly began rolling once Rhodes went to WWE.
In 2022, AEW has had its fair share of issues, despite still being a very consistent weekly product. With AEW, the high standard that they established is hard to keep up without some bad portions, and this year feels like more of a down period for the promotion which they can hopefully overcome going into 2023.
10 Failed Owen Hart Tournament
AEW hyped up the Owen Hart Tournament in a major way, with it playing a big part in the build to Double or Nothing 2022. There were some entertaining matches for sure, but the finals weren’t overly enthralling, with neither Britt Baker vs Ruby Soho nor Adam Cole vs Samoa Joe adding too much to the card.
To make matters worse, the winners gained nothing aside from bragging rights,and their wins have barely been mentioned at all ever since, making the whole thing feel pointless.
9 Barbed Wire Everywhere Match
The feud between Chris Jericho and Eddie Kingston lasted a long time, and for the most part it was decent. Their match at Revolution and their battle inside Blood & Guts were both fun, but their final encounter was a complete disaster.
They fought in a Barbed Wire Everywhere match with Jericho’s faction locked inside a shark cage. It ended up being overbooked, full of botches, with a completely flat finish. AEW were left red-faced by this awful show-closing match.
8 Malakai Black Wanting Out
Malakai Black debuted in AEW to a lot of excitement. He quickly earned two victories against Cody Rhodes, which looked to signal a move up the card. However, he remained very much in the midcard, with no true title pursuits, and with the House of Black stable not offering too much aside from strong matches here and there.
Black reportedly requested his release from AEW, which was a sign that WWE perhaps now offered a more attractive position for someone like him. Black looks to be returning to AEW TV, but fans won’t forget that he apparently wanted to leave.
7 Jeff Hardy’s Arrest & Suspension
Jeff Hardy’s AEW debut was met with some apprehension given his history of being unreliable, and those fears were realized as not long into his run, he was arrested and was ultimately suspended.
Hardy hasn’t been seen on TV since, with this run looking to be yet another sour patch on his time in professional wrestling, which is a huge shame.
6 Too Many Interim Champions
Cody Rhodes’ year began with some poor booking in which he and Sammy Guevara played hot potato with the TNT Title, during which there was a needless Interim reign from Guevara. This set the precedent for what would come in 2022, with both the AEW Men’s & Women’s World Titles seeing Interim Champions.
These “fake” reigns feel pointless given that they aren’t official, and AEW would be better suited to just vacating the gold in the future. This has caused some awkwardness on TV and fans clearly don’t like it.
5 TNT Championship Feud Between Scorpio Sky & Sammy Guevara
When Cody Rhodes left AEW, he went out in a losing effort to Sammy Guevara, who stood tall as TNT Champion. What followed was months of terrible content, with Guevara feuding with Scorpio Sky in one of the worst rivalries in AEW history.
The fans turned on Guevara, leading to a weird dynamic where they were both heels, with AEW seemingly deciding by the week about who was playing the de facto babyface. This caused damage to the title, with it still not recovering despite being now held by Wardlow.
4 Several Backstage Fights
The backstage climate of AEW once felt like a wholesome and peaceful place, but in recent months there have been confirmed fights between the likes of Eddie Kingston, Sammy Guevara, and Andrade El Idolo.
All of these instances have shed more negative light on the promotion, with the aura around certain individuals such as Guevara being damaged even further.
3 MJF Vs Tony Khan Saga
Due to some monetary issues and a media appearance which wasn’t cleared, MJF and Tony Khan were butting heads. This led to MJF nearing no-showing the Double or Nothing PPV, and dominating all the headlines of what should have been a strong show.
MJF may have since returned to AEW with a lot of momentum, but all this controversy felt unnecessary.
2 CM Punk’s All Out Press Conference
Following the All Out 2022 PPV, CM Punk entered the press conference slot with a chip on his shoulder. He called out the reports regarding his involvement with Colt Cabana being taken off TV, in addition to insulting the members of The Elite, with him airing many other grievances too in a scathing outburst.
This caused a lot of bad press for AEW, with it really forcing the company down into a hole, with it in a precarious position that it hadn’t experienced before. The AEW World Champion talking down to his fellow employees wasn’t a good look.
1 Suspensions Of The Elite
The CM Punk outburst was bad enough, but it led to a backstage brawl between him and The Elite, and it saw suspensions being dished out around the board. The Elite getting suspended from the promotion named after them left a very weird taste on weekly TV from that point on.
There was a gaping hole without their presence, and it felt like much of the heart was ripped from the core of AEW. Their suspension is over now, but it was still a dark period for the company.