Can AEW Survive Drastic Roster Shake-up At The Worst Time?

This is a particularly vulnerable time for AEW, as they are without some of their biggest stars right now. Will Ospreay had major neck surgery last week and is expected to be out of action until sometime in 2026. Swerve Strickland had surgery to repair a torn meniscus on August 27. His recovery time is expected to be several months, as well. Kenny Omega is another big name who was recently written off television. He was scheduled for planned time off to recover from his many ongoing ailments before wrestling a few matches in Japan.

Those three wrestlers are some of the top names in AEW and the sport in general over the past few years. All three have held major championships within the company. Losing them for months is a big blow, especially when you consider that the company is also without Wardlow, Adam Cole, Jay White, Buddy Matthews, Brian Cage, Colten Gunn, and others. Khan hopes to mitigate those losses with a few returning wrestlers of his own.

AEW Returning Stars

Like a shift change in hockey, as AEW’s stars take their leave, several more have stepped back into action to take their place. Six stars have returned already over the last couple of weeks. Hook, Riho, and Luchasaurus all made appearances in the lead-up to All In. Jack Perry, Eddie Kingston, and Pac all returned at the pay-per-view itself. Riho, Pac, Luchasaurus, and Kingston had all been out due to health issues.

A seventh, and arguably the biggest return, is expected on this week’s episode of Dynamite. Orange Cassidy is scheduled to appear for the first time in over six months after recovering from a torn pectoral muscle. AEW has transformed Cassidy from a comedic act to a fan favorite. He held the AEW International Championship twice and still holds the record for the longest reign with the title.

End Of My AEW Roster Shake-up Rant

WWE has declared war against AEW. Even with the help of TNA, willing or otherwise, I am not sure if Triple H and company can take down Khan’s baby. AEW will definitely fight with its hands–don’t get me wrong. I just think that if the company does eventually fail, it will be of its own doing. All Elite Wrestling has, arguably, put on better matches than WWE for quite some time. The company’s problems have generally come down to injuries and bookings.

This isn’t the first rash of injuries the company has had to deal with in its six-year history. Cole, Wardlow, Pac, and Omega have missed time due to injuries before. Darby Allin, Adam Copeland, Britt Baker, Rey Fenix (now in WWE), and new AEW Women’s Champion Kris Statlander are just a few of the prominent wrestlers to miss major time. Each time, AEW has been able to weather the storm. Khan has assembled such a deep bench that I believe the company will do it again this time.

The problem that could finally sink AEW is Khan’s booking. The women’s division booking, outside of the world title, has been suspect at best. There have been long stretches when Khan struggled to get more than a couple of women’s matches on television in a week. This is inexcusable, considering he used to have three shows a week (Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision). There have also been long stretches where the same groups of women wrestled tag matches against each other for weeks on end. Both situations just seem like laziness on his part.

The other issue has been with factions being kept around long after their shelf life had expired. The Jericho Appreciation Society lasted way longer than it should have. QTV and Chris Jericho’s Learning Tree never got over at all, and both should have had the plug pulled much earlier.

The most recent example, though, is the Blackpool Combat Club/Death Riders. The BCC started like gangbusters. When Jon Moxley forced the shift to the Death Riders, though, the booking went south in a hurry. Fans hated the faction not because they were heels, but rather because the group’s motivation never really made sense. Moxley’s world title run made for awful television. The matches were good, but the writing was terrible.

Instead of pulling the plug, though, Khan has doubled down time after time. The group is now actively recruiting more members. Daniel Garcia has just joined, and the group has been pursuing Kris Statlander for weeks. Khan should have cut his losses a long time ago. He had the chance when Moxley lost the world title after holding it hostage for months. Khan passed. He had a chance again at All Out to start the group’s death spiral. He again passed, booking the returning Allin to lose his first feud after climbing Mount Everest to Moxley.

Odds are that the feud will continue, but it is clear the Death Riders aren’t going anywhere. They aren’t going to disband, but they also don’t appear to be getting any more interesting. Even with Pac returning and Garcia joining, the group won’t work until they actually have a reason to exist in the first place. Moxley’s screed about crippling anyone who doesn’t ‘want it’ as much as he does never made sense to the fans. New wrestlers in the group won’t change that.

Despite all that working against Khan, wrestling fans are still slowly turning toward his product and away from WWE’s. It may have more star power, but WWE’s booking has been mostly stagnant. Now is the time for Statlander, Allin, Cassidy, Kyle Fletcher, Toni Storm, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Pac, and others to step up. As long as AEW still puts together fantastic matches, fans are still going to watch, and in that department, the company is on a roll. So, despite all the pressure from WWE, AEW appears safe…for now. When you are All Elite, it is next man, and woman, up.