QT Marshall will no longer be in All Elite Wrestling once 2024 rolls around. It was a mild surprise that the AEW originally announced his resignation on social media. However, it was clear that the veteran was a well-respected presence backstage based on the outpouring of love and support coming from his peers. 

Dave Meltzer recently chimed in on why Marshall has opted to leave the promotion, citing that Tony Khan prefers wrestling over angles and storytelling, with New Japan Pro-Wrestling being the example used. It’s quite an odd statement when you see that Toni Storm’s entire act is something that would be perfect in WWE. Even the Christian Cage stuff is more on the sports entertainment side. 

Still, AEW does tend to focus more on wrestling than storytelling. Is the company moving more into a sport-based direction like New Japan Pro-Wrestling a good thing? 

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AEW’s Ratings Have Been On A Decline

The biggest news for AEW is that their ratings have been on a decline in 2023. The company used to get over 1.0 million viewers consistently when it first began, and that was against WWE’s NXT! But this past year, it appears that AEW’s rating is around 900,000 viewers. Add to the fact that pictures are surfacing that the company is barely selling out some of its weekly shows.

The weird thing about AEW becoming a more sports-based promotion is that’s what was billed originally when the promotion first started. There’s also been sports entertainment stuff in AEW from day one. The difference now is that many feel that the product is cold. The CM Punk situation certainly didn’t help, but AEW has been notably struggling to adjust to the Triple H era of WWE. 

Fans revolted against WWE because the product was bad all-around. AEW has never been a bad product per se, but the key thing about the new promotion is that storytelling is a necessary tool that keeps fans invested. 

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A Sports-Based Product Is A Niche

Look at the Roman Reigns/Bloodline saga. WWE was hitting rock bottom until Triple H took over. That storyline is a huge reason why some WWE fans came back to the promotion in the first place. There’s something about the soap opera nature of the business that gets fans invested. Professional Wrestling is a movie. Fans love getting invested in compelling stories that elevate characters and their experience with the product. 

The Bloodline story hasn’t been perfect, but it’s the best wrestling story told in the modern generation. Characters and storytelling are just as important as wrestling. In fact, those two are often more important than wrestling. Hulk Hogan was not a great wrestler. However, he was the most popular act in the business for the longest time because the company did an excellent job crafting a memorable character due to the stories surrounding him. 

We’re in a golden age when just wrestling doesn’t cut it. There’s a reason that New Japan Pro-Wrestling hasn’t reached the heights of WWE or AEW. That isn’t to say that the company doesn’t have stories. They do, but it’s not on the sports entertainment level as WWE. Their stories are more realistic and tend to take place in their matches overall. 

AEW does tell stories too, but their focus on delivering high-quality matches has always been a priority. But the most buzz the company gets is when a story is truly something special. At this point, it’s expected that a great AEW match will take place every week. That’s also become the company’s downfall because it’s not special to see excellent matches on their program. But stories like Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho, or the recent MJF/Adam Cole feud heading into All In helped garner attention from the masses because it was something deeper than just a wrestling match.

It allowed the characters to show diversity in their personalities and helped add more stakes to the match beyond being for the world title. Incredible characters and big personalities are vital tools for talents to get over. It’s not impossible to build a sport-based company that mainly focuses on wrestling. However,  it’s going to be hard for fans to invest in a product solely on wrestling because there’s so much excellent wrestling everywhere, including WWE.

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Is Going In A Sports-Based Direction Bad?

AEW should remain a true alternative to WWE. That is ultimately what got them in the door in the first place. There’s nothing wrong with making the product more sports-based, but the key thing is that AEW needs to understand that storytelling and character-building need to exist. The company doesn’t need a moment like Stone Cold Steve Austin giving a beer bath to The Corporation or The Trial of Sami Zayn. Still, they do need to give audiences a reason to care about their characters or matches beyond titles or other surface-level reasons.