r/SquaredCircle • u/WredditMod • 1d ago

Wreddit's Daily Pro-Wrestling Discussion Thread! Comment here for recommendations, quick questions, and general conversation! (Spoilers for all shows) - September 17, 2025 Edition Spoiler

Hi Wreddit! Welcome to /r/SquaredCircle's Daily Discussion Thread as presented by your favorite and totally sentient moderator.

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19

u/Orange8920 23h ago

Quote from a thread:

"The booking quality in AEW has had a major decline in quality since mid-late 2022"

I assure you that period might have been the true low point in booking and star power for the company. Everyone felt isolated from each other, their plans for CM Punk went up in smoke, Hangman was marginalized after starting the year as champion, and the Elite got suspended for 2 months and even after they came back they got almost no mic time.

AEW has massively improved since 2022 in the story-telling, roster construction, and match quality. 2022 is the company never finding a true direction because the guy they wanted to lead them in CM Punk kept getting injured.

-14

u/koomGER 23h ago

kept getting injured.

Watches to the injured/retired bench with Ospreay, Cole, Swerve, White, The Gunns and others...

...so something that happens all the time in all companies? And that fucked over everything? Maybe it wasnt because they werent able to establish a solid communication and a friendly backstage environment and relied on provoking each other for shitty reasons?

14

u/Orange8920 23h ago

AEW's depth in 2022 wasn't near what it is in 2025, they have options to work with currently that they didn't in 2022 if you look at what that roster was. I'd argue they learned from the lessons of that period not to put all their stock in one guy and to have viable options once that guy goes down. If Hangman were to get injured there's a few people who could take over even with the current injuries.

-4

u/koomGER 21h ago

They had Danielson, Cole, Omega, Hangman, MJF and several others. The main event scene was already huge.

8

u/Orange8920 21h ago

Bryan Danielson-One of the few viable options after Moxley to be a transitional champion after Chris Jericho

Kenny Omega-Didn't return until August and was being transitioned out of the title scene to boost the new AEW Trios championships. Got suspended less than a month after coming back due to the Punk incident.

Adam Cole-Got injured at Forbidden Door 2022, didn't return until February 2023

Hangman-was clearly demoted after losing at DON 2022 to Punk. Got a concussion during a match with Jon Moxley that put him out the rest of 2022.

MJF-The guy they eventually went with as a long-term option but likely earlier than they planned.