Should AEW bring back the rankings?

[TrueEpic08]

The thing with rankings is you have to book around them. It's not always who is hot, people coming back from injuries, people racking up wins on Rampage who are mid af etc.

If you have to change plans for any matchup or storyline around a belt, it's then not as simple as "this the guy that make sense in replacement" but "oh wait this guy is next up in the rankings but we aint ready for that rollout yet "

Sounds good in theory but when thinking about logistics it's terrible.

The rankings were a unique concept, but they ended up being meaningless because Tony's booking didn't align with the ranking system.
For example, there was a period when Jay Lethal was top contender to the World Title, but he never ascended to the main event. No matter the ranking, Tony Khan only pushed his favorites.

The funny thing about these arguments is that TK's booking got markedly worse after he threw the ranking system out, partially because when the system was implemented, TK had to account for it despite his booking style not aligning with it.

For all the arguments against it, I actually think they should bring it back BECAUSE you have to book around it. You can't just give random motherfukkers title shots when you actually have to account for their past booking. A ranking system, properly implemented, would both make TK accountable for his own booking and generate natural storylines related to it. This is the type of constraint that can help you if you have a hot wrestler that happens to be lower in the rankings than you'd like. You have readymade storylines for that person, a natural reason for the crowd to get behind them, clear milestones and goals for the character...hell, you could even write in frustrations with their progression into the storyline (the "I wanna go up the rankings as quickly as possible, here's how I'm going to do that" storyline).

There are actually a lot of inherent positives to a ranking system if the booker sticks to it. And it would be a lot better than the state of the titles now, in my opinion. But, of course, getting TK to stick to it instead of indulging his EWR fantasies is the issue here...

 

[Mr. Manhattan]

hot shot booking and a ranking system contradicts each other

 

[Jmare007]

The funny thing about these arguments is that TK's booking got markedly worse after he threw the ranking system out, partially because when the system was implemented, TK had to account for it despite his booking style not aligning with it.

For all the arguments against it, I actually think they should bring it back BECAUSE you have to book around it. You can't just give random motherfukkers title shots when you actually have to account for their past booking. A ranking system, properly implemented, would both make TK accountable for his own booking and generate natural storylines related to it. This is the type of constraint that can help you if you have a hot wrestler that happens to be lower in the rankings than you'd like. You have readymade storylines for that person, a natural reason for the crowd to get behind them, clear milestones and goals for the character...hell, you could even write in frustrations with their progression into the storyline (the "I wanna go up the rankings as quickly as possible, here's how I'm going to do that" storyline).

There are actually a lot of inherent positives to a ranking system if the booker sticks to it. And it would be a lot better than the state of the titles now, in my opinion. But, of course, getting TK to stick to it instead of indulging his EWR fantasies is the issue here...

Nah man, I began watching in August 2021 and the rankings were eliminated almost a year after that and the booking was fukking atrocious during the months shyt was still being implemented. The more talent and star power he got, the whole thing went to shyt and he couldn't handle it. There's literally zero reason to believe going back to it would reign him in.

 

[Trips]

I don't think it will personally do anything for the product. But, I don't mind if they returned. AEW does so many random matches at times it seems. That maybe having a little number will at least draw some intrigue to the match. I think a better way to utilize rankings is if they were doing some kind of round robin or up and comer trophy competition. Or since they have so many belts. Maybe the ROH Pure title has a rankings component for who gets a shot. Still going to have issues since people won't always watch everything. But, it can add to the presentation.

I remember as a kid, I did always like looking at the rankings pages in the back of the Apter mags. Never really cared about where people where placed. But, you know it helped if I saw Tom Zenk taking on Lex Luger for the US belt and then looked in the magazine and saw Zenk was ranked #7 and Luger was ranked #1 underneath only the world champion and was still US Champ.

 

[TrueEpic08]

Nah man, I began watching in August 2021 and the rankings were eliminated almost a year after that and the booking was fukking atrocious during the months shyt was still being implemented. The more talent and star power he got, the whole thing went to shyt and he couldn't handle it. There's literally zero reason to believe going back to it would reign him in.

I consider the booking to have gone to shyt in March 2022. By that point the rankings system was basically window dressing even if it still technically existed.

I still think it's a good idea on the whole, but you're right in saying that the problem would be getting TK to actually stick to it. If he books as he usually does, they'll be as useful as the WBC boxing rankings, maybe less.

 

[Rollie Forbes]