Following the highly successful AEW Full Gear, Tony Khan admitted that criticism of his AEW women’s division was warranted and that he is looking to improve on the negatives going forward.
Speaking during the AEW Full Gear Media Scrum after the pay-per-view had gone off the air, Khan had this to say about his female ranks and how he wrongly judged the hype for Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose:
“I understand what people are saying about the division. I should have probably done better to put some of Nyla’s story when she said she wasn’t going to wrestle again and Vickie said she was going to wrestle again until they got the title shot. I should have used that on Dynamite more. I watch Dark very closely and work on Dark very closely and book Dark, so I’m obviously watching Dark, but I forget sometimes that there’s about half the audience watches Dark for us, typically.
I probably should have put that on and then, to be honest, the time in the real world, Vickie was not able to come those weeks, not because she was sick, but because it was a conflict that she always had. So I gave her that time off and I probably should have made it clear… There’s a lot to putting the shows together.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttt9X_fcyK0
The acknowledgement that things haven’t been as good as they could have been where the women are concerned is a positive step forward. If Tony Khan really is listening to his fan base then there is a lot he can take from them in order to improve the division as a whole.
Not done there, Khan spoke about the inclusion of the NWA World Women’s Championship and his relationship with Billy Corgan:
“Serena Deeb, who is a full-time AEW wrestler and a really important part of our roster, is the NWA Women’s World Champion. So, I mean, there was definitely a relationship and there’s definitely a good chance you’re going to see the NWA title defended here but the AEW Women’s title is still our top priority. We have a great Women’s Champion in Hikaru Shida. She’s defended the title against many top contenders and I think there’s still some good matches in front of her. But I thought the match she had tonight was excellent.”
The AEW Women’s Championship and an overhaul of their division is currently top of Khan’s priority list and that’s something all devotees will celebrate.
At AEW Full Gear, Serena Deeb retained the NWA World Women’s Championship against Allysin Kay on the Buy-In prior to Thunder Rosa’s return and Hikaru Shida retained the AEW Women’s Championship against Nyla Rose.
You can read full AEW Full Gear results here.
Credit for the transcription: Fightful