AEW's 5 biggest missed opportunities in 2020
No professional wrestling company is perfect. From AEW to WWE to IMPACT Wrestling, every promotion has its share of strengths and weaknesses. 2020 forced everyone to switch up how they operate. Travel restrictions limited what talent could be used, whereas the simple nature of the COVID-19 virus was a constant problem to deal with on a daily basis.
While some plans might have needed to change, the fact still remains that companies like AEW and WWE were both able to continue operations in 2020. Stars like Drew McIntyre, Kenny Omega, Hikaru Shida, Bayley, the Young Bucks, and Asuka have helped carry their respective promotions. But each promotion still had some missed opportunities this year.
AEW is no exception. Even though the action is usually excellent, there were some strange booking decisions made this year. Some interesting choices also were made regarding the use of particular stars and their all-important records.
Here are five missed opportunities by AEW in 2020.
#1 Uneven records and reigns in AEW's tag team division
When AEW first started out, the two biggest names in the tag team division were The Young Bucks and the Lucha Brothers. Over the summer of its first year, Santana and Ortiz also signed with AEW, giving the promotion three of the best tag teams in the world.
While the pandemic did play a role in limiting what some stars could do, The Lucha Brothers only amassed tag team records of 6-4 and 6-5, respectively, for El Penta Zero M and Rey Fenix. Santana and Ortiz, who ruled over IMPACT Wrestling as LAX, joined The Inner Circle. Despite being huge signings for AEW, they lost a big feud to Best Friends and are only 8-5 as a tag team in 2020. Best Friends (20-7) and the Natural Nightmares (9-2) both have better records than both the Lucha Brothers and Proud and Powerful.
Another strange aspect of the tag team division involved FTR. Despite the huge fanfare and big deal made about FTR joining AEW, they had the shortest reign as Tag Team Champions. The first titleholders, SCU, had a reign of 83 days. Kenny Omega and Hangman Page held the belts for 228 days. FTR were only Champs for 63 days before losing to The Young Bucks.
While it makes sense that The Bucks are finally holding gold and are the only loss on their record, FTR should have had a longer run. Instead, their short reign doesn't meet the claim of being the best team in the world.