Post by markymark on Apr 10, 2023 7:54:33 GMT -5
Y'know. Thinking over this today. I came to realize that AEW's tag division has actually gotten really thin on the heel side.
I was trying to think of a team that I would rather have had in the transitional spot, and.........the Gunns stack up better than they should there. The Kingdom are certainly better in the ring, but they are firmly an ROH act and would be even worse than the Gunns from a story and character investment standpoint. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett could have worked, but I wouldn't have liked that better except by comparison (so, until the Gunns won, I wouldn't have felt able to make that call). Butcher and Blade have a bigger credibility issue (its own problem) than the Gunns. House of Black has been tied up in trios, which is where they belong right now. BCC would have muddled a bunch of things they're doing right now. JAS are better positioned as the Acclaimed's first post-championship feud - I think this story is better for not happening while the Acclaimed were champions (partly because that makes the Acclaimed joining the JAS the biggest prize that the JAS is seeking instead of giving them an ulterior motive in the titles). The Varsity Athletes would very much not have been better than the Gunns, and QT and Aaron Solo would have been substantially worse in my view.
...yeah I'm starting to think the problem is less that the Gunns were undeserving, but that it's not good that the Gunns were the best heel team that was available for a transitional title reign. That actually makes me kind of worry about how FTR's run is about to go.
Kingdom keep getting no reaction from the AEW crowd, Lethal and JJ couldve worked as transitional champs but they seem that they will be Rampage/ROH exclusive due to how fans have complained that they have been overexposed in the last 6 months