Criticism of how AEW does, or doesn’t, feature their women’s division isn’t the hot topic it was before Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa’s Unsanctioned Lights Out main evented Dynamite back in March. But fans wanting to see more than one televised women’s match per week from the company still have valid complaints.
Could the long-awaited third hour of television be the answer after Rampage has its TNT premiere on Fri., Aug. 13? Executive Vice-President Kenny Omega hopes so.
That’s what he told Dave Meltzer & Garrett Gonzalez while chatting with them on Wrestling Observer Radio:
“The content I think we’re lacking is in our women’s division. I would love to see Rampage be a home to more women’s wrestling.
“I want people to see and appreciate and enjoy the talent we have to offer. I hope we get to show some of these matches that perhaps aren’t seen by those people. We have a lot of great talent on Dark and people maybe don’t want to watch our YouTube channel. Maybe they just want to watch Dynamite and want to see a television product. I get that.
“I think the extra hour with Rampage, rather than give them more Chris Jericho, more Kenny Omega, more MJF and the guys you know you’re going to see on Dynamite; I’d rather give them all of the extremely talented individuals that maybe you don’t see that week.
“I feel like we have incredibly gifted female wrestlers that have been working very hard and fighting for a spot and maybe it’s time for them to get more.”
Omega’s the EVP most involved with the AEW women’s division, so it’s not surprising to hear him advocating for more time for those wrestlers. It’s good to hear nonetheless.
Also interesting for Omega to acknowledge that some of their audience doesn’t make time for Dark and Dark: Elevation. Those shows certainly have value - Tony Khan’s referred to them as AEW’s “Performance Center” - but they shouldn’t be the main place viewers have to go to see the company’s growing women’s roster.
What do you think of Omega’s hopes for Rampage? Do you think they’ll be realized?
H/T: Fightful for transcription