AEW Criticized for Dropping the Ball on Private Party’s Tag Team Title Run

Private Party won the AEW Tag Team Titles after beating The Young Bucks on the October 30 episode of AEW Dynamite and fans had a lot of hope for their run as the champions. That didn’t end up happening as they dropped the titles to The Hurt Syndicate and now Matt Hardy has criticized AEW for dropping the ball on Private Party’s title run.

While speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt Hardy criticized AEW for not making the most of Private Party’s time as AEW Tag Team Champions. He believes their title run could have been much better and helped them become a top team in the division.

Hardy pointed out that Private Party got a huge reaction from the crowd after their big win against The Young Bucks. He felt AEW had a great chance to turn them into stars, especially since The Young Bucks worked hard to make them look strong in that match. But instead of building on that momentum, AEW failed to plan a proper storyline for them.

“I feel bad for Private Party. I feel like, uh, this could have been a lot more. I would have liked to see their title run—I’d like to have seen their title run optimized. I would have liked to see it utilized in a better fashion. I would have liked to see them really become legit cornerstones of the tag team division.

Advertising

Advertising

And I think, following up the match they had with the Young Bucks, where they got a huge reaction—it was very organic when the crowd reacted, and they were so happy, like, ‘Yes! Our guys won! We didn’t think they would win, but they won!’—I really think there was something there. It’s really unfortunate that, once they won the titles, they got that fantastic and organic reaction, and the Bucks busted their ass to make them in that match. They had them kick out of their big stuff, they made them look like a million bucks.”

Hardy explained that Private Party’s title reign had no clear direction. They were put in random matches that didn’t help fans connect with them. Their involvement with The Hurt Syndicate also felt rushed and didn’t do much to make them look like a top team.

Hardy believes AEW missed a big opportunity to establish Private Party as key players in the tag division. Since they have been with AEW since the beginning, he feels they deserved better booking. In the end, he thinks AEW dropped the ball and didn’t do enough to make them true stars.

“You had a chance to make them, but you needed a plan. You needed to design a blueprint of what you were going to do to get them to that certain point. You needed some sort of story to get people invested in them. But they just… they didn’t have any of that. You know, it was just random matches, and matches don’t mean s*** if there’s not some bigger context of a story. You know, a match barely had matches. They barely even had matches!

I know, but even the stuff they had was very random. This thing happened quickly with the Hurt Syndicate, and I understand you want them to win or whatever, but I just feel like you could have gotten so much more done with Private Party. You could have built them so much more, and they could have been staples of your tag division. You could have solidified them as a legit top-tier tag team, but it didn’t happen.

You could have built on that, and that could have made them legitimate stars. And they’re day-oners in AEW, and I hate that we didn’t really work hard to make them legit as a tag team. There was an opportunity where the ball was dropped.”

Now that their title reign is over, it’s unclear if AEW will push Private Party as a top tag team again or if they’ll be overlooked. Fans are hoping AEW sees their potential and gives them another chance to shine.

Do you agree with Matt Hardy that AEW mishandled Private Party’s title reign? What do you think AEW should do next to rebuild them as a major team? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.