AEW Talent Pricing Themselves Out of Indie Shows While Sitting at Home

AEW’s younger talent might be struggling to break out, but it turns out some of them are turning down the very opportunities that could help them grow.

According to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, AEW wrestlers have been encouraged to take indie bookings to sharpen their skills, but many are either refusing outright or demanding prices indie promoters can’t afford.

“Very few indie promoters can afford what the AEW guys want to charge,” Meltzer reported. “I get why they don’t want to be out there hustling for $250 each when Tony [Khan] is paying them whether they work or not. But it’s the perfect type of show because it won’t be filmed and will be in front of a small, super hot PWG-esque crowd. The type of atmosphere these guys NEED to be performing in front of. But instead, they’ll either sit home or work a three-minute ROH match in a random city in front of a comatose crowd—maybe their only match of the month.”

The issue isn’t just on the wrestlers, though. The report also pointed fingers at Tony Khan for not pushing his younger talent to get out there and gain experience. “This is where Tony is at fault because Tony needs to be the one telling these guys they need to work. It’s part of their job because it’s AEW’s future here.”

With AEW still struggling to build new stars beyond the established veterans, these missed opportunities could hurt the company’s long-term success. If up-and-coming wrestlers don’t want to work smaller shows—or demand prices that make it impossible—it’s only going to slow their progress.