How AEW’s Growing Roster Is Creating A Major Problem Behind The Scenes

All Elite Wrestling has assembled one of the deepest rosters in the industry, but according to Dave Meltzer, that strength may also be creating a major challenge for the company.

During a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer discussed AEW’s continued talent signings while reacting to the arrival of David Finlay. While praising Finlay’s in-ring ability, Meltzer said the larger issue is that AEW may already have more talent than it can reasonably feature on television. According to Meltzer, the promotion simply doesn’t have enough weekly programming to keep everyone active.

“He's good, right? You know, he's like a really good wrestler. I mean, like better than most technically and everything like that. But you know the guy, they got so many people. I don't know how they're gonna, you know where they're back to. Like, they've signed so many new people this year, they don't have any more TV time, man.”

That lack of television space means many wrestlers may only appear in the ring a limited number of times each year. Meltzer suggested the math simply doesn’t work when the roster continues to grow while the available match slots remain the same.

“Well, I mean, they still don't have enough TV time for these guys to have matches. I mean, you're going to be having a lot of guys having 15, 18 matches a year.”

Meltzer also pointed out the strange position modern wrestlers now find themselves in. Compared to previous generations, today’s performers often make significantly more money while working far fewer matches. In the past, wrestlers sometimes competed hundreds of times a year just to earn a living.

“And you know, if your goal in professional wrestling is to make a lot of money and not work at all — or not work much — this is like the greatest time ever to be a pro wrestler in the United States. Like, not even close.”

Still, Meltzer believes many of today’s wrestlers want more opportunities to compete because they grew up as fans and are passionate about performing regularly.

“It is so weird because it's like all of those guys would love this money and even love more the fact they don't even have to work for it in the sense of that many matches. Unfortunately, when this actually happens in this generation, we have a generation of people who grew up as wrestling fans, and they want to go out there and wrestle a lot.”

He added that fewer matches can sometimes slow a wrestler’s development, especially for those who are still improving their craft.

“It's like they're making way more money than they ever could have made, and I think that generally speaking they're probably happy with that. But so many of them are mad because they're not getting enough ring time, which is true. I mean, they're not getting enough ring time.”

AEW continues to expand its roster with new signings while also featuring talent from international promotions and partner companies. While that approach gives the company incredible depth, it also means balancing television time among dozens of wrestlers every week. If AEW continues to grow its talent pool, the company may eventually need more programming or creative ways to feature everyone consistently.

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