PARKS’S TAKE: AEW’s booking of babyfaces overcoming dire conditions has merit, but another route would be welcome at this point

There’s nothing inherently wrong with booking babyfaces to overcome odds, sometimes even injuries, to emerge victorious. It’s when that card is played too often that it becomes a problem.

AEW has this issue with its top two babyfaces, Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega. In some ways, they’re quite different: Ospreay is on the upswing, flying around the ring, throwing caution to the wind with his offense. Omega is the veteran, hanging on to a top spot despite the ravages of years of in-ring wars. Their commonality is physical ailments: A bad neck that has felled Ospreay at different times, and a bout of diverticulitis that nearly took Omega from this mortal plane.

Tony Khan has chosen to lean into both, making their matches about surviving those debilitating setbacks. I’d say he’s leaned into this a little too much, especially when both wrestle on the same show. There are teases of referee stoppages with outrage from the announcers that more isn’t being done to protect Ospreay and Omega from themselves. There are the constant teases of injury, and at some point it exhausts the emotions of the fanbase.

All of this comes after AEW did the exact same thing with Bryan Danielson on what eventually became his retirement tour. Every match was filled with concern that he wouldn’t make it out without his health. And he was a babyface at or near the level of popularity of Omega and Ospreay. Darby Allin is booked in a similar but slightly different way. Given the brutality involved in his matches, fans are often holding their breath that Allin makes it out alive, though there’s no specific injury that is concerning in the same way there was for the other three.

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This isn’t an argument that the babyface needs to be Superman, though following WWE’s Hulk Hogan template with a big star probably wouldn’t hurt AEW and would absolutely set that wrestler apart. When AEW uses the same template for its top two babyfaces, it feels a bit repetitive. Fans want to rally behind someone during their matches, not just fear for their well-being. It makes sense, given the seriousness of these ailments, that they are often the story of the bouts. But it takes away from the enjoyment fans should be feeling when they get to watch their favorites compete bell-to-bell.