2023 New Year's Resolutions For WWE and AEW

As WWE and AEW enter 2023, there are several areas the promotions must address as part of their New Year's Resolutions. They are on a grander scale than any specific talent or storyline.

Areas such as the utilization of wrestlers and booking philosophies should be addressed by Triple H and Tony Khan as they embark on another year of pro wrestling production.

What are those areas, specifically, and what needs to be done to ensure they are accounted for?

Let's take a look.

WWE: Reigniting Raw

Once upon a time, Raw was destination viewing as the hottest, most important and newsworthy show in professional wrestling. The flagship show of WWE, it was where all of the top stars appeared and the most significant matches, moments and storylines unfolded.

That all changed in 2019 when SmackDown moved to Fox. Since then, Raw has become the B show in WWE, and while that is not likely to change thanks to the higher profile of the blue brand, 2023 should see the reignition of the show.

Rather than making Raw a wrestling-heavy show every week, it should be a steady mix of in-ring content and noteworthy angles. Yes, the show is three hours; sometimes, you need to kill time with longer matches, but there should still be happenings each week that leave the viewer intrigued and excited about what will happen the following Monday.

Raw currently has really good professional wrestling but is wholly skippable, despite wrestlers like Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley tearing it up on the regular.

The pieces are in place, and the talent is undeniable. Would it be nice to have some great name value and star power along the way? Sure, but Triple H has put together a very capable roster on Monday nights that he can create magic with.

There needs to be a greater sense of urgency, though. With the new year upon us and the Road to WrestleMania about to kick off with the arrival of the Royal Rumble, that will happen. But Triple H and the creative team need to ensure it carries beyond The Showcase of the Immortals.

AEW: Let Things Breathe

One of the biggest issues with the AEW product is the frenetic pace of both Dynamite and Rampage. It is so jam-packed with content, some of it meaningless in the grand scheme of things, that the biggest matches and angles have no time to breathe.

The result? They have less of an impact than they should because the viewer is off to another backstage vignette or promo before they can properly digest the major occurrence that just unfolded before them.

That should change in 2023.

Yes, Tony Khan has an enormous roster of talent and needs to focus on utilizing it the best way possible. More on that in a bit, but what he must do is better recognize what is most important on his show and give it the spotlight. Take the time to let the events that just occurred settle in with fans. Let it breathe so that the audience can fully understand that something is a significant angle and not just a throwaway to keep those involved on TV.

Do not cut to a backstage promo featuring two guys on Friday's Rampage. Let it linger a bit. Let MJF's facial expressions sell the moment. Stay on Moxley as he fires up after a heel-clearing brawl. It's OK to hang onto the moment, especially if it will play a key role in future storytelling.

Focus on what's important, cut what is not. Use those backstage promos as social media exclusives that build to one-off matches on Rampage. The audience will not miss them, especially since Excalibur is going to run down the card for Friday's show later anyway.

Give the hot angles and matches the time to fully leave an imprint by slowing things down, cutting what is unnecessary and letting the audience absorb what is happening on your show. It will make it all much more meaningful in the long run.

WWE: Deliver Complete Shows

A complete show is one that hits from the beginning and carries through to the main event, keeping fans invested and earning acclaim across the board. To this point in his regime's run, Triple H has come closest to this with the Clash at the Castle premium live event, which was one of the best wrestling shows of 2022.

In the New Year, he should challenge himself to do that consistently.

That is not to say that his shows have been bad. On the contrary; what he has accomplished in his short time as the Chief Content Officer has been nothing short of impressive. Delivering consistently complete shows, though, is something even Vince McMahon himself rarely did.

There was almost always something that was skippable or did not hit. Sometimes, there was even an atrociously bad match or angle that dragged the overall quality of the show down. Triple H has yet to experience one of those, thankfully, but still needs to tighten things up just a bit to ensure that he leaves no doubt about whether the show he and his team produced was a certified banger.

And to do so every month.

He has his first chance with the Royal Rumble on January 28, and the eyes of the wrestling world will be watching to see what he sets up for WrestleMania 39 this April.

AEW: Focus on the Talent Already in Place

Tony Khan loves him a talent announcement.

He does the ol' Twitter graphic, gets people excited for a fresh new face, brings them onto television, and just as quickly as they were buzzworthy for signing a deal with the promotion, they are off television and relegated to YouTube exclusives Dark and Dark: Elevation.

Some may call that unfair criticism, but it is a pattern that has played out on more than one occasion. If anything is unfair, it is constantly bringing in new faces when there is already a plethora of competitors on the roster who are underutilized or not used at all.

That is where Khan should focus his attention in 2023.

Sure, there will inevitably be free agents he will take a look at, but rather than signing a star just to say you have them, focus the energy that goes into that deal on finding ways to more consistently and adequately utilize Private Party, Kip Sabian, The Butcher and The Blade, Angélico, Brian Pillman Jr., Josh Woods, Tony Nese, the entire Dark Order and Scorpio Sky.

That is just a small sample of the talent just waiting around for a chance to showcase their abilities in more than quick storylines.

Khan needs to prove that he can rehab characters who need it and present them in a meaningful way rather than casting them aside in favor of the shiny new toys he just bought.

Maximize the value in your roster in 2023.

WWE: Think About The Future, Both Near and Far

Triple H has done a magnificent job of booking with a long-term vision thus far. It is a change from what WWE fans had become familiar with under Vince McMahon, who routinely arrived to any television taping and tore up the script, forcing rushed rewrites and a show that was put together on a week-to-week basis.

With that said, it is something Triple H should continue to improve upon in 2023. Now, instead of working month to month with an idea of where to go with things, he should expand his vision and look at the bigger picture.

What does he want to do at SummerSlam? Start planting those seeds in March, even if they are not quite in your face at that point. Want Austin Theory to headline Clash at the Castle next September? Go ahead and start weaving him in and out of segments and vignettes with the guy(s) you plan on him competing against.

He has been very good at that so far, even booking secondary programs for top stars to keep them busy without leaning on the same matches and combination of stars every week.

In 2023, he needs to take what he has already established and make sure he is always looking not only at next month's premium live event but also those months down the line.