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Tony Khan Announces AEW Ranking System Will Return

By John Canton • Published 21st January 2024
Tony Khan at AEW media scrum

Tony Khan has announced the AEW rankings will return very soon.

When AEW launched in 2019, one of the things they did from the beginning was keep track of win-loss records. That is something that they still do. When a wrestler enters a match on an AEW show, their record is usually displayed and fans can also access those records on the AEW roster page.

Another thing that AEW did from 2019 to 2022 is the ranking system. It is something that the company posted on social media where they would post graphics that had the men’s champions on it along with a ranking of the five best wrestlers based on their win-loss record. They would also post graphics for the women’s and tag team divisions as well.

The last official AEW rankings were posted on the company website on August 31, 2022, which is when they stopped doing them.

A ranking system is a way to try to legitimize title shots and things like that similar to boxing or UFC. Pro wrestling is a scripted form of entertainment, but referencing the ranking system, it’s a way to explain why a certain wrestler was getting a title match on a specific date by citing their record.

There was no official reason as to why the ranking system went away in 2022, but there were fan complaints that the company ignored it far too much and AEW decided to pull it.

In an announcement on Twitter/X, AEW’s Owner, President and booker Tony Khan announced that the ranking system was coming back this month.

“The Rankings are coming back to AEW going forward, starting this month! @AEW is having a very exciting January, and this is only the beginning of an amazing 2024 for AEW and our fans. Thank you all watching Saturday Night #AEWCollision right now on @TNTdrama!”

Tony Khan Refuses To Talk About MJF’s Future In AEW

One name that you won’t see on the AEW roster page right now is the longest-reigning AEW World Champion in company history, Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF).

After losing the AEW World Title to Samoa Joe at Worlds End and Adam Cole revealing himself as “The Devil” to MJF right after, MJF has been away while dealing with his shoulder injury.

There is also the story that MJF is a free agent as of January 1, 2024. When Tony Khan was asked about it, he offered up a “no comment” to the media as his way of feeding into the story that MJF is a free agent. In reality, it is believed that Tony Khan and AEW have locked up MJF to a long term deal, but nothing has been announced publicly yet.