Why AEW Only Briefly Revived The Rankings

When All Elite Wrestling was founded in 2019, one major feature of the promotion to set it out as an ‘alternative’ was its ranking systems, with the tables regularly updated until being phased out in 2022.

The rankings were re-introduced in early 2024 but were quietly dropped again in April, with AEW’s Will Washington revealing to Denise Salcedo that they were only re-introduced for storyline purposes:

“[Samoa] Joe established that he wanted to see competition in crowning a World Championship contender. He said it, 'Bring your record.' That was the catalyst - I see a lot of people who bring up the rankings all the time. We brought the rankings back and people are like, 'What happened to the rankings?' That was a storytelling device. That was a storytelling device for Samoa Joe, for what Joe had literally said. 'I want competition-based contenders. You are not just going to get a shot at my World Championship. You're not going to demand it. You're going to earn it and you're going to climb the rankings to earn it.' That led to a number of guys; HOOK had the best record and it led to him being the number one contender. Swerve and Hangman had the exact same record, and they kept flip-flopping one and two until they tied and had the draw. In order to get to Samoa Joe, he demanded competition from his contenders and he demanded that you climb the ranks to get to him. When people ask, 'What was that about? Why were they brought back?' What was the point. It was for Joe. That's what it was about and that was the type of champion Samoa Joe represented," said Washington.

The rankings were in place for all divisions and championships within AEW, and are believed to have initially been phased out in part due to CM Punk.

H/T: Fightful