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You've gotta give it to Tony Khan, he certainly tries his best in AEW. Sure, every idea he has doesn't always hit the mark, and on occasion, the ideas he greenlights can get downright goofy – The Nightmare Collective, anyone? – but he doesn't maliciously book people he doesn't like in a way that embarrasses them on the way out, instead opting to simply cease communication in a way that more than a few former talents have taken issue with.
And yet, when you have well over 100 wrestlers under contract and only three hours of regular television time a typical week, some performers are going to get overlooked from time to time, with others having to wrestle a match three years in the making on a Thursday edition of AEW Dark Elevation that was more about setting up a future feud between Madison Rayne and Jade Cargill than showcasing the apprentice, former AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida, finally defeating her master, Emi Sakura, for only the second time in her career.
While some hoped that the purchase of Ring of Honor would help to spread out the talent a little more, the acquisition has at least so far actually had the opposite effect, as, with no weekly ROH TV, TK has had to commit even more of his existing television time to guys like Jonathan Gresham in the hopes of building up Pay-Per-View hype at the expense of “AEW guys.” Had that been the case, it could be one thing, but Gresham specifically was livid over how little time or consideration was committed to the end of his championship run, and proceeded to “cuss out” his new boss before asking to be released.
Needless to say, when you have that many cooks in the kitchen, everyone isn't going to be happy.
One of those unhappy cooks is apparently none other than Miro, who took umbrage with TK booking an unknown performer, Mance Warner, for a shot at the AEW Interim World Championship while he, a former champion of both TNT and God, sat at home with his movie star wife. This, when coupled with his reported liking of a tweet asking, “are you still in AEW? Seems you had it better in WWE,” left more than a few fans wondering if the man formerly known as “The Bulgarian Brute” may get a little bit more vocal about his displeasure and outwardly ask for his release MJF style.
If that happens, Tony Khan has no one to blame but himself, as AEW really has dropped the ball with Miro in his post-TNT Championship run.
Who’s this guy that is fighting for the title ? https://t.co/dDrmMUrMgT
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) August 6, 2022
Miro needs a course correction in AEW.
AEW doesn't quite seem to know what to do with Miro. His initial run as Kip Sabian's “Best Man” was a certified dud all the way up to his decision to turn on the “Superbad” guy after Arcade Anarchy, and then, after striking gold with a new, more serious attitude, the promotion gave him the TNT title for 140 days only to largely drop the ball on his title run's execution and have it end in a loss to Sammy Guevara on an episode of AEW Dynamite remembered more for its tribute to Brodie Lee than anything that happened in the ring.
And then… nothing. After Sammy “slew the dragon” in the defense of his friend Fuego Del Sol's honor, Miro wrestled in just two more matches before the year came to an end – both of which took place in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament – before being shelved until June of 2022, where Miro re-emerged to wrestle Johnny Elite and then ultimately lose in the final round of the AEW All-Atlantic Championship Four Way Match at Forbidden Door that also featured Clark Connors, Malakai Black and the eventual winner, PAC. Since then, he's only been featured on AEW programming via video packages and an outside-of-the-ring staredown and has once again been thrust into a background role.
Now granted, some of Miro's absence has to do with his reported decision to join the cast of a pilot being filmed for CBS but, considering that news came out in April, and it's already August, it's pretty safe to say that show was not picked up, unless, of course, this is all a part of Tony Khan's grand plan of bringing Captain Insano, a character he has the rights to, to Young Sheldon, in which case, touche.
With four years left on his AEW contract, according to Fightful, Tony Khan and Miro are going to have to sit down and work something out moving forward, as the man formerly known as Alexander Rusev was booked like a geek, then like a demi-god, and then like a mid-level boss who was easily bested to advance other storylines. While some, like Lance Archer, appear fine with that, it's clear Miro has been thinking back on his day in the WWE like Wolverine with his picture frame, as he went from a performer worthy of riding out to the ring in a literal tank to just another guy who isn't even guaranteed in a spot on any given Pay-Per-View.