Christopher Daniels Responds To Criticism About AEW's Women's Division

AEW wrestler and Head of Talent Relations, Christopher Daniels, recently joined the Pro Wrestling Junkies for a Q & A session, and there he took the time to speak out about the criticism that the women's division has received over the course of their first year on television. Daniels said he feels like part of the struggle is just not having enough TV time at the moment to showcase everyone, but referenced a few signings as proof of addressing issues. He hopes when the second AEW show finally gets rolling, more stars will present themselves.

"I feel like we've made some great strides as far as getting women involved in our company," Daniels said. "The signing of Serena Deeb and Kris Statlander – we started out with Nyla Rose, Hikaru Shida and Riho. Adding those girls and talent, like Ivelisse and Diamante, these are all steps to building a viable women's division. I feel like the difficulty we have is having a single two-hour show every week, and it's difficult with all these people fighting to be on TV.

"The women are in that same boat," Daniels added. "It's difficult to show everybody off when you only have two hours. When Turner extended us for four years, they talked about doing a second show. When that second show comes around, hopefully we'll have a better opportunity to showcase more men and women. With that added real estate, we should see more people take that opportunity to come to the forefront and show what they can do."

One of the most notable additions to the women's roster came when the company officially signed Abadon back in June. "The Living Dead Girl" is arguably the most unique personality and character on the roster, and Daniels took the time to speak on the challenges of managing and booking such a talent. He went on to say that a tough challenge with a character such as hers is that she has a "less is more" factor, while also mentioning she has a ton of support backstage with people helping coach her to perfect her craft.

"I feel like the difficulty with that style of gimmick is just like you said – less is more," Daniels said. "There's a natural tendency to want to do everything you can do, but that doesn't serve that particular kind of character. The toughest part for her is trying to decide what part she should show or can show as an athlete. I feel like she's learning that. A lot of people are taking her under their wing in the back and sort of letting her know that, 'Hey, this is something you don't want to give too much away on,' or, 'This is something you probably should pull back on'.

"You don't want to give away the store, so to speak, in your first couple months of being a character," Daniels continued. "You want to leave some to be desired; you want to have somewhere to go. You want to have that trajectory and longevity."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Pro Wrestling Junkies with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.