One of the biggest selling points of upstart promotion All Elite Wrestling has been the reiteration that pro wrestling should be treated more like “real” sports. As such, AEW instituted win/loss records going back to their first official event under the AEW banner, May’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view.
Of course, the challenge of keeping detailed win/loss records means that when a talent with a losing record gets a title shot, for example, it is incongruent with AEW’s “real sports” mantra and can make for some tricky booking scenarios. When questioned about this in November, AEW EVP and Young Bucks member Nick Jackson told a fan on Twitter that the win/loss records were tentatively scheduled to reset in January 2020.
Now, AEW has officially confirmed this development, along with some further explanation as to just how it’s going to work:
New 2020 annual records will begin on #AEWDynamite this Wednesday, January 1.
Career #AEW records will be cumulative, and the annual records will reset each calendar year.
The annual records will be increasingly important in the rankings as the new calendar year continues. pic.twitter.com/q8Pky5DZfT— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 27, 2019
As AEW’s tweet explains, all male and female talent will have their records reset on the Jan. 1, 2020, edition of AEW Dynamite for the 2020 season. However, their previous win/loss record won’t go anywhere: AEW will continue to keep a cumulative tally for each talent, similar to how major sports organizations work. For example, the Dallas Cowboys have a career record of 512-380-6 — the highest winning percentage in NFL history — but their current 2019-2020 record is 7-8, which means they may not even make the playoffs this season.
This records reset could also allow for some compelling storytelling, such as a previously hot talent hitting a losing streak, or perhaps a new talent going on a winning streak — since AEW doesn’t currently run house shows, it could feasibly be possible for someone to go the entirety of 2020 without taking a loss, if they were booked correctly.
