What does this mean?

You can have more than one top act..

WWE has broken brains, man.

There is a huge, huge difference between how fans perceive the use of TV time and how the actual network does.

AEW needed to attract brands and networks to be able to get deals and create an income for the company. The number one way that they can do this is by having attractions. The hard truth is that you and I and thousands of others think that AEW is good enough just having Hangman Page, PAC, Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and other "home grown talent." These names are not big enough on their own to go into a meeting cold with TV execs. These guys are in charge of creating deals that work for both parties. They need a return on investment. Now imagine how different a television ad comes off to a casual fan or a lasped fan or wrestling when they see CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Big Show, Sting, etc. flash across their screen. They are using star power to keep the corporate interests of the company afloat. The same thing to do with TNA -- fans didn't really want to see Hulk Hogan for 30 minutes at the beginning of ever IMPACT, but there's more interests to serve than just the die hard fan.

And if you ask me, this has not been a problem one bit. To say Big Show is getting more air time than homegrown talent is simply wrong. Paul Wight is barely featured on the cable broadcasts and if anything, he's only featured heavily when he is acting as an analyst or an interviewer. I'm pretty sure any segment he had with the QT Marshall angle took less than 5 minutes of actual aire time. Also, is he anything like how he was presented in the WWE? Was he in a prominent backstage role on WWE television? Absolutely not. It is a totally new represenation of Paul Wight to the wrestling audience. He's not out there doing his same old stuff. The same can be said for truly any ex-WWE talent in AEW. Everyone has been so innovative and successful in removing themselves from their WWE personas. Miro, Mox, Punk, Danielson, Wight, Mark Henry...there are a ton of guys that should be looked at CURRENT WRESTLING STARS before they are looked at EX-WWE STARS.

There was only one place to work for 20 years. Having ex-WWE talent means nothing. Where else were they supposed to go? Were they not supposed to make a living for the majority of their career waiting out for some new promotion so they didn't have a "stink on them"?

I absolutely DO NOT understand this take from any fan. These guys are industry leaders and have a wealth of knowledge and edge that they bring to a new wrestling company. I can't imagine how you look at this product and see WWE stars in any way. These are top wrestling talents who perfected their craft, got a big contract, and now they're moving on. This OP is such an ice cold perspective and I truly wonder how you even approach a conversation about the AEW roster with these points.

Dawg, I think you’re the one that’s cracked.

Lmao what even is this thread.

I'll go on here as someone who actually watches the product. Though my opinion is that AEW has way too many guys, I can't say that they haven't balanced out who gets the push at what moment, or that half the roster has nothing to do. Right now they got tons of people that I can see be AEW World Champ. One thing that I don't like when it comes to storylines is I feel a lot of feuds end too quick. Example with CM Punk, sorta feuds with Darby for a few weeks, he beats Darby, done. He feuds with Team Taz for a couple weeks, Punk beats Hobbs, done. Their product isn't perfect, no product will be, but I can say they've improved.

I mean this has an awful lot more to do with how WWE treats its employees than anything AEW is doing. Previously there was no major alternative and people had to put up with whatever Vince McMahon wanted, and that was usually whatever made him more profit (be it healthcare, travel, safety). On top of that the WWE has been continuously chipping away at the creative freedom of talent. It's not surprising that now there is an alternative that can actually pay them close to what WWE can, people are wanting to leave. Most who leave the WWE know they aren't automatically going to be in the AEW main event picture either, but their lives will be an awful lot easier.

Basically OP is trying to say is AEW has a lot of former WWE talent on their roster

I'm really trying to see how balancing amazing dream matches and true, sustained pushes of homegrown talent is supposed to be a negative, but that sounds pretty darn perfect to me.