AEW has added plenty of top talent in 2021 including Andrade El Idolo, Malakai Black, CM Punk, Ruby Soho, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole.
With new talent coming in and only so much television time on AEW Dynamite and Rampage, many wrestlers don't appear weekly on TV and are rotated on and off programming.
Appearing on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast, Dark Order members John Silver and Alex Reynolds weighed in on the new talent coming in and how that limits TV time for talent who has been there longer.
"Every time where people come in, people do get a little nervous and wonder what's going to happen, but all the people who have came in, AEW has signed a lot of people in the last year, and we're still on TV every week. It's great that we still have a spot. Obviously, these guys have much bigger name value than we have, but we're still being shown on TV. You always think about it and get a little nervous, but we're still there and on TV pretty much every week and having fun. Now, I'm not as nervous and don't really think about it anymore," said Silver.
Reynolds added, "I think it plays into everyone's individual mindsets. Some people can sit back and be like, 'Oh my God, they're bringing in all these huge names' and get worried or are happy settling, but I feel like a lot of our talent almost take it as a challenge. What can we do to stand out even more to make sure we don't get forgotten about. It's almost like a healthy competition. 'They're bringing in these people, I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure we're still featured.' It's a positive and healthy competition."
TV time hasn't been an issue for Dark Order to close the year as they've been involved in feuds with The Elite and Bryan Danielson. Both men believe crowd reactions have helped them stay on television.
Silver said, "What AEW is really known for and what the crowds are so awesome is, if the crowds like you and they react to you and want to see you and are talking about you, you're going to be on TV. That's pretty much all that matters. If the crowd wants to see you, Tony is going to make sure they will see you. It's one of the biggest things and one of the reasons we have a very loud crowd reaction and the company in general has very loud crowds. The crowds know that 'if we cheer for this person, we're going to see them more.' That's one thing AEW does very well. It's not just 'top guy, you have to like this guy. Yeah the crowd doesn't care, but that's who we want.' That's not what happens in AEW. If the crowd is reacting to you, you're going to be on TV and you're going to be shown. It's awesome that we work in a company that does that."
Reynolds closed by saying, "That's what happened with the Dark Order in general. The crowd got behind us organically based off the stuff we were doing on Being The Elite and things like that. There was a groundswell and our reactions kept growing and growing. If the crowd is making noise for you, AEW is going to capitalize on that. It's definitely cool that they are listening to fans."
Silver faced Danielson on the December 8 episode of AEW Dynamite as part of Danielson's story of going through the Dark Order before facing AEW World Champion Hangman Page at AEW Winter is Coming.
If you missed anything from AEW Winter is Coming, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
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