Will Ospreay credits AEW's struggles to 'growing pains'

AEW has rapidly risen in popularity since its launch in 2019. It's the biggest wrestling promotion outside the WWE. It has an elite roster that is consistently getting better. Some of the biggest names in the world have recently chosen AEW over WWE, which should be an encouraging sign.

However, AEW's viewership continues to decline. Its perceived lack of storylines, character development and a bloated roster have all been cited as reasons for its sudden drop-off.

Things went from bad to worse for AEW on June 19, when an episode of Dynamite recorded record-low numbers . During a recent appearance on "SHAK Wrestling," Will Ospreay attributed AEW's rocky few months to nothing more than "growing pains."

"We're still a five-year company and we're still hitting the ropes with these things," Ospreay said. "For me, AEW still has lots of growing pains to go through ... As a wrestler, you find yourself hitting a plateau five years in ... There's always that five-year growing pain. I think every company goes through it. If we look back five years to what WWE was doing, they were at a low ... We need to change the bar and see what we must do to change things up."

Ospreay is one of the best young wrestlers in the world. He will play a pivotal role in AEW turning the tide and regaining momentum.

However, most of the changes need to happen at the top. Tony Khan must embrace what the wider wrestling community is asking for. He needs to hire a creative team to create compelling storylines. He must invest in better social media promotion to showcase the best moments of a show.

Most of all, Khan needs to stop signing off on matches that include wrestlers from outside promotions. It's hard for fans to be invested when they're being force-fed talent with whom they have no connection. Why build an elite roster if you're going to bench more than 50% of it?

Ospreay is right. AEW is likely experiencing growing pains. How it pivots will be crucial to the future success of the company.

The building blocks are in place. Now, Khan needs to make some tweaks to his approach. From there, the sky remains the limit.