Are The Costco Guys the best thing AEW has going?

December 5, 2024

The above statement may seem insane, but I believe it to be 100% true—just not in the way you think. It’s no secret that AEW has been struggling with attendance and viewership for a while now. They’ve recently had to move their Grand Slam pay-per-view to a smaller arena in Australia due to low ticket sales, and in the past, they've been out-viewed by NXT and even micro wrestling. Meanwhile, their competitor (yes, we can say we hate tribalism, but at the end of the day, that’s what they are), WWE, is finding bigger shows and more viewers every day.

So, what can AEW bring in to draw some eyes? How about the men (and boys) of the moment? I wrote a blog post about how WWE bringing Travis Scott in for their upcoming Netflix debut felt like the most current and on-the-pulse thing they could do, and I think it was. Until AEW beat them to the punch. If you’ve been on TikTok in the past few months, you’ve seen them or seen someone imitating, praising, hating, or poking fun at them—the Costco Guys. Made up of Eric “Big AJ” Befumo (a former indie wrestler himself), his son Eric Jr. “Big Justice,” and their friend known only as “The Rizzler,” the Costco Guys have been dominating social media with their rating system of Boom (good) or Doom (bad). They’re in another stratosphere.

So, whether Tony Khan did it on purpose or by accident, he struck gold. I was in the building when The Rizzler entered the Prudential Center along with Paul Wight, and I can confirm, on a card packed with some of the best in the world, including Moxley, Ospreay, Adam Page, and more, The Rizzler got, without a doubt, the biggest pop of the night! And when AJ and Big Justice came down the ramp, the “Boom” chants were deafening.

Big AJ went on to beat QT Marshall in a match much better than expected, including a top-rope superplex. His son sealed the win with a run-in and a spear to give his dad the pin. The crowd could not have been louder, even later when Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher put on an absolute banger. The fanfare doesn’t stop there. The Costco Guys had the 3rd biggest wrestling clip on social media this year. Big AJ has already confirmed his return to an AEW ring soon, so does AEW have their next big thing? And even if the wrestling itself isn’t up to the standards of some fans, does anyone really care?