6 Reasons Why AEW is a Huge Gamechanger for the Wrestling Business
After months of speculation, All Elite Wrestling is finally official!
An initial idea from Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and Cody Rhodes, this new wrestling organisation is officially up and running. With The Young Bucks and Cody taking on Executive Vice President positions, and with Brandi Rhodes on board as Chief Brand Officer, it’s all systems go for AEW as the company begins to amass its roster and confirm its first shows.
Giving some serious sway to all of this, of course, you can add in the financial backing and acumen of Shahid Khan and his son Tony Khan. To give some perspective, Shahid is worth a reported $6.4 billion and is the principal owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC, and the owner of Flex-N-Gate and the Toronto Four Seasons, while son Tony is the owner of TruMedia Networks and co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC. The point being, these are some mightily wealthy fellas whose involvement in the wrestling business could shake up the landscape of the industry.
With AEW’s Double or Nothing Rally now in the books – and with a whole load of fallout from that event – let’s take a look at 6 reasons why All Elite Wrestling really is a huge gamechanger for the wrestling business.
#6 Health Insurance
The news of health insurance for wrestling is massive. Absolutely, utterly, unfathomably massive and something that is long, long overdue.
For years, the wrestlers of today and of decades gone by have spoken out on how there needs to be some sort of Union to take care of wrestlers, to make sure that they are properly looked after by their employers, that they are not worked in to the ground, and that they have adequate health cover should they require surgery or any time out of the ring.
Now, AEW’s Tony Khan has already discussed how there will likely be health insurance options available for wrestling talent. Injured and unable to work for two months? No problem, you’re covered. Require surgery that will put you on the shelf for a year? No problem, you’re covered.
As Khan explained after the Double or Nothing Rally, “I think that, yeah, there is a package, a compensation package and healthcare package, that could be available."
Not only is this huge for any talent looking at working for AEW, but hopefully it will cause other wrestling promotions to start to introduce similar coverage. Because let’s face it, not offering any sort of health insurance to people who are putting their health and life on the line for you on a nightly basis, that’s just ridiculous.