Opinion: AEW has rattled WWE
AEW's Double or Nothing debut show on May 25th was a tremendous success. It was such a success that even WWE superstars enjoyed the show. AEW has a lot of momentum right now, and it's going to continue. Their next three events will be Fyterfest on June 29th, Fight For The Fallen on July 13th and All Out (the sequel of All In) on August 31st.
For wrestling fans who only follow Raw and Smackdown Live, AEW is what Uber was to the taxi industry, a disruptor. Now, AEW does not own the pro-wrestling industry like Uber currently dominating their sector, but AEW has sent massive shockwaves throughout the wrestling world in its infancy. WWE has been virtually a monopoly in the wrestling industry for the past 20 years. On January 1st, Cody and company announced the formation of All Elite Wrestling on their YouTube Channel, Being The Elite. AEW was the number 2 wrestling promotion in the world before their first show, Double or Nothing and still is number 2.
AEW's prologue was a pay-per-view called All In, self-financed by Cody and The Young Bucks. The show took place on September 1st, 2018 at the Sears Centre in Chicago. It was the biggest and best show in the history of independent wrestling. Wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring Of Honor and Impact Wrestling participated.
AEW founded by current CEO & President Tony Khan, son of Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC owner Shad Khan.
AEW's existence has caused a rift within all of WWE. Superstars in the WWE who feel misused, now have a viable option outside of WWE. Because of AEW's existence, The Revival, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows chose not to re-sign with WWE. Sasha Banks unfollowed Vince McMahon and followed The Young Bucks, Cody, and Kenny Omega. Luke Gallows asked for his release and was denied. In addition, WWE legend Chris Jericho signed with AEW in January. The WWE has been declining for the past few years now, mainly because of bad creative direction.
Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose in WWE) left WWE because of creative differences with Vince McMahon. He made an appearance on Talk Is Jericho and held nothing back. Moxley bashed WWE's creative process for an hour and a half. Click here for the full interview.
The problem with WWE is their over reliance on nostalgia and negligence of the tag team divisions. Over the past few years, WWE have relied on The Rock, Stone Cold, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, etc. to make appearances or have matches on pay per views or weekly shows. Watching these guys wrestle now has a snail like, baseball paced vibe to it. WWE needs to let the superstars of tomorrow take the spotlight.
Many superstars who have been called up from NXT have been suppressed on the main roster. Some examples are, EC3, Tyler Breeze, The Revival, The Ascension, Sasha Banks, Shinsuke Nakamura, Eric Young and, Robert Roode. If this continues, everything Triple H has built in NXT and NXT UK will have been in vain. Everything Triple H has built up to this point can end up in AEW. Superstars in NXT are considering AEW over being called up to the main roster because of Vince McMahon misusing NXT talent. Vince McMahon's my way or the highway style is killing morale.
I think WWE's recent decline in ratings is also due to the fact Vince is working on the re-launch of his football league, the XFL. It's great to master one thing but very difficult to master multiple things.
The feedback on NXT from fans has been great. It has been regarded as the A show of WWE by many fans. WWE is no longer the be all end all anymore. A good living can be made outside of WWE. According to Ringside News, Triple H liked a tweet about Vince McMahon stepping down. That says a lot.
WWE is not at war with AEW, WWE is at war with NXT & NXT UK. It's Vince McMahon vs Triple H for control of WWE. AEW picked a perfect time to strike. With the internal conflict in WWE, this is AEW's year.