5 Beneficiaries from both WWE and AEW
Today is the day pro wrestling officially changes forever, and with two billionaire-backed companies with platforms on major television stations competing for pro wrestling real estate on a national scale comes more opportunities for just about everybody.
WWE has already reacted significantly to the new landscape in pro wrestling by locking down talent to bloated contracts and moving NXT to the USA Network on Wednesday nights—to the tune of an estimated $30 million—among a host of changes.
With double the national wrestling companies, there's essentially no such thing as an expendable wrestler. Both WWE and AEW have scoured the globe for the next great talent as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) has overtaken pro wrestling scouting where no stones are unturned.
The mere threat of AEW has already completely changed how business is conducted within the genre as a whole. Wrestlers continue to receive raises that reflect WWE's monumental come-up from signing a pair of billion-dollar television contracts. Names like Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have all successfully leveraged their expiring contracts to land enviable deals with the worldwide leader. In hindsight, it's fair to wonder whether or not these raises would even be considered in a landscape with no competition.
AEW's message of inclusion and diversity, among other alternative features, should continue to push WWE in the same direction especially if the upstart promotion continues to overachieve and gain momentum. The history-making Aubrey Edwards has already reportedly inspired WWE to seek more female referees.
The Wednesday Night Wars should theoretically bring out the best in both WWE and AEW. Should both companies manage to exist in harmony—or the closest thing to it—over the long haul, similar to WWE and WCW of the Monday Night Wars, the results could bring about a much-needed boom period for pro wrestling.
If this be the case, there may be no shortage of beneficiaries on the new wrestling frontier.
#5 Women Referees
In the main event of its last pay-per-view, All Out, AEW boasted a statistic that had managed to evade WWE throughout its more-than 60-year existence.
WIth Aubrey Edwards officiating the inaugural AEW Championship matchup between Chris Jericho and Hangman Adam Page, she became the first woman to officiate a world championship match at a pay-per-view.
Cut to WWE's main roster and women referees are few and far between. The fact that AEW undersold this feat, almost as if women referees in pro wrestling is nothing new or novel, made WWE look even more behind-the-times.
Currently undergoing a women's evolution, the fact that WWE still hasn't gotten around to employing a full-time female referee on the main roster somewhat undermines its initiative for equality between male and female performers.
Right on cue, WWE has reportedly been aiming to hire more female referees which should lead to more opportunities for a concept that was literaly nonexistent in national pro wrestling as recently as three years ago.