All Elite Wrestling: A Competitor to WWE or The New WCW?
Earlier this month news broke that "The Elite" (Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes) were working with Chris Jericho and former WWE commentator Jim Ross to start a new wrestling promotion. The promotion was rumored to be backed by Shahid Khan, the billionaire that owns the Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL Team) and Fulham F.C (English Premier League team). Many believed these reports to be legitimate but Chris Jericho shot down the reports as fake news.
News broke today that a company based out of Jacksonville, Florida called "All Elite Wrestling, LLC" filed for a number of trademarks. The trademarks filed were as follows:
All Elite Wrestling
AEW
Tuesday Night Dynamite
AEW Double Or Nothing
AEW All Out
"Tuesday Night Dynamite" seems to be the name of a weekly TV show. This is an indication that a TV or streaming deal is in place. "Double or Nothing" and "All Out" are registered for PPV events. Artwork was also registered for these events.
The company also owns AllEliteWrestling.com and the Twitter account @AEWrestling was set up in October. The company has the same address as TIAA Bank Field, the stadium owned by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
All signs point to this company being the new wrestling promotion that The Elite, Jericho and Ross were working on. A lot of fans have become excited by this announcement, with some saying this promotion could be a serious competitor to the WWE.
WWE have not faced serious opposition since WCW went out of business. For many years TNA were seen as the second biggest wrestling company in America but never really challenged WWE on the level WCW did. Could AEW challenge WWE or just compete with Ring of Honor and Impact?
If AEW are to compete with the "sports entertainment" juggernaut known as WWE they would need some serious financial backing. Shahid Khan and the Khan family certainly possess the necessary funds to do so. Khan owns an NFL team and a Premier League team. He recently inquired about buying Wembley Stadium in London.
He offered the English FA £600 million for the stadium but withdrew his offer after it divided public opinion. So there is no question he can financially back AEW much like Ted Turner backed WCW.
However, unlike Turner, Khan does not own a TV network. It would be harder for AEW to get prime time hours on a major TV station. The news from last month suggested that Axis TV were very interested to show AEW on its network.
The trademark for "Tuesday Night Dynamite" suggests that there is at least some sort of TV/Streaming deal in place. As far as I am aware not everybody has Axis TV in America and this may hinder the growth of the company. It will also be interesting to see if they will have an International/UK TV deal or use online streaming services.
There is also the question of how they will present their product. I can't see them going with WWE's PG style. Take ALL IN as an example, it was a very action heavy show but had elements of comedy and entertainment. They already have their own fan base and know what they want.
What will the roster look like? Cody Rhodes is already out of contract with ROH and is currently working on a handshake deal until the end of the year. The Young Bucks contract is up in January. Kenny Omega is tied to NJPW until the end of January, however, there is no word if Omega will work in AEW. Hangman Page, Jay Lethal, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian are all out of contract in January.
However, there are many wrestlers locked under contract to other promotions.Flip Gordon, Pentagon and Rey Fenix are all under contract until 2020.
Cody Rhodes has been recently advocating for wrestlers in the WWE to have health insurance. If you are unaware, WWE consider their wrestlers as independent contractors and thus do not offer them health insurance, they have to purchase their own. Meanwhile, the WWE employees with desk jobs have company health insurance.
It will be interesting to see if wrestlers contracted to AEW are given health insurance. This could be a huge incentive for wrestlers to sign with the company and perhaps jump ship from other companies. By the way, AJ Styles' contract with WWE is also up in January and he is currently negotiating a better deal.
Where will they run their shows? "Double or Nothing" is said to be being held in Las Vegas. After the proven success of ALL IN, will they host their events in large arenas or small venues like Ring of Honor? To be a true challenger to WWE they would need to seem like a huge company. Holding live shows in small venues won't cut it. I assume the weekly T.V show would be taped in bulk at first much like Impact and ROH.
These are all questions we are likely to get answers to in the coming months. The company is set to launch next year so it won't be long before we know more.