Opinion: Unfortunate reality of the Wednesday Night 'Wars' between AEW and WWE
The opinions reflected in this article are that of the author's and does not necessarily reflect that of Sportskeeda.
The 1st of January in 2019 saw a major development in the world of wrestling.
Following ALL IN back in 2018, there were rumors that the Elite i.e. Cody, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega were about to make a huge move. The move that they made, when they made it, shook the wrestling community to its core as they announced the foundation of All Elite Wrestling, a wrestling promotion backed by the billionaire owner, Tony Khan.
It appeared for the first time in many years that WWE was about to have a legitimate competitor in the wrestling scene. AEW was touted as an alternative to WWE who were looking to make their name by being different from WWE. Fans were told pinfalls would count and the events would be separate.
The question kept coming, who would be better? Fans were divided right down the middle, as those loyal to WWE insulted AEW and their fans, while those hoping for a fresh product they had not seen, decided to say that WWE was the Goliath to AEW's David, which would be toppled.
With signings like Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose, it appeared that AEW meant business as well. Along with that, Cody destroying a throne that was very similar to Triple H's sent shockwaves through the wrestling world.
9 months on from that time and the hot-blooded craze of the rivalry between AEW and WWE has calmed down a little. AEW has hosted 4 events at the moment, and while Double or Nothing was certainly a success, Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen did not have the same level of popularity. Their hyped All Out show was a bit damaged with the exclusion of Jon Moxley due to injury.
However, now, we are at a position where both WWE and AEW are beginning a new era in wrestling. AEW is coming to TNT with their weekly television show, while WWE is coming to Fox with SmackDown, has a new contract with USA Network for RAW, and finally a new contract with USA Network for NXT.
The last move of NXT to the USA Network can also be considered to be an aggressive move by WWE, given that AEW is coming to that same time slot on TNT.
So for the first time in a long while, a wrestling promotion will be going head to head with a WWE show on the same night. Thus, the term 'Wednesday Night Wars' has been bandied about quite a lot over the internet in the last month.
It has caused a lot of excitement among fans as it appears that the two shows are going to do battle for supremacy, a throwback to the days of WWE and WCW's Monday Night Wars.
There is a certain aspect that is being overlooked at the moment. When Ted Turner took over WCW, he was looking to make sure that Vince McMahon went out of business. That was his goal and that was the direction in which he was guiding his company.
There seemed a chance that there would be a huge rivalry when Kenny Omega talked about NXT Superstars being no more than development talent who would be on dark matches on his card during an interview with Sportskeeda. What many missed is that there is a huge chance that the interview was done in character by Kenny Omega.
At this time, both WWE and AEW are not even trying for the same thing and their relationship is not similar to that of WWE and WCW. There's only one thing that this 'war' is going to be about, and it's not going to be about ratings.
It's about money.
In one way, AEW has changed the wrestling scene completely and that's in the way that Superstars and storylines are treated. Before, when there was no competition, WWE did not worry about releasing Superstars that were not suited to them or they were not happy with.
But now, that has changed. Given AEW's existence, WWE is no longer as ready to release Superstars. In fact, with the signing of PAC, Jon Moxley, and Tye Dillinger, AEW sent a message that they were ready to utilize the talent that WWE were releasing and use them in the best manner possible.
This has caused WWE to treat their talent differently. A year ago, Revival were not being used in the same way that they are now. Over the course of 2019, they have won the titles and their characters have been developed to look far more capable than they looked even a year back.
WWE has also worked on storylines which are far more interesting than before. What the existence of AEW has done, is made WWE sit up and put forth more content that their fans want to see. Hiring Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff have also assured fresh voices in creative.
Sportskeeda's own Korey Gunz and Nick Paglino talked about the same issue among others and you can hear it right here.
At the moment, we are days away from the day that AEW and WWE finally go head to head on television. With that in mind, fans would do well to remember, that there are two people who are benefitting from this so-called war: the Superstars, who are being signed to lucrative contracts and getting far higher salaries and better storylines, and the fans.
Wrestling fans now have limitless hours of wrestling content to choose from. However, the bitterness that has seemingly spread regarding the rivalry is making things difficult for either side to enjoy their favorite product without comparing it to what the other did. The unfortunate reality of the Wednesday Night 'Wars' is that it is the fans who are at war among themselves instead of the companies.
There has not been such a time in wrestling for years with so much content for everyone to enjoy, and so here, I am going to quote Gary Cassidy, whom I interviewed a couple of days back.
"Why would you spend your time talking about something that you don’t enjoy watching? So just enjoy wrestling, because it’s amazing."