AEW broke its promise of revolution, but it has already reshaped the wrestling landscape

And for good reason.

Companies like TNA and Ring of Honor have attempted to provide mainstream fans with another brand of wrestling. They came to the king and failed.

TNA, for its part, was a redux of World Championship Wrestling: a company that has lost millions of dollars and has seen some of the worst creations ever to appear on television. It was for many years a joke and now it is an afterthought.

Fans of ROH (Ring Of Honor), the most hardcore of the most hardcore, revolted against the company’s efforts to mainstream. The company experienced a marked decline in 2019, when it saw an influx of talent.

But AEW, so far, has turned out to be something completely different.

Moxley’s seemingly improvised promos and Rhodes, among many, stands in stark contrast to the staid, scripted and often ridiculous verbiage espoused by WWE and its superstars (often written by teams of writers and rewritten by McMahon himself, sometimes hours or even minutes before the broadcast of the program).

AEW’s talents, largely on their own, created some of the most dynamic and different matches (The Young Bucks vs. Omega and Page and The Elite vs. The Inner Circles Stadium Stampede) and intriguing storylines. and entertaining (the Jericho-Moxley and Jerichos love-hate relationship rivalry with MJF) for years.

While AEW’s creation was far from perfect, their women’s championship is a mess and the less said about the Dark Order the better, it’s been miles ahead of the competition.

WWE, meanwhile, with the rare exception of a bright spot or two, is best summed up these days by F4W’s Bryan Alvarez as Vinces flowing creatively.

Wednesday night war

While WWE has claimed they paid no attention to the newcomer to the block, their actions spoke differently.

A few weeks before the debut of AEW Dynamites on TNT, WWE has moved its NXT brand, which like AEW, is loved by critics and hardcore wrestling fans, from its exclusive broadcast on the WWE Network to the United States Network.

Wednesday evening. In direct competition with AEW. It was anything but a declaration of war.

Fans, still mesmerized by the heyday of the late ’90s, were blessed with incredible competition and clashes every Wednesday night, with both companies consistently putting quality matches on TV.

And while WWE insiders were so confident that the company’s third brand would make minced meat from AEW’s flagship product, that didn’t happen.

In fact, AEW has on a few occasions dominated NXT both in overall viewers and, more importantly, in key demographics coveted by advertisers. What helped him achieve the holy grail of the wrestling industry: a big TV deal, which was recently extended by four years (until 2023) to $ 175 million.

Thanks to this televised deal, AEW is already the second largest company in the world in terms of revenue.

Even more impressive, according to its chairman Tony Khan, it is already profitable.

This achievement cannot be underestimated.

For a struggling business, often in a financial hole in its first few years of existence, making a profit in the second year is simply unimaginable.

To compare the scores, WCW has made a profit for only a handful of years in its long existence, and TNA has lost tens of millions of dollars over many years.

A less noted side effect of AEW’s existence, backed by a billionaire with far more billion than McMahon, has been big money deals for talent.

Lots of money for talent

AEW got things started in 2019 by signing Jericho the most lucrative contract of his decades-long career.

Looking back, signing Jericho was perhaps AEW’s brightest gambit. His name and reputation gave the company instant credibility and visibility.

It put the company on the map. McMahon, who refused to match the AEW offer, might regret it.

Jerichos’ big contract, large enough to send shockwaves through WWE’s locker room, yielded talent whose contracts were coming due due to the advantage.

Some like Randy Orton, teased a move to AEW, before resigning long-term agreements with the promotion.

Others, although they do not hold important positions, have been offered a lot of money just to keep them out of AEW’s hands.

And while WWE recently cleaned up the house by cutting staff and wrestlers in an effort to boost profitability, you can be sure the big names will continue to receive big salaries.

So, has AEW kept its promise to deliver a sports-based revolution and presentation?

Not enough.

And while he’s far from challenging WWE’s hegemony, he can take credit for changing the landscape of professional wrestling for fans and athletes.