10 Dream Scenarios For Wrestling's New BOOM Period
Wrestling feels like it's BACK - but there's more to be done...
Beyond the US mainstream - and an on-fire CMLL - wrestling remains in a bleak state.
The indies are lacking badly in new ideas, an identity, depth, everything - and you get the distinct impression that, if a new movement were to arise, AEW would subsume it. For better and for worse, Tony Khan has appointed himself the regulator of pro wrestling. STARDOM is in a state of flux, and it's difficult to invest in the promotion as a result. AAA is a joke. New Japan is years deep into a bleak spiral. TNA tried to reinvent himself, but they really TNA'd it.
Would you really want it any other way?
The US mainstream, though, is on fire - critically and or commercially. For the first time since AEW's launch, both Tony Khan's outfit and WWE are in sync with their fanbases. AEW cooled down and found itself in disarray within months of Paul Levesque taking over WWE creative and leading it to its current boom period. WWE is white-hot, and, in parallel, the feeling is actually returning to AEW. Both fanbases have never been as happy with each product at the same time.
How to keep the good times rolling...?
10. A TOP SECRET Jump Happens
Jumps are back and have been for some time. The magical thrill of watching a star in a new, surreal context was missing for years in one of the worst byproducts of WWE's unacceptably awful period of monopoly.
As cool as it is to watch Cody Rhodes return to WWE, Kazuchika Okada to recover his star aura on night one, for CM Punk to put the never in never say never, the prevalence of wrestling media in the digital age has lessened the scope for surprise.
Punk's Survivor Series was so wild and loud that WWE might as well have not even played 'Cult of Personality'. You could barely hear it. Still, it wasn't completely unexpected nor impossible: Punk was a free agent who had indicated several times that he longed to return to the promotion.
Really, the AEW Vs. WWE "war" "era" has only yielded two absolute shockers, debuts thought legitimately impossible:
Malakai Black's AEW debut, since everybody was under the impression that he was subject to a 90-day non-compete clause, and Roderick Strong's AEW bow, since no outlet had learned that his WWE deal had quietly expired.
It's a tricky one - if there's ever an industry that requires transparent reporting, it is professional wrestling - but it would be awesome if a true headliner appeared for the competition from out of nowhere.
This new era is still missing its Lex Luger on Nitro moment.