10 Things AEW MUST Do To Compete With WWE
Broaden The Universe.
10 Things AEW MUST Do To Compete With WWE*
*On a national level.
Every time you allow yourself to get excited over the idea that we may see a new, awesome wrestling promotion, the existence of which might just make the premier wrestling promotion that bit less awful, we read that WWE has just renewed its multi-million TV deal in Bahrain, or some sh*t. The notion of AEW competing with WWE on a global scale is absurd.
But domestically?
Prior to its current, modern Golden Age, New Japan Pro Wrestling was not as popular as WWE in its native country. By modifying and improving its product through intricate long-term booking, and promoting sublime, star performers with agency and conviction, this is no longer the case. WWE can be overtaken in certain markets. Abysmal Sky Sports ratings in the UK, and the strangled BritWres uprising, illustrate that WWE knows this all too well.
Not the closest of analogies, granted, but with WWE's viewership receding by the week, those fans aren't falling out of love with pro wrestling altogether. They want a better product. 'Product' is the word, because WWE has stars. Those we know for certain are capable of moving the needle - Ronda Rousey - aren't moving it. The stigma is too glaring; fans know it, want-away talent knows it, and by acknowledging it on TV, WWE knows it.
Of course, AEW will need stars too...
10. Spend The Money
Perception is everything in professional wrestling.
Several disenfranchised WWE fans are hesitant to venture outside of the bubble because everything else looks small time, or less glamorous, in comparison. Anecdotally, an old writer colleague felt removed from New Japan's minimalist production before persisting with and falling for it. This is a real thing, a perception of value warped entirely by capitalism:
If something is so good, why don't more people like it?
It's a cultural shock, one especially bracing to the WWE fan. Wrestling to them is a synonym of WWE. They've persisted with WWE despite falling out of love with it because it provides a level of comfort and familiarity. Something unfamiliar, which they have been conditioned for years to accept as an imitator, is daunting.
ALL IN took the eclectic Independent product and dressed it up ready for its debutante ball. The grand production was the impetus behind AEW and its imminent expansion into network television. It was a masterstroke, really: Cody and the Young Bucks transformed buzz into big, visualising on behalf of money players an alternative to WWE. The same could be true of the wrestling fan, provided it looks significantly bigger than ROH or the TNA of old. Talent jumped to that organisation, but their fans did not. The LOLTNA stigma did not help, nor did the small-time look of the Impact Zone. It felt to fans like a downgrade.
A massive, vibrant stage is needed; otherwise, it will all look a bit niche, a bit hipster - and this dreaded tag is as alienating to certain, defensive fans...