If WWE Was Being Honest About AEW
Shame McMahon.
You can't win them all, but sometimes you win one so big that you can justify the victory lap.
When AEW announced itself on January 1, 2019, the wrestling world was abuzz; finally, after almost two long decades, new mainstream competition was here, led by a pack of superstar free agents and billionaire backing, to unsettle WWE from its arrogant monopoly. The last time this happened, the perception of the WWF was also in the mud. In spite of some excellent in-ring and intricate booking to arrive at it, the product was unfashionable, hokey, and thoroughly detached from what was hot elsewhere in the wrestling sphere and pop culture itself. WCW recognised this and launched an attack in the form of Monday Nitro.
Much like AEW Dynamite, Nitro folded in the trends generating massive interest elsewhere. Where AEW was driven by the Bullet Club Elite, WCW became #1 by conceiving its own version of the mega-drawing NJPW Vs. UWFi inter-promotional feud. Where Dynamite has embraced new and fresh stylistic developments, Nitro introduced cruiserweight wrestling to middle America. Where Dynamite has advanced character dynamics in the form of the textured Elite saga, Nitro, borrowing liberally from ECW, helped usher in the age of the antihero.
A still capable Vince McMahon, in response, shaped his own product in line with the pulse, and encouraged his acts to get over in the new, violent, transgressive world of the Attitude Era. It was, apparently, all bound to happen again in an industry known for its circularity. After all, Vince McMahon is synonymous with competition. He killed the territories! He killed WCW! He throws a tantrum when he gets beaten at pool!
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