Why AEW Should Be Worried About The New WWE
Vince McMahon's existence was AEW's unique selling point.
WWE's near-20-year monopoly created sufficient demand for Tony Khan's operation to be viable, speaking, as it did, to the millions of global wrestling fans whose tastes were no longer being catered to by the US mainstream. AEW was sold on being different - an alternative - and to a degree, it still is.
This pitch was sold to fans and wrestlers alike. AEW's pro wrestling was distinct from WWE's Sports Entertainment, with creative freedom, unscripted, a transparent management structure, and an emphasis on the bell-to-bell presented in opposition to McMahon's rigid, heavily-agented juggernaut. Performers tired of living an erratic billionaire's vision rather than their own could theoretically find creative fulfilment in Jacksonville. Finally, 18 years on from WCW's demise, American wrestling had options again.
That the list of wrestlers misused in WWE over the years read like War & Peace strengthened AEW's position. Jon Moxley, Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland, Malakai Black, FTR, Toni Storm, and countless others have already fared considerably better in Jacksonville than they were ever going to on WWE's main roster, where their work was penned by an out-of-touch "genius" then fed through a broken star-making machine. The perception that McMahon would never willingly give up his chair made sticking around and hoping for change pointless, too.
Today, Vince McMahon is gone, dislodged by the weight and severity of his sexual misconduct allegations. Circumstances unforeseen by outsiders have flipped the industry on its head. Suddenly, the idea of a functional, transparent WWE that doesn't force its multi-talented crew into ill-fitting boxes or send released talents their belongings in a black refuse sack is no longer fanciful.
And suddenly, for the first time in its existence, AEW's USP is in danger.
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