Wrestling Is About ONE Thing - And Here's Who Rules At It
...and you know it.
The core function of a professional wrestling promotion is to get its talent over with the fanbase and position them in compelling storylines that enhance or at least maintain their drawing power and crowd reaction. Or buzz, since this no-fans era has removed yet another metric by which to gauge true popularity in a time in which the TV rights fee means exponentially more than customer money.
Think of October 2 as the start date to collect data for the progress reports of companies still running right now.
October 2 was the first battle in the ongoing Wednesday Night War, the looming shadow of which forced WWE to reimagine its output, insofar as that object and subject go together. AEW had what many consider a clear advantage in the wars of clout, discourse and buzz - a mobilised/fawning fanbase that hadn't endured years of fatigue and disappointment - but WWE possessed a loaded, world class talent roster and financial resources unparalleled in the history of the business. And, moreover, the NXT brand was still glowing with fan sentiment in critical acclaim. This war of perception was there to be won. And ultimately, so little of that mattered. Action changes the conversation.
Who took it best?
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