10 Alarming Signs Over The Future Of The Pro Wrestling Industry
3. AEW Have Tried EVERYTHING
Cast your mind back to the early-to-mid 2010s.
Wrestling in the U.S. was only great in a withholding, almost cruel way. Greatness was only glimpsed, before it was abandoned, when you complained loud enough that Vince McMahon very briefly sold for you. The Yes! movement, the unscripted excellence of CM Punk's Pipebomb, the slow stylistic shift away from John Cena's child-friendly in-ring: all converged to make the audience remember what it is they once loved about wrestling. Still, the discerning hardcore fan remained unsatisfied - until AEW arrived.
Its mission statement was essentially "WWE was sh*te for two decades, so we're effectively going to reboot halcyon days era WCW Nitro and bring back everything you miss about wrestling that should never have been abandoned".
They did, and to early, unexpected success, the philosophy worked.
In a deep dive into the plaintive hearts of the disillusioned fan, AEW brought back everything that was ever pipe-dreamed into a message board reply. Blood. Unscripted promos. Stakes. Intricate, patient long-term storytelling. TV wrestling like the wrestlers weren't just saving the real match for a pay-per-view. Pyro. The notion that actual wrestling stars could appear as stars without their name value being brutalised in a glorified gym.
It wasn't all retro-tinged, like some untenable World of Sport redo - the Elite saga and its unprecedented approach to continuity was genuinely bold and experimental - but Tony Khan tried everything you ever thought was required to form a white-hot product, and that product is now less than white hot. It was and is an enormous success, which should never go understated, but the gates, ratings and PPV numbers are down.
And, as a result...