10 Anti-AEW Moves WWE Made Out Of Spite

5. "I Don't Consider Them Competition"

The problem with somebody who has created a cult of personality as strong as Vince McMahon is that those who have fallen into said cult take even the most disprovable statements at face value, failing to apply even a base level of scrutiny.

That there exist so many wrestling fans who genuinely believe that WWE doesn't see AEW as competition proves this. Despite the myriad moves that McMahon, Nick Khan, Triple H, and others have transparently made to stifle AEW's growth (many of which are listed here), that they absolutely wouldn't have done had they not identified a threat to their market share, people willingly ignore evidence in order to perpetuate a false narrative.

Why? Because Vince said it on a conference call once.

"AEW is where they are," said McMahon on WWE's Q2 2021 earnings call. "I don't know what their plans are. I don't consider them competition like I would WCW back in the day. Nowhere near close to that."

WWE chief revenue officer, Nick Khan, followed up with similar comments, likening the market leaders to a racehorse wearing blinders. "We don't look at any organisation particularly as competition," he said, "yet we see everything as competitive with what we're trying to do in terms of eyeballs."

Including sleep.