10 Things AEW MUST Achieve Over The Next Five Years

5. Establish Mainstream Recognition

Brian Cage
AEW

The entertainment marketplace is oversaturated.

WWE management tends to gussy up its failures to shareholders - they have the deepest talent roster ever amassed, but alas, a handful of 'em got injured last quarter! - but Triple H wasn't joking when he said in 2019 that WWE competes with sleep and everything else. The days of the cultural powerhouse are dead. Everything is atomised. Even the Star Wars franchise pushed too hard; the mainline series and the countless offshoots have confronted the limit in recent years.

AEW is going to struggle to draw lapsed fans because pro wrestling has a unique way of fatiguing its audience - "going dark" isn't something that happens with other realms of entertainment - and WWE over the last decade has killed the perception of the industry. This is before one considers what AEW is up against in the streaming age, or that WWE has forced the league to compete with a similar product domestically.

The doomscroll age is upon us all too. Cable news, the one show nobody wants to become a hit, is dominating that ShowBuzz Daily top 50.

AEW has made various moves to make the news and go viral - Shaq, Snoop Dogg and Sting have all made appearances on Dynamite, and Jon Moxley Vs. Kenny Omega aired on free TV - to not inconsiderable effect. The week after Winter Is Coming scored that unprecedented win.

The aim now is balance - to draw the casuals with big stars and fix them in place with the top-to-bottom quality of Dynamite.

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Contributor
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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!