10 Things WWE Doesn't Want You To Know About AEW
"NXT is already the alternative..."
There are certain WWE fans who absolutely will not look elsewhere for a professional wrestling fix.
To them, WWE is pro wrestling. WWE transcends pro wrestling. It's a capitalist > art mentality conditioned by a relentless marketing campaign that has spanned generations. The subject of the condescension is fluid and era-dependant - Dubya See Dubya, the "high school gyms" of Bryan Danielson's Independent circuit, the "blood and guts" of AEW - but the purpose remains the same. WWE sends a barely-coded message to its fanbase in order to put itself over as the biggest, most sophisticated, most big-time product.
I was one of those fans, back in my teenage years. I opened up my first episode of Power Slam magazine in 1998, shocked and transfixed by the blood-soaked images of so many new worlds. There was a hesitation to enter them. ECW looked (and for UK viewers was) so lurid as to be inaccessible. The names in the Japanese results section were indecipherable and bland: where were the characters, the stipulations?
Over time, this stance softened. A willingness to explore beyond WWE's fading lustre drove a lifelong interest in wrestling on the fringe, but this is something WWE combats now with its new one-stop shop directive in the post-NXT era.
But that shop doesn't stock everything...
10. Blood And Guts Is Great
Vince McMahon, with searing hypocrisy, labelled AEW as "blood and guts" in an attempt to undermine its product to advertisers.
In the process, he referred to WWE as "sophisticated," the new definition of which includes "using bags that collect dog sh*t as a comedic prop", "a subtextual exploration of Bobby Lashley's girthy c*ck," and "Erick Rowan is a creepy-looking f*cker and has a pet rat or something".
WWE, unless it wants to get Brock Lesnar over as ridiculously overpowered (as distinct from ridiculously overpowered) does not do blood and guts wrestling. It does seven-act story-driven wrestling fought at a certain, comprehensible pace, no matter the actual pace of the talent involved, and the thing is, blood and guts wrestling absolutely rules. Cody Vs. Dustin Rhodes was an emotional masterclass drenched in the claret that put over the familial stakes as something unsurpassable in its high drama. The bumps taken in All Out's Escalera de la Muerte were mind-blowing. The various Lights Out matches, for better or worse, make wrestling feel dangerous again - and the schedule excuses it, or has done so far.
WWE's matches are anodyne. The fans are turning off, and something vital is happening on the other channel.