10 Times AEW Made The Critics Look Like IDIOTS
8. "AEW Will Die"
Jim Cornette foretold the death of All Elite Wrestling in December 2019 - when, admittedly, AEW was struggling to find its form and identity after a great run up to and at Full Gear. Dorky supernatural nepotism polluted an undercard as the main event programmes took an eternity to click. Tony Khan quickly ascertained that a quarterly premium PPV model had its drawbacks (and realised the folly of a booking committee).
Cornette, knowing that catastrophe content sells, said in the first week of December that - unless AEW made drastic changes to its creative and roster - it would fold by April 2020.
It...did not fold; after a dismal December 18 episode, Khan did make major changes to creative, to be accurate, transparent and fair. The Elite no longer had a deciding "vote" in the creative process. That said, the best version of their story - which drove much of the massive buzz ahead of Revolution and over which they had significant influence - restored AEW's cachet.
Cornette's argument, that the Elite would kill their own company, was less than credible since they worked the most acclaimed match in its history, and perhaps even tag team wrestling history, a month before AEW's "demise".
This week, it was confirmed that not only had AEW secured a second two-hour primetime major cable show, but, combined with Dynamite, the All Access reality programme and Battle of the Belts, AEW is primed to become the most profitable North American promotion not named WWE in history.