10 Times Wrestlers Said Something That Bit Them On The Ass
7. Triple H Calls AEW A "Pissant" Company
So some fan actually created a new territory.
Big f*cking deal.
He's just some money mark with the funds to make an e-fed. He's never worked a day in the business his whole life. So he traded a few Mid-South tapes, so what. He's a fan. A mark. He won't know what he's doing.
This mentality probably encouraged Triple H to bury AEW as a "pissant company" when yukking it up at the Hall of Fame ceremony in 2019. That, and the high he was on following the seminal TakeOver: New York show held the night prior. 15,697 fans, your writer included, paid a high-price ticket to watch the best WWE event since WrestleMania X-Seven. Unfortunately for Triple H, the comparison to that show didn't just extend to its quality; it represented his peak as a creative force.
After April 5, 2019, NXT descended into acclaim-chasing parody, with even more clichéd kick-out faces selling daft "sinister structure" gimmick matches.
When the "pissant company" debuted on TV, it exposed NXT as something that only felt like a true in-ring alternative to the main roster when the bell rang. AEW's promos, angles, and intricate long-term booking felt like the real return of professional wrestling. By the time the Wednesday Night War ended in 2021, the final P18-49 demo scorecard read:
Pissant Company 74 - 1 NXT.
Funny: that result was a lot more meaningful and consequential than any 50/50 WWE programme.