10 Times Wrestling Promotions Came Back From The Dead
7. AEW - 2019
It's dead.
If not 'the dead', then 'in the mud', to borrow the nomenclature from Bryan Alvarez's Twitter replies, December 18, 2018 marked the first time - and this predated the rights fee subsequently paid to AEW by TNT - that Dynamite lost to NXT in the 18-49 demographic. The rating was consistent with the perception of a product that had declined in quality following a magnificent build towards Full Gear: both the MJF Vs. Cody and Moxley Vs. Jericho programmes spluttered into existence, the Nightmare Collective represented nepotism through the lens of dire am-dram, and several matches - Fénix Vs. Trent, Santana & Ortiz Vs. Private Party - badly underwhelmed. It was as if something was catching, and that something turned for the worse amid an infamously poor Dark Order segment that did not look too dissimilar, with its throat-f*cking, fake blood, and supernatural bullsh*t, to the finish of WWE Hell In A Cell 2019.
Honestly, this decline is overstated. Moments on the show were elite. But November to December was far from All Elite.
It's alive!
In glorious parallel, AEW secured a rights fee and reoriented its creative structure just weeks later; MJF and Jericho brought a level of sadistic heat within two compelling, hook-laden programmes, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page delivered several bangers drenched in levels of suspense, and the show in general paced and structured everything one could want - great promos, great angles, great matches - within a breezy, vital-feeling and immersive shared universe.
The build to Revolution was as Elite as any company had ever promoted a major show.