10 Times WWE Had Their Head Up Their Ass

6. "It's A Marathon, Not A Sprint"

Vince McMahon Big Show
AEW

In a quite splendid self-own, WWE "congratulated" AEW for winning the first ratings battle of the Wednesday Night War in a press release.

Weirdly - though in a manner consistent with the way WWE behaves as an organisation, so normal - it was framed as if AEW had decided to run against NXT, and not the other way 'round. In a breathtaking slice of copy loaded with insincerity, some poor prick had to write the following:

"The real winners of last night's head-to-head telecasts of NXT on USA Network and AEW on TNT are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint."

Good God almighty what a drastically immature reaction only a company detached from reality could have made. Actually, AEW didn't win because people liked NXT too. People said the wrestling was really good. That's the real quiz, that's the real quiz!

What happened on October 2 was this, and it illustrated the strategy of both sides: AEW formed a heel stable that acted as a big bang of storytelling that spanned several months and several more match combinations; NXT in contrast spaffed their load by booking the most popular act among the teenage demographic to lose within the first 20 minutes of the show.

One side was sprinting, all right.

Contributor
Contributor

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!