10 Wrestling Nightmares That Almost Came True
3. AEW Almost Didn't Exist
To its hardcore fanbase, AEW has all but rescued professional wrestling in the United States. Watching wrestlers perform as the best or most free versions of themselves in a promotion that actively strives to resolve longstanding fan complaints and celebrate the range of the form is magic when the promotion reaches its highest standard.
Hardcore WWE fans despise it for what it inherently is more than what it produces.
Some fans enjoy both - many others would, too, if both leagues were in 1997 Monday Night Wars form, and one almost certainly isn't - but regardless, its existence is a force for good. While the "Competition will make WWE better!" narrative was always false, even the WWE fans who hate it are delighted that Cody jumped and drastically elevated the post-WrestleMania period.
It almost didn't happen.
Tony Khan met with CM Punk in the winter of 2018. The offer was politely rebuffed; after he was at the centre of UK-based sh*t-show Five Star Wrestling's "$1m" publicity stunt, Punk was wary of a start-up; the "billionaire investor" is such a wrestling urban legend that every wrestler thought Khan was a chancer at first.
While the Young Bucks were drawn to London and convinced he was a legitimate operator, Triple H offered the Elite an unprecedented deal of headliner money and a three month "out" if they weren't satisfied with the creative. Cody meanwhile was caught between his two ambitions: influencing wrestling as an executive and winning the WWE Title. Hangman Page wasn't yet a major star - Khan couldn't have built a debuting TV property around him - and Jericho may not have committed without the Elite. Ultimately, the Bucks didn't seem to entirely trust WWE's pitch and were wary of burying their DIY brand.
Every piece eventually fell into place, but the formation was more precarious than the do-or-die "We're all in to Change the World" marketing indicates.