Tony Khan Credits "Hate" Between WWE & AEW For Current Wrestling Boom
The "hate" between WWE and AEW is responsible for the "renaissance" of pro wrestling.
With WWE in particular right now enjoying a wave of success, the professional wrestling industry is in a pretty good spot. Away from the market leader, AEW is an alternative "challenger brand", TNA - despite the loss of Scott D'Amore - has had a strong start to 2024, and the international and independent scenes are full of fantastic promotions that are widely accessible to fans across the globe.
Interestingly, in an interview with IndieWire, Tony Khan cited the hate between AEW and WWE as one of the reasons for the business undergoing somewhat of a "renaissance" over the past few years.
As the AEW President explained:
"There’s a number of big factors that would play into why wrestling has seen such a great renaissance in recent years. I think it comes from the great competition in wrestling right now, and the fact that there are so many great stars competing right now.Everyone knows that the most real thing in wrestling is the competition between the companies. The companies hate each other, and it will be a natural resource that powers the industry. They want to beat each other and take everybody’s free agents, and that makes it interesting for everybody else.”
Of course, WWE is currently selling out arenas on a weekly basis, hitting consistently strong TV ratings, achieving massive merchandise numbers, putting out a product that is creatively the best it's been in years, has penned a ten-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix, and is on the back of a hugely successful WrestleMania.
Where AEW is concerned, last week's Dynamite did pop the highest Dynamite rating for two months, although many have questioned the strategy of showing the CM Punk and Jack Perry All In footage to generate interest for that show. Despite that number, that Dynamite was the 21st week in a row where the show was down in viewership when compared to its equivalent from last year.
The use of "hate" is also quite the term here, particularly with Adam Copeland recently opening a Dynamite by, essentially, telling wrestling fans to just enjoy what they enjoy and to stay away from the negative BS that so often is attached to the industry.