What If... Tony Khan NEVER Launched AEW

Each of the biggest promotions on the planet would look completely different without Khan's Elite alternative knocking about.

For starters, had AEW not forced them to up their game and showed them just how much of an appetite their audience had for world class in-ring action and slow-burn narratives, WWE aren't putting out their most engaging work in decades.

They're not selling out buildings month after month without a certain Bloodline Saga - one that was no doubt influenced by the success of AEW's own long-term Elite/Hangman Page tale - or Cody Rhodes - who wouldn't be the bona fide babyface megastar he is today without his time as one of the faces of AEW.

And in a world with no AEW, perhaps Triple H's black and gold version of NXT is still one of the hottest products in the game. It likely would have still ended up on USA at some point anyway. But without the alternative absolutely destroying it during the Wednesday Night Wars, that odd 2.0 era would have probably never occurred and NXT could have remained the smaller WWE territory where independent darlings go to earn a decent paycheque putting on thrilling displays on the TakeOver stage.

NJPW and ROH both would perhaps be in stronger health than they are today, too, with the likes of Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, The Young Bucks, and Cody Rhodes leaving those particular promotions when they did to live the AEW dream all unquestionably contributing to their drop in popularity.

Or maybe WWE are actually eventually successful in their bids to purchase the aforementioned ROH without Khan competing to add to his growing wrestling empire, with ROH becoming a tab on the WWE Network rather than a barely watched extension of AEW.

Khan's vision of what professional wrestling should be, however, did ultimately lead to the kicking down of many a door. Some of them were even once seen as "Forbidden" and would have probably remained that way had he invested his money in another sports franchise instead.

A top American promotion putting on crossover showcases with the likes of AAA, CMLL, NJPW, Impact, and ROH just wasn't a conceivable thing in the 2018 wrestling landscape, with WWE often acting like the wrestling world outside their doors simply did not exist since the turn of the century.

The lending of talents and building of actual relationships has benefited both an audience who will not grow tired of witnessing a once-unthinkable "dream match" and the wrestlers themselves who longed to test themselves all over the globe.

WWE have even gotten in on the crossover action recently, throwing out stars to appear on Bloodsport and Pro Wrestling Noah, and even inviting Impact wrestlers to appear in Royal Rumbles. None of that happens pre-Khan AEW launch and possibly never would if he kept his wallet in his pocket.

But what about the actual action itself...