Why AEW Is Beating WWE At Its Own Game
The days of WWE simply existing as WWE, barely advancing itself with the same format, aesthetic and names on top are over, insofar as the conversation goes. People used to bemoan WWE's drab format. Now they don't care enough to bury it, as revealed by Brandon Thurston's analysis of WWE's search engine penetration, which is at an all-time low since Google first tracked searches in 2004.
Dynamite is routinely defeating RAW in males 18-34 and is on the comeback against the all-important P18-49 demographic - and this time, they don't need the hype of CM Punk, Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson's debuts to make those gains. Ticket sales are generally strong and consistent with the market leader, which they now out-draw in certain taste-making markets. This wasn't meant to happen. NXT 'Black and Gold' was meant to knock the pissant company off its f*cking perch. If that's what AEW did to NXT in two years, what might it do to RAW in 2023 - which, incidentally, is the next round of rights fee negotiations?
Forecasting the future is difficult, and AEW isn't perfect. This article outlines the various booking indulgences that have plagued the promotion over the last two months or so. But it's hotter, more engaging to its core audience, and they have so many matches left to book. WWE meanwhile is running rematches from 2021 at 2022's WrestleMania. This very rarely if ever happened, and is only happening now because WWE can't do what every wrestling promotion needs to do: create new stars.
It's going to take longer than the sub-12 months it took WCW to overtake the WWF - but then, AEW is the long-term storytelling company.