Why Tony Khan's AEW Nightmare Could Come True In January

5. AEW As The Better, Obvious Option

Triple H Kazuchika Okada Tony Khan
AEW

Upon its launch, AEW was painted as an alternative to WWE. For fans and for talent, this was the ideal destination for those looking to avoid the nefarious, no-good ways of the Vince McMahon-led market leader. And truthfully, that was indeed the case for a good while.

From its inception, All Elite Wrestling immediately had a boost in credibility, in turn impacting perception, by having white-hot names like Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks very publicly choose to join this start-up in favour of being swayed by the money and mainstream platform of WWE. Added to that, a disgruntled Jon Moxley soon decided that AEW would be the perfect place for him to shake the shackles of that WWE environment and get the sour taste out of his mouth.

For anyone in doubt, the signing of such names indicated to the wrestling world that AEW was the place to be, and was viewed by some of the biggest stars in the industry as being a preferable option to a WWE who had essentially monopolised the industry for nearly 20 years.

Even with the recent announcement that Will Ospreay will be joining AEW in 2024 once his New Japan Pro-Wrestling deal is up, that was another example of one of the best wrestlers in the world showing his hand and proclaiming AEW as the place he sees best suited for his future - particularly with the Aerial Assassin having reportedly chosen AEW over WWE.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.