WWE Just Changed The Wrestling World Forever

AEW was a platform that allowed them to curate their legacy as artists without starving. The phrase "selling out" is rotten - the pro wrestler doesn't owe anything to the fan, particularly when so many of them will consider them worse than sh*t for plying their trade in a promotion with three different initials - but virtually every artist can't ignore the lure of long-term security forever.

The pro wrestler, in short, wants it all: the spotlight, the praise, the adulation, the money. What if they can get all of that - in that order - by carving their legacy in AEW and making the megastar money in WWE?

What if AEW in some indirect way functions as WWE developmental? What if Tony Khan's meticulous, patient star-making process ultimately benefits the opposition?

That might be an overblown way of looking at things, and AEW's track record of developing new stars is so strong that, ultimately, a handful of defections might not matter much at all - but the wrestling world is very different now than it was just last week.

Without being too blasé or cynical about things, if nothing changes in WWE for some time yet, any potential ex-AEW talents will get booked like total sh*t. The promotion is dire, and while that's a subjective opinion, it's one shared by a lot of wrestlers. They know that they run the risk of undermining their legacy in the scripted 50/50 sludge. Even Orton, a star who wins more often than not, a star that they've considered of top five importance for two full decades, is sometimes asked to set demon clowns on fire and sell fear of his doppelgänger.

But the wrestler also knows that they can always get their heat back.

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