WWE Slams AEW For "Gory Self-Mutilation" Content

"We don't believe that type of dangerous and brutal display is appealing."

by Andrew Pollard
Anna Jay The Bunny
AEW

With the Toronto Star having put a piece together to highlight the competition between WWE and AEW, Vince McMahon's sports entertainment juggernaut has used this report to take a shot at AEW for "gory self-mutilation".

This report stated how SmackDown on Sportsnet360 in Canada averaged 155,000 viewers across 2021, which was 49% higher than the 104,000 viewers averaged by AEW Dynamite on TSN in that same period. While that standard viewership was an easy win for WWE, the 25-54 demographic numbers were a little closer.

In that demo, SmackDown had 71,000 viewers in comparison to Dynamite's 62,000 viewers. The Toronto Star put this tighter split here down to how AEW content is edgier with its violence and language.

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For this article, WWE provided a statement that took a dig at the recent Anna Jay & Tay Conti vs. The Bunny & Penelope Ford match from the New Year's Smash episode of AEW Rampage.

As WWE put it:

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"If you look at the gory self-mutilation that bloodied several women in the December 31 event on TNT, it quickly becomes clear that these are very different businesses. We had an edgier product in the 'Attitude' era, and in a 2022 world we don't believe that type of dangerous and brutal display is appealing to network partners, sponsors, venues, children, or the general public as a whole."

On the AEW side of things, Tony Khan did not comment on WWE's statement, but he did talk to the Star to state how he planned to make AEW the "best wrestling show on television" and that, yes, he expected to make AEW competitive with WWE when he decided to start the promotion.

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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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.