WWE Vs AEW - The New Wrestling War
Failure isn’t merely a blow to AEW; it is a blow to all of professional wrestling. The TV deal is so unprecedented because sponsors are (or were) adverse to pro wrestling. American sports and pseudo-sports alike are invariably dominated by the franchise players. A start-up is (or was) a non-starter, and the conditions for this market shake-up took two long decades to materialise. AEW is a realised dream for its founders and fanbase alike: a company supported by billionaire funds aimed directly onto the nose of those most committed to what we may now again refer to as this great sport. If AEW fails, proper, big-time pro wrestling fails, too.
The rules of narrative almost dictate change. Simply, irrespective of the Fox and Saudi safeguards, WWE’s lack of real popularity is unsustainable. Whether this change is viable or not is impossible to determine. We are in the exciting unknown.
Everything now is pure speculation, unrealised anticipation—but isn't that the fun of it? Isn’t that precisely what we have missed?
Ctrl + F every cautiously optimistic Bray Wyatt Reddit thread, really, about the only resoundingly popular WWE development right now, and the word 'ruin' pops out like fireflies. WWE has almost destroyed what it means to promote. Traced back to its very origins, pro wrestling relied on carnival barkers to beckon in the crowd under the promise of a big fight, and WWE’s rapidly diminishing fanbase—this week’s SmackDown posted yet another record low rating—no longer believes in that promise. WWE was opposed by fierce competition, on the night.
Something more fierce this way comes.
In simply promising something new and exciting, reinforced by the manifested promise of ALL IN, AEW has won the first battle, the success of which can't be measured.
Yet.