Back before Vincent Kennedy McMahon completely changed the game of professional wrestling, wrestlers would jump from promotion to promotion or back then called territory. It would keep the wrestler’s act fresh and not overstay its welcome. It created new matches and feuds instead of the same stuff we see today. Back then the profession was kept a secret and the fans, young or old, were 100% invested in everything they saw.
I know with today’s era of technology that the secrecy is gone, we see the gimmicks are just that… gimmicks. Fans today know more about the business than ever before and while that can be a good thing, it is causing more harm than good.
Wrestling hit its peak during the Monday Night wars with WWE (then WWF) going head-to-head with its rival WCW. Some fans were loyal to WWE, some to WCW and some who loved both. This battle over supremacy pushed both companies to put on the absolute best shows they could with the goal of topping one another in the ratings.
WCW whooped WWE for a very long time but with Stone Cold Steve Austin who drew recording numbers in television viewers, something to this day will never be touched, WWE came out on top. What back then didn’t have was the internet and social media.
While social media is a fantastic tool to use to reconnect with old friends, share photos of your families, etc, it has also created a toxic monster. If you go on any post, you will see some nice comments and you will see some disrespectful ones. Why? Because behind a keyboard everyone feels like they can say what they want without any type of consequence.
With WWE having no competition, their product was boring, repetitive and lazy. Tony Khan started up All Elite Wrestling and due to his wealth and connections he was able to build an impressive roster and build quite the following without even running its first show.
Why? Because finally the wrestling world had competition. It is fresh and exciting and not McMahon driven.
AEW started out red hot and within just a few short years was pulling in some incredible crowds with the likes of 80,000 people for a pay per view. Just remarkable.
It didn’t take long for the viciousness of each company’s diehard fans and “internet marks” to come out. Taking shots for hiring a recent released star or beating them in ratings. It went from 0 to 100 real fast and then from 100 to 1,000,000. It went from respectful debating to becoming so toxic wrestlers themselves will get off social media for a while because it is affecting their mental health.
Because we have access to so much information in the wrestling world that used to be kept a secret, fans nowadays not only think they know everything but will purposely attack you if you disagree. What should be fun suddenly isn’t.
We are allowed to support the company we like. We are allowed to disagree with individuals but this toxic rubbish that we spew needs to go.
Who cares if AEW signs a bunch of ex-WWE talent? Tony would be silly not to. As a businessman you have a free agent with a big fan following, why wouldn’t you try your hardest to bring as many of that person’s following over as possible by signing these ex-WWE stars. Wrestlers should jump from promotion to promotion, much like in the territory days. It keeps them relevant and fresh.
AEW and Tony Khan take way more heat than they should. People tear them apart because of their lack of storytelling, blah blah blah. WWE is story-based, AEW isn’t as much and that is a good thing. If AEW was running with the same formula WWE runs with, then why watch?
AEW is different than WWE and the fans need that and need to embrace that. AEW showcases athleticism over storylines. If you pay attention they actually juggle the 2 nicely, appeasing both fans of storytelling and fans of some high-flying, intense ring action.
If more fans would embrace the fact that we need WWE and AEW to exist and be successful for the overall business.
AEW needs to stay the way AEW is and WWE needs to stay the way WWE. Plain and simple. Both have incredible rosters, both put on incredible shows and both need each other.
AEW hurts itself with its continued jabs at WWE. At first it worked but years later, it’s getting old. While Tony and his crew might think it is ok to throw some shade, it comes across as petty. Stay focused on the product and less on what WWE does.
Another thing that has damaged AEW is the perception of backstage chaos. On the outside it seems as if Tony loses control more than he should and when fans hear more and more of these issues it tends to turn people off. In-house issues should always remain in-house and that goes for any company. The fans only need to know who’s wrestling and when.
The whole CM Punk/AEW thing was one that damaged AEW bad and it will take some serious work to fix. Whatever happened behind the scenes involving Punk isn’t any of mine or the outside world’s business. Again, it wasn’t a good look. Then releasing the video of the backstage fight was not only childish but it made Tony Khan look like an immature boss who is a wrestling mark that used his rich dad’s money to start a wrestling company.
People love to hate on Tony and his love for his talent. I wish I had bosses who treated me that way. Vince viewed his talent as a business and would chew you up and spit you out faster than anything. Khan respects the business whereas Vince thought he was God and could walk on water and without him nobody would be a star.
At the end of the day, I know this toxicity will continue but at some point, we need to walk away from that. If you don’t like what you saw that is fine. If you loved what you saw, perfect. Both are right and neither are wrong because it is how both felt.
We need to embrace that instead of going straight to the hateful side. If you embrace it more, you might start to understand their sides a bit more which might open your eyes up to a whole different world because you were so tunnel visioned on the one you could have missed some amazing moments.
WWE needs AEW to succeed and AEW needs WWE to succeed and us fans need both to succeed for both companies to continue to grow. We need to embrace competition, and we need to accept every fan has their own likes and dislikes and their own versions of why they like certain companies or wrestlers or matches.
At the end of the day, we as people need to focus on positivity more than we do because this toxic stuff is wearing out its welcome. When fans cause wrestlers/ human beings to close their social media accounts because of the hateful things we need to take a step back. They are wrestlers. This is their job. They make mistakes like we all do. At work, we don’t chant “YOU FUCKED UP” when someone makes a mistake. That person is usually upset for making the mistake, so no need to pour more salt on the wound.
If we all band together the business will soar to new heights. Support who you want. Be passionate about it. Be respectful of it because when both companies are firing on all cylinders, the fans are the true winners. Just remember what it was like during that horrible period in the mid-2000’s when WWE was just plain ol’ awful. We don’t want that ever again ok. We need both WWE and AEW to be as successful as they can be as it benefits us fans the most.
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