The top three professional wrestling companies in North America today are WWE, AEW, and Impact Wrestling. If you are a fan of wrestling, then at least one of these promotions will be a favorite, with them all offering a wide scope of different styles, storytelling, and presentation.It is true that each company won’t cater to everyone, but all have their distinct positives and negatives, even with them all being at different stages of life and tenure. Whilst there are undoubtedly countless more, here are three reasons for fans to tune in to watch each of AEW, WWE, and Impact.
9 AEW: Tag Team Wrestling
Every company has different styles of wrestling, but a common thread between nearly every promotion, is that they have a tag team division. However, there is perhaps no other place in the world that treats tag team wrestling with as much importance as AEW.
The division is stacked up to the roof with a mixture of incredible teams, including Young Bucks, reDragon, FTR, Jurassic Express, The Hardys, Blackpool Combat Club, Lucha Bros, and many more, with that list just scratching the surface. Tag team matches are given time to tell stories and to provide variety on every show, with it feeling just as important as everything else in AEW.
8 WWE: Big Names And Legends
When thinking about the biggest names in wrestling history, heads point towards WWE. The likes of Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, Edge, Randy Orton, The McMahon Family, and Ronda Rousey, are among the most recognizable and big money names in wrestling.
WWE also has a lot of legends that make comebacks, even for one-offs, with WWE being the only place to really see the likes of Steve Austin, Goldberg, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, and The Rock, even if it is only sporadically and for cameo appearances.
7 Impact: Gives People A Chance
When looking at the Impact roster, there will be several recognizable names that have appeared in other companies, notably in WWE. Brian Myers, Deonna Purrazzo, Eric Young, Heath, Jonah, Mike Bennett, Tenille Dashwood, Matt Cardona, Steve Maclin, Chelsea Green, and the list goes on and on, are all WWE alumni.
These names were near the bottom of the card, or never made it out of NXT, but in Impact, they are able to show just how talented they are, and it is worth checking out to see what those wrestlers are capable of when the chains are off, and Impact provides that opportunity.
6 AEW: In-Ring Quality
There is a big focus on in-ring action in AEW, with most weeks kicking off straight away with a match. There are stakes attached to every contest too, with wins and losses playing into the ranking system, making every match mean something.
On top of that, the in-ring work is stellar, with every style accepted. From Rey Fenix, to Wardlow, to Bryan Danielson, to Darby Allin, to Orange Cassidy, every walk of life in terms of variety is welcomed, and it makes for every show to be enjoyable. AEW have produced countless classics since their inception, with PPVs being consistently full of match of the year candidates.
5 WWE: Production Value
At times, the camera cuts can be nauseating, but aside from that, no wrestling company on the planet looks as clean and crisp as WWE programming. It is professional, and everything from the entrance stage to the announce table looks like it belongs to the number one wrestling show in the world.
The shows run like clockwork, which may be tiresome for some, but the longevity and history of WWE is unmatched. Sound quality, picture quality, being able to see the size of the crowd, make for great production value and easy viewing.
4 Impact: Creative Freedom
Although it has been a few years since it occurred, Matt Hardy’s Broken Universe tells you all you need to know about how open Impact can be to unique, strange, and completely crazy creative decisions.
In a way, this ties into the previous point, but the wrestlers who may not have gotten a chance anywhere else, are allowed to use their own ideas and creativity to develop better characters in Impact, and at times, it makes for great storytelling and fills the shows with variety.
3 AEW: Long-Term Storytelling
When tuning into AEW every week, it feels like a running series where things are constantly happening and changing, with the characters being full of depth and development, like they would on any other TV show, with every character feeling as though they are doing something, if only minor.
Storylines can play out of over months, which is hugely rewarding for viewers when it pays off. The “Hangman” Adam Page storyline speaks for itself as being one of the best journeys in wrestling history, and other examples of great and lengthy feuds include MJF and Wardlow, which has been brewing for years, and the slow but steady implosion of The Elite.
2 WWE: Stadium Shows
Outside of perhaps Wrestle Kingdom in NJPW, and even then, that falls short to many of WWE’s big shows, no other company produces show that are on the size and scale that WWE does, with them only getting larger and larger, with the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam recently moving up in terms of attendance.
WrestleMania is a spectacle, Royal Rumble is one of the most hotly anticipated events each year, and even the Saudi Arabia shows hold a certain aura due to how much money is pumped into them. You won’t find shows like this anywhere else in wrestling, especially in the case of WrestleMania, which feels huge regardless of how good the weekly programming is.
1 Impact: Women’s Wrestling
WWE may have bigger names, but Impact’s Knockouts division is the best in the world, mostly because of how well it is booked. Impact is the place where the women on the roster feel the most equal with the men, making them one of the more important promotions in wrestling because of that alone.
Both the singles and tag team division are treated with respect, given time, and the performers on the show feel like stars, with several wrestlers given much more of a platform to display what they can do, more than they would elsewhere.