The start of AEW featured many things coming together at the same time for opportunity and momentum to collide. Tony Khan took notice of the success of the Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega outside of WWE and built his idea around them. Chris Jericho and Jim Ross were important “day one” names as veterans, but there was plenty of other non-WWE names that were thriving and AEW could sign.
Being The Elite played a huge role in the success of the talent when Omega and the Bucks originally launched their YouTube channel. The use shifted from promo videos to a weekly sketch show with their own storylines showcasing their sense of humor. This web series helped launch AEW and played a pivotal role in the careers of many wrestlers.
Lightning In A Bottle
The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega were inspired by prior projects of Colt Cabana and Kevin Owens documenting their lives on the independent wrestling scene. A plan was made to film their travels and fun little videos during their free time in New Japan. The videos started to gain momentum after fans enjoyed the laughter or silliness such as karaoke performances to Pink songs.
Matt and Nick developed a stronger relationship with Ring of Honor when they took a bigger role in the Bullet Club. The free time in between shows influenced the Bucks to branch out the series outside of the usual travel vlogs. Funnier skits involving other wrestlers started to become a bigger part of the equation.
The fan base following the Bucks and Omega welcomed fellow Bullet Club members like Cody Rhodes, Adam Page and Marty Scurll. Members of the Being the Elite crew would become more over with the audience and bigger success stories in general. Funko, Hot Topic and other brands who usually only work with WWE reached out about cutting a deal for their merchandise all partially thanks to BTE.
Taking Over Ring of Honor
When The Elite was kicking off, they were all inside Ring of Honor in top spots. Cody Rhodes won the ROH World Championship for his first world title in the industry. The Young Bucks remained the top tag team usually holding the titles. Adam Page was a rising star the Bucks wanted to help in ROH, and it benefited his career. Even Kenny Omega started to appear for ROH for the first time in many years due to the Being the Elite crew fun.
Matt and Nick started to book storylines on the show like Adam Cole and Omega clashing. Cole signing with WWE led to the BTE crew booking an angle of the Bucks kicking him with Omega’s guidance to have Marty Scurll replace him. It was a tremendous story more captivating than anything ROH booked with talents outside of The Elite.
New acts to ROH like Flip Gordon or SCU got over huge with the ROH audience due to their skits on BTE. The contracts expiring for the Bucks, Cody, Page and Omega led to them all being tempted when Tony Khan reached out. A lifetime of wrestling fandom saw Khan always wanting to start his own promotion, but this wave of momentum reaching such a big fan base convinced him to go for it.
The Elite Had A Chance To Make History In AEW
AEW gave wrestling the biggest promotion outside of WWE since WCW went out of business. Ring of Honor did a poor job realizing that the bigger audiences for live events were due to the Being The Elite crew more than the actual ROH television show. Fans would chant along to the inside jokes from BTE while being silent for matches featuring names like Bully Ray.
The low ball offer from ROH and the desire to make history in AEW convinced most of The Elite members to jump ship. Tony Khan also offered Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks bigger backstage roles as Executive Vice Presidents. No one could have expected this foursome would have become powerful names in the industry.
It all started as a web series consisting of friends looking to have fun and help each other out. The show is still going today with the weekly skits helping new talents get over. Brodie Lee leading the Dark Order became one of the hottest acts in the company due to the web show. AEW is currently telling their best story of Adam Page’s redemption after his falling out with The Elite – something that started on BTE as the spirit lives stronger in AEW.