The emergence of All Elite Wrestling signaled a new era in the world of professional wrestling and many fans were hopeful that the new era would bring forth a tidal wave of change. The genre of sports entertainment had been monopolized by the WWE for so very long that the company itself was complacent to the point of creative bankruptcy.
TNA never stood a chance as the promotion simply lacked the finances and, of course, with the remnants of WCW such as Hogan, Bischoff, and Russo scourging around the company, the already dimly lit ember of TNA fizzled away in terror. They had Russo in there after all.
AEW, however, was different. The company had the backing of a billionaire family and Tony Khan, the president of the promotion, possessed unmistakable fandom for the business. Khan had coffers to burn through and for the first time in two decades, since the demise of WCW, Vince McMahon would be challenged for the top position in the industry.
Many were certain that a wrestling boom was on the horizon as competition drives positive effort. WCW had backed McMahon into a corner and fans were blessed with the Attitude Era. Surely, AEW was capable of pulling off the same feat.
Is This The Monday Night Wars 2.0 Or Just Wishful Thinking?
WWE and AEW have clashed into a war of ratings several times and while many thought that WWE would steamroll the empire of Tony Khan, AEW has hung in there and even outscored its rival in the key demographic several times.
The discussion is lively and heated between the supporters and detractors of the two promotions, and as long as AEW continues to exist, the promotion will be hailed as a rival and even an antithesis to WWE.
However, as impactful and fierce as the Monday Night Wars were, this current battle between AEW and WWE does not come anywhere close. In fact, the much-touted WWE vs. AEW feud might even be overrated and overstated.
Much has changed in the world since the 1990s and back then, WWE and WCW used to lock horn weekly and battle it out for ratings. But in modern times, with the dominance of social media and the digital world, television is no longer the dominant form of media.
People nowadays stick to streaming services and sites such as YouTube for their daily fix of entertainment and this is perfectly illustrated by the fact that despite record-low ratings, WWE is posting record profits every year or so.
More importantly, ratings and viewership dominance aside, Vince McMahon does seem to care as much anymore. As stated before, AEW has beaten WWE in the key demographic a number of times and has gone on to acquire the contracts of popular superstars such as CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, but their rival in Stanford has yet to budge in response.
Indeed, not much has changed in WWE with regards to the programming, and the company is still going ahead and doing what they have done in the past decade with little to no deviation. When WCW came at Vince McMahon, the chairman took measures to compete with the threat and revamped his program to secure a convincing victory.
WWE went as far as to change the name of the flagship show, as Raw was renamed 'Raw is War', signifying that the company was dead serious about competing with and annihilating WCW.
The Numerous Releases Paint A Clear Picture
The numerous releases in recent times are the biggest indication that WWE is not even thinking about a war against AEW. The company has cut a number of performers with no care in the world.
Back in the 1990s, the WWE would have never released a superstar the caliber of Braun Strowman without a very strong reason. But as Strowman was let go, superstars such as John Morrison, Bray Wyatt, and Karrion Kross followed. With all these “budget cuts” occurring without rhyme or reason, the morale of the roster is in tatters but again, the company is least concerned and many predict that more releases will follow.
With the emergence of AEW, fans were hoping for change and not just in the overall landscape of the professional wrestling industry, but in the WWE itself. WCW had facilitated change during the Monday Night Wars so many fans were hopeful that with AEW gaining ground, the older corporation would rise to the occasion as before.
A few years into this saga, and WWE has yet to give an indication that the company takes competition as seriously as it did before.
With numerous rumors swirling around — something about a sale and whatnot — the WWE seem to be moving on to someplace entirely different. The company values the brand over the performing athletes and in a few years’ time, AEW versus WWE might just be comparing apples to oranges.