WWE/AEW: Let’s stop comparing the Street Profits and Private Party

The Street Profits and Private Party are two exciting teams in WWE and AEW (and pro wrestling in general). That is where the comparison needs to end.

Wrestling fans will always play the comparison game. Looking at one competitor and likening that individual to another one either in another promotion or one from days past. It’s a fun practice to help describe what makes some great and others underwhelming. But what about when it’s done out of laziness and stereotypical characterization? The Street Profits in WWE and Private Party in AEW stand as two current examples of talented performers being grouped together for nothing more than the color of their skin.

It’s a lazy practice that must end, but unfortunately, the almost unintentional practice continues.

Both Private Party and Street Profits are two teams that have fans excited about tag team wrestling. Party is killing it over in AEW, putting on high-flying matches with spots that leave fans wanting more. The Street Profits are over in the other promotion as two characters who were slowly brought up through NXT to Raw to emerge as a team that fans can get behind.

There are reasons to love everything these teams do inside and out of the ring. Both teams are here at a time where tag team wrestling is reemerging to the place that made it an integral part of wrestling in prior generations.

With that in mind, it’s almost disrespectful for the comparisons between Private Party and Street Profits to be made. There’s very little, if anything, that is the “same” between these two groups.

Private Party is a team that independent wrestling fans will recognize but mainstream wrestling fans would not have known before their debut in AEW. The most minor similarity between the Street Profits and Private Party comes within their gimmick. Private Party are two individuals whose characters, outfits and potentially their fast-paced style is akin to the nightlife scene found in major metro cities. Think of partying in Miami, New York and Los Angeles – that is where you would find Private Party.

The Street Profits, on the other hand, has a gimmick that’s slightly similar and previously problematic for plain sight reasons. Yes, they make fans bounce to their theme music and raise their red solo cups, but that is where the comparison ends. The WWE presents the Street Profits in a different way than the AEW does with Private Party. Fortunately for both groups and the fans involved, both teams are rising to the occasion and getting over organically.

Then there’s no way their in-ring style looks anything close to the same. Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy are two guys who can move around the ring with the best high flyers in the industry today. The influence that their instructor, Amazing Red, had on their style shines through every time they step within the ropes. East Coast wrestling fans will know their work, and now as a part of AEW they will shine for all the fans to see.

The Street Profits are a home-grown effort forged in the WWE Performance Center. After a slow go at first, they’ve become a popular act on the main roster. Montez Ford will break out some of the top rope theatrics while Angelo Dawkins has more of a ground based, brawling attack.

There’s nothing similar about the styles between either of these two teams. No need to compare them for any reason. That doesn’t mean that the Street Profits or Private Party are any less exciting than the other; they just deliver their in-ring work in a different fashion.

Stereotypes abound in professional wrestling to the point where they will not go away. There are near weekly reminders of the work that’s needed for true diversity and inclusion within the sports entertainment realm. One thing that we, as fans, must stop doing is entertaining the lazy comparisons between wrestlers based solely on their skin complexion.

Private Party and Street Profits are nothing alike where it matters. Let’s end the conversation there.