The 5 Most Defining Moments In Pro Wrestling for 2019

3. All Elite Wrestling forms

What began as a phone call from Tony Khan to change the world became a movement for Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks.

When the trio first announced All Elite Wrestling on New Years Day, it immediately took the wrestling world by storm. The promotion filled 2019 with memorable events like Double Or Nothing, All Out, and Fight for the Fallen.

What makes AEW different is they keep a ranking system of wins and losses. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a storyline, but that will not be the only determining factor in who gets a title shot. This moves away from traditional “pushes” that wrestlers are known to get by promotions looking to make them the top draw.

They also have very few segments, focusing entirely on the in-ring action. They still do in-ring promos, but most of those lead to the next match or to new storylines.

These differences have resulted in AEW receiving good reviews, and garnering good viewership each week.  Their success thus far has forced WWE to place NXT in the same time block on Wednesday nights. This is now known as the  “Wednesday Night Wars”.

According to Figure Four Online’s Bryan Alvarez, NXT and AEW tied in weekly ratings on Dec. 11. This goes to show fans are checking out all the promotions and there are no clear favorites. For the fans, it’s not about competition, or running the other promotion out of business.

It’s about enjoying the fact pro wrestling is on TV in a major way. Whatever the two promotions have going on at the corporate level is irrelevant.