As long as Vince McMahon is in charge, WWE is on its own

No matter what anyone personally believes, Vince McMahon is still the big dog in the wrestling industry. Love him or hate him, he has built a sports entertainment empire that has made the WWE the pinnacle of success. For now, at least.

AEW has been making waves across the wrestling industry for a number of reasons, most of them good. Building bridges between different companies is a big one. WWE claims they want in on the action, but as long a Vince McMahon is in charge that probably won’t happen.

AEW is in the business of friendship

When Kenny Omega won the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley, he did so with Impact Wrestling’s Don Callis at his side. This was the moment that started a collaborative relationship between Impact and AEW that no one saw coming.

So far, this collaboration has mostly involved The Good Brothers showing up on Dynamite while The Hardy Party popped up on Impact. Sammy Guevara was also supposed to be involved in an angle on Impact but that fell apart.

Fans are interested to see where this relationship goes but it’s not the only one by far. She may be injured at the moment but AEW’s Serena Deeb is the current NWA World Women’s Champion. And NWA’s Thunder Rosa has become a mainstay of AEW’s programming.

NJPW and AEW also have a growing working relationship. Jon Moxley is the current IWGP United States Champion, which led to NJPW’s Kenta appearing on Dynamite. At the same time, the NJPW tag team FinJuice have been appearing on Impact.

AEW seems to have kicked off a new wave of cooperation between wrestling companies on both sides of the Pacific. Where it all leads remains to be seen, but it does open up a universe of possibilities for the wrestling world that are important coming out of the pandemic.

Triple H wants in on the action

While this wasn’t always the case, WWE is generally an island into and of itself. It doesn’t often work with other companies in a collaborative fashion. If the company does work with other promotions, it’s usually because they have something to gain from it.

Triple H apparently sees Vince McMahon’s company a lot differently than most people from the outside do. During a conference call prior to NXT TakeOver: WarGames in December 2020, he characterized Vince McMahon’s view of WWE as being “open for business.”

The question came up because of AEW and their bridge building ways. Triple H cited WWE’s recent partnerships with companies like Progress, ICW and Evolve as examples of how they work with other promotions. They aren’t really collaborative relationships, though.

WWE ended up buying Evolve. And their associations with other companies have been characterized as partnerships with options to buy. In Vince McMahon land, cooperation generally seems to lead to control and ownership.

It’s Vince McMahon’s way or the highway

For years, it’s been discussed that Vince McMahon reputedly doesn’t watch other wrestling promotions. Anyone who has watched WWE recently probably wouldn’t be shocked by that. WWE definitely comes across as being produced by people unaware of how the business has changed.

Apparently, that has been doubly true for AEW. Some sites have made the claim that Vince McMahon has never watched AEW. Vince reputedly has people watch their rival’s product, then tell him about it. It’s even less likely that he’s watching Impact, ROH or NJPW.

When WWE talks about building partnerships with other companies, that usually means they’re sizing them up for purchase. That’s not cooperation. That’s domination, and it’s more likely what Vince McMahon means by being “open for business.”

Triple H, on the other hand, may actually want to start building the kind of partnerships that AEW is actually making happen. The problem is that WWE isn’t his house, yet. It still belongs to Vince McMahon. That’s why Aleister Black has been cooling his heels in catering instead of wrestling.

As long as Vince McMahon is in charge of WWE, nothing will will ever change in WWE. That includes actually treating other companies like partners instead of potential acquisitions. If WWE continues to act like it’s above the business, it will never truly be “open for business.”