It doesn’t matter what industry is being discussed, but competition is always best for the majority of those involved. Workers, customers, and everyone in between benefit when organizations are forced to contend with quality competition. The only individuals who balk at the idea of fair competition are the owners and shareholders who are constantly focusing on revenue and profits to line their pockets with more money. Anyone who is a fan of professional wrestling and sports entertainment should be concerned about WWE and its intent to quash AEW’s growth.
There’s been a lot of news this week about WWE versus AEW, and it has been coming out in some interesting ways. Even through other promotions. For example, TNA Wrestling entered the chat as rumors popped up about the company potentially moving to a platform that features WWE. The basis would be for the show to move to Wednesday nights to compete against AEW Dynamite.
This comes as WWE increases its efforts to counter program AEW PPVs. News recently broke about a PLE set for September 20, the same day as AEW All Out. Plus, there’s a growing rumor that John Cena’s last match will be booked against another AEW PPV if things work out in WWE’s favor in December.
All this effort is meant to do one thing: quash the growth of All Elite Wrestling. As AEW continues to grow and reach new milestones, additional revenue opportunities open up to the promotion. For example, the move to HBO MAX was seen as a major success for the new company as it was an increase it its previous rights deal. WWE’s actions show that the company’s leadership is looking to stop any of that growth before the momentum becomes too much to contain. Yet, they want the public to believe they do not see AEW as competition.
WWE’s actions are the worst thing for business today
Think about your favorite pastime or form of entertainment. Now, think about what that past time would look like if there were only one major player in the business. Take video games, for example. Imagine if Nintendo were the only company and the only way to play video games was on the Nintendo Switch. The business and available games would look a lot different. The same could be said for movie studios, sneakers, car manufacturers, and several more industries.
Apply that same logic to professional wrestling. For those who remember, there was a long time in which WWE was on top as the largest and nearly the only viable company in the business. What were the results of that? The product was horrible, along with talent and staff being treated so badly that its position became a direct influence to the creation of All Elite Wrestling.
Why would fans, performers, staff, and anyone else with sense want to go back to that? Look no further than the leadership within WWE, TKO Group Holdings, and Endeavor. This was the same practice that was applied to mixed martial arts. Look at the perception of that sport today. While the UFC is thriving as the 800-pound gorilla in the room, other promotions are struggling to stay in business. Fighters are subjected to little opportunity to earn their worth, and the presentation of the product to fans has fallen off a cliff. The product isn’t in a great place, even as individuals like Dana White continue to get richer and gain influence. Is that the world that wrestling fans want? Hopefully not.
If you want sensible analysis of the business side of professional wrestling, don’t go on social media. As some loud “fans” and personalities praise WWE’s actions, be mindful that these steps against All Elite Wrestling are not good for wrestling. They aren’t good for the fans, performers, staff, and everyone in between. Only the rich will get richer from these business practices.