All Elite Wrestling
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All Elite Wrestling: Adding to WWE’s growing competition

Qasim Mujtaba Naqvi·
WWE
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The worst periods for WWE’s viewership have coincided with the establishment of true competition – and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) provides just that…

The introduction of WWE Superstar Shake-up in late 2016 generated a new wave of optimism for wrestling fans. With the rosters overloaded, the return of the brand split and traditional draft was long overdue. It proved better for the WWE than the unified ‘Super Show’ it’d been peddling. The new split even brought back legends and added new faces from NXT. Excitement was ripe, and the draft looked set to improve ratings.

Four years later, WWE hit an all-time low rating on Monday Night Raw. The 2019 edition of Superstar Shake-up, which was made an annual affair after its inception, still couldn’t help viewership. The faltering numbers, coupled with the emergence of the first real competitor WWE has had since the turn of the millennium, should have Vince McMahon sweating. Former employee Cody Rhodes has formed All Elite Wrestling (AEW) with the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. The promotion is backed by Pakistani-American billionaire Shahid Khan, who also owns Fulham F.C. and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It’s the first time the WWE is looking at actual competition since McMahon bought out World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from Ted Turner and co. in the late 1990s. Funnily enough, AEW hasn’t even published a show under its banner yet. Their first official show is at the MGM-Grand Arena in Las Vegas on May 25th – and was sold out in 4 minutes after tickets went on sale. Double or Nothing promises to begin a new generation of wrestling and its potential has fans drooling.

Apart from globally renowned superstars Rhodes, Omega, and the Bucks, All Elite Wrestling has pulled off massive coups by signing Chris Jericho and Goldust. The latter will wrestle under his real name, Dustin Rhodes, against his brother, Cody. Moreover, Mexican tag-team sensation The Lucha Bros. (Pentagón Jr. and Fénix) are part of the roster, along with huge independent names like PAC (known as Neville in WWE) and Hangman Page.

The wrestling fan-base is craving an alternative to what they feel is lazy storytelling from WWE, and nothing fits the bill like a product that challenges their monopoly on wrestling both within the United States and worldwide. If anything, AEW promises to force the WWE to raise the bar drastically or risk losing more fans. Setting aside company loyalists, wrestling faithful won’t mind changing the channel – especially with AEW wrapping up their TV deal with TNT.

Ratings have already begun to drop, and this ought to set the alarm bells ringing for the company’s management. A number of WWE talents have either asked to be released, ran down their contracts, or are simply waiting to leave for what they feel are greener pastures. These include former World Champion Dean Ambrose,  who’s heavily linked to AEW after a very public departure from WWE; tag-team stars The Revival; and female juggernaut Sasha Banks. The people behind All Elite Wrestling sold out All In at Madison Square Garden last year, and seem well-equipped for a fight with the world’s biggest sports entertainment company.

One thing’s for sure: the winners in this entire situation are the fans and the talent. It affords wrestlers the freedom to choose between career options without taking massive pay-cuts and undermines the ‘negotiation tools’ used by the historically treacherous WWE. Meanwhile, fans will be hoping to see the two products try and outdo each other to gain their support, and that promises the kind of high quality entertainment we’ve been starved of lately. Here’s hoping this heralds a new dawn for the wrestling world.