First of all, if you think of Wrestling as a four letter word that starts with an F, then I suggest you Get the "F" out.
WWE did.
Now if you're in your early 20s or less and don't know Wrestling History that well, sit back and let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time Vince McMahon's WWF/E wasn't the only wrestling promotion in the country. Wrestling territories in the North America such as the National Wrestling Alliance, AWA, Stampede Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions. Of course, when McMahon elevated his WWF promotion to a global stage in the mid-80s with superstars such as Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Macho Man Randy Savage, they dominated and absorbed most of their competition away as one major wrestling network.
The last great territory battle and perhaps the greatest era in wrestling history was the Monday Night Wars between Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling and McMahon's World Wrestling Federation. Oh my goodness it was a glorious time, as epic as the Civil War. It's crazy to think that WCW nearly put the almighty McMahon out of business, but the WWF managed to overcome an 83 week losing streak to Turner's promotion with their epic Attitude Era. The signature story of that era was Vince himself becoming an evil boss character onscreen as Mr. McMahon, the foil to the rebellious Texas rattlesnake that became the Wars biggest icon, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
I can honestly go on forever about the Monday Night War and I was only a toddler during it.
Ultimately, WCW went from owning WWF in a two year stretch to completely collapsing under them. In April of 2001, Vince McMahon himself bought WCW and thereby ended the last great territory war in wrestling.
Sinec 2001, there have been a couple of new promotions that attempted competing with the land of the giants. The closet of which was TNA, but terrible booking and backstage politics from old WCW heads eventually drove TNA down to the dumps without ever coming close to giving WWE a run for their money.
So if TNA couldn't be a valid alternative to WWE, what can be?
The answer to that is something that seemingly came out of no where. That answer being All Elite Wrestling.
AEW was founded by Tony Khan, the co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars but the company was spearheaded by independent wrestlers Cody Rhodes and a tag-team known as the Young Bucks. Rhodes, or billed in AEW as just Cody, is the son of the late "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, one of the most famous wrestlers of all-time. Cody himself had a nice career in WWE under several gimmicks but never ultimately ascended to a main event spot, eventually leading his departure to the indies.
The unlikely rise in popularity in AEW is striking, as they've already garnered more buzz worldwide than TNA ever did. Rather than taking WWE cast-offs, they've taken valuable WWE commodities. Chris Jericho, one of the most decorated WWE wrestlers of all-time, made the surprising jump to AEW as it's likely first world champion. And making his AEW debut at the end of their first pay-per-view, Double or Nothing was former WWE champion Dean Ambrose, now billed under his indy name Jon Moxley. AEW plucked a WWE superstar in his prime, and Moxley certainly won't be the last to make the jump. In fact, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, one of the most iconic wrestlers of all-time, even introduced the new AEW world championship belt, an incredible endorsement from a man who knows wrestling better than anyone. Oh, and AEW has Good ole JR Jim Ross as their lead commentator.
Despite me not liking the direction and booking of the WWE over the past several years, I still love Vince McMahon. I will always love and appreciate what he created with the WWE and elevating it into what it's become today. Even with the many controversies that has followed McMahon and WWE over the decades, I will always be Team Vince in my heart of hearts. That said, Vince is an old man, and WWE has looked like it's been run by an old man for awhile now.
AEW is not only a promotion that might make him turn his head back to notice, but it's the competition that he's probably been waiting for deep down since he took WCW. (Well in storyline it was his son Shane who bought WCW from under his nose which started the WCW vs. WWF invasion angle which didn't work out because contracts and reasons.)
Rather than stay stuck under the thick glass ceiling that is WWE, wrestlers can now break free from the commercial and publicly traded company to a place where they can shine creatively in All Elite Wrestling.
WWE employees will never admit to liking AEW, but deep down they know it's the shot in the arm the pro wrestling business needs.
