An Elite Challenger

Without question, professional wrestling reached its peak in popularity during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The World Wrestling Federation was engaged in a ruthless battle for ratings supremacy and company survival with World Championship Wrestling. Extreme Championship Wrestling grew from a small renegade promotion in Philadelphia and became a national phenomenon and formidable challenger to both WCW and the WWF. All three companies were putting on excellent matches and pay-per-view worthy television shows with an unbelievably deep roster. Ratings for pro wrestling television programs skyrocketed as quality programming became the weekly standard. That changed when ECW folded and WCW was bought by the WWF.

The battlefield became quiet as Vince McMahon's pro wrestling juggernaut emerged as the sole survivor. The WWF eventually became World Wrestling Entertainment and with no real threat to ratings or profits, the quality of WWE programming began to decline as did pro wrestling's popularity. It seemed as if the company began to rest on its laurels. Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling have since emerged from the rubble left from the Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWE, but they do. It have the financial backing or popularity to really be contenders to WWE's throne. New Japan Pro Wrestling has made strides in garnering the interest of American wrestling fans, but the time zone difference and lack of a real television deal is a tough obstacle to overcome for the Japanese wrestling promotion. The reign of WWE over the professional wrestling world looked like it would last forever. If a pro wrestling company were to challenge WWE for the crown, it would need to be an elite challenger. Enter All Elite Wrestling.

Following the success of the independent "All In" wrestling event that featured wrestlers from promotions such as ROH, TNA, NJPW, and the National Wrestling Alliance among others, speculation on if top ROH stars and "All In" masterminds Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks would start their own promotion ran rampant. Trademarks for "All Elite Wrestling" were filed for in November and Rhodes, the Young Bucks, and several other of ROH's top wrestler left the promotion in December. On January 1, 2019, All Elite Wrestling's creation was officially announced. The next day, the father and son duo of Shahid Khan and Tony Khan were announced as company investors with Tony also serving as company president. The Khans are billionaires as well as part owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League and Fulham Football Club of the Premier League and are reportedly backing the new wrestling promotion with a $100 million investment.

The first shots of what could be a new wrestling war were fired on January 8 when AEW held its inaugural press conference at TIAA Bank Field which is the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Wrestling fans packed the conference as WWE's SmackDown television program was airing live from Jacksonville later that night. At the conference, AEW announced a working relationship with Chinese professional wrestling company Oriental Wrestling Entertainment as well as some of the wrestlers signed to the AEW roster. Notable wrestlers already under the AEW brand include Christopher Daniela, Frankie Kazarian, Scorpio Sky, Pac (who competed in WWE as Neville), and Chris Jericho.

While it is still early and AEW has yet to produce an official show or announce any sort of television deal at the time that this lost was written, many wrestling reporters and fans, including myself, see AEW as a legitimate competitor to WWE. Apparently WWE might be feeling the same way. The company was reportedly turning away people from the SmackDown airing in Jacksonville who were wearing AEW merchandise. The company's inaugural event, "Double or Nothing," is set for May 25, 2019. There is still plenty of time for AEW to not only announce a television deal and build toward the event but also sign more wrestlers to its roster. The Revival and Mike Bennett have recently requested their release from WWE. I wouldn't be shocked if they wind up in AEW, and if they are first of a number of WWE defections.

As a wrestling fan, I am very excited for AEW. Having another legitimate professional wrestling company that has both the talent and the financial backing to compete with WWE is a fantastic development for the wrestling industry as a whole. Not only does it give fans another option to get their pro wrestling fix, but it can also bring about a surge in wrestling popularity and quality. The Monday Night Wars took professional wrestling a to unprecedented heights. Maybe AEW can be the catalyst to launch another wrestling boom.

Phoning It In?

Before you dive into this post, please let me make one thing clear. I am a diehard fan of World Wrestling Entertainment. I fell in love with the world of professional wrestling when I was kid during the Attitude Era. Guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock ran wild in WWE and factions like the New World Order dominated World Championship Wrestling. It was a great time to be a wrestling fan. As I watch the product now though, I can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed with what WWE has become. The lack of creativity in storytelling by WWE officials is appalling. It sometimes feels as if WWE is phoning it in until Wrestlemania season. In this post I will discuss why I feel WWE is in need of a major shakeup to make it must see television again.

A major shakeup can come very easily in two different ways. Creating better characters is probably the most obvious way of doing that. Guys like Wade Barrett, Alberto Del Rio, and Sheamus are stagnant to me. They are all fine when it comes to in ring ability, but their characters are just too boring. Much like John Cena’s babyface persona is in major need of a heel turn to make him refreshing and add depth to his character, these guys need more character development in order for me to care that they are heels. Personally, I find them pretty boring and until WWE can find a way to make me invest in them and give me a reason to truly despise these heels, I, like much of the WWE universe, will continue to see them as boring.

Another way to shake tings up is with better storylines. Team ECW versus the Wyatt Family was just thrown together, and Tyler Breeze versus Dolph Ziggler has become very bland. These wrestlers are all very talented, but poor storytelling on WWE’s part has made me care very little about them. The stories are repetitive and a bit lazy in the creative department, and WWE needs to fix this immediately.

I am not a WWE hater or a “smark.” I am a fan of WWE and while a lot of WWE programming has been bad as of late, there are some good. Guys like Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, and the New Day have well developed characters and are masters at capturing the attention of the audience. The Dean Ambrose versus Seth Rollins rivalry and the Daniel Bryan versus the Authority feud were two of the best pieces of storytelling that WWE has produced in the past few years. This proves that WWE is capable of producing intriguing stories with captivating characters that make the audience invest in them. Wrestlemania season and the “Attitude Era” are prime examples of that. If WWE could do this on a weekly basis, then perhaps its rating for Raw and Smackdown might reverse its current downward trend.

I really hope WWE smells the coffee and wakes up to the fact that its product is in a state of staleness. Something needs to be done to make it interesting again. Shake things up ,WWE. I am begging you to stop phoning it in until Wrestlemania season. Make wrestling fun again.