Jay2K...have you watched All Elite Wrestling yet?

[mjr]

If you have, what do you think of it? I know that Jim Ross is one of the announcers, and I've seen clips on YouTube.

Do you think they can compete with WWE? Or do you think they'll be more like a traveling "Chikara" type promotion?

[YamiNoHime]

If JR Ross is with them, I'll bet they're owned by Vince McMahon behind the scenes

[Jay 2K Winger]

If you have, what do you think of it? I know that Jim Ross is one of the announcers, and I've seen clips on YouTube.

Do you think they can compete with WWE? Or do you think they'll be more like a traveling "Chikara" type promotion?

Not only have I, but I went to the first live TV broadcast in DC. Had a great time, hoping they can maintain momentum and provide a decent alternative to WWE. Direct competition, on a WCW-esque level? Way too soon to tell.

Actually, a few people on the AEW roster have come through Chikara. Chuckie T-- one half of the Best Friends tag team-- was a longtime Chikara staple. Orange Cassidy was likewise a longtime Chikara roster member, under a mask. [Spoiler: He was Fire Ant of the Colony.] And the Dark Order were previously known as the Super Smash Brothers, as Player Uno (Evil Uno) and Stupified/Player Dos (Stu Grayson), and were part of one of Chikara's all-time greatest bits.

John Silver, who is also on the AEW roster, was also in Chikara for a while under a mask. [Spoiler: He was The Shard, part of the Gekido faction.]

My main issue with AEW is they're almost trying to set up too many long-run angles and letting that get in the way of giving the faces some big wins. That there's at least four heel factions (The Inner Circle, The Dark Order, The Nightmare Family, and Butcher/Blade/Bunny), three of which are trying to recruit, strikes me as a bit much.

If JR Ross is with them, I'll bet they're owned by Vince McMahon behind the scenes

They aren't. AEW is owned by the Khans, who also own the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tony Khan handles most of it, but the show is pretty much run by Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

(warning: long-time rasslin' fan)

I hope that they don't burn themselves out too soon. It seems like what they're doing is trying to put on a huge show, every show, for the fans in the building and they're not pacing themselves to building something to be a super-huge show for a PPV.

I keep worrying that it'll be the next "Super World of Sports"...

[Jay 2K Winger]

(warning: long-time rasslin' fan)

I hope that they don't burn themselves out too soon. It seems like what they're doing is trying to put on a huge show, every show, for the fans in the building and they're not pacing themselves to building something to be a super-huge show for a PPV.

I keep worrying that it'll be the next "Super World of Sports"...

Oh, don't get me wrong, I hope they don't burn themselves out too soon, and doing some long-term building and slow-burn storytelling is all to the good, but they need to have some short-term payoffs as well to keep the fans hyped and keep people coming back.

This is something that NXT has been doing well. They're good with slow-burn storytelling (Sami Zayn's path to the title; Bayley's rise; the entire Gargano/Ciampa story) but also good at capturing that short-term hype and payoff (Dakota Kai's heel turn; the recent Angel Garza/Lio Rush feud; Roddy Strong joining UE) and it's one reason I tend to tune into NXT more than I do to AEW-- though I still follow AEW and try to watch what I can of it.


It's a great time to be a wrestling fan. You can get fresh wrestling content every weekday now, you can't keep up with it all. Streaming services now make it possible to get access to wrestling that previously you had to track down VHS tapes for, and foreign companies now realize they can reach American audiences. AAA Lucha now has English-language streams and has done shows in America. New Japan has not only done the same, but they've got a training dojo in L.A., and they're opening an American branch of the company next year.