When AEW first started on 1st January 2019, most WWE marks laughed at the promotion. They said it’s a minor league filled with nobodies. But after a year in 2020, look where AEW is now today. Now AEW has a TV deal, sells more than 100K PPVs every time, beats NXT in the ratings every single week. They have also hired former WWE champions Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley (formerly known as Dean Ambrose). But apart from all these, AEW might surpass WWE in some areas.
Most hardcore WWE wrestling fans are ignorant. They only take into consideration the total revenues of the company. WWE has been in the wrestling business for decades, they have lots of revenue sources: games, WWE network, TV deals, Saudi Arabia deal. So they do have lots of money, and yes they won’t go out of business. But that doesn’t mean AEW cannot surpass WWE in some areas!
In this blog post I am listing down 5 areas in which AEW will surpass WWE:
1. 18-49 Demographic
For television channels, the 18-49 demographic viewers are the most desirable for advertisements. AEW is PG-14 and produces contents which are more directed towards mature audiences, blood, occasional swearing, hardcore matches are allowed. This kind of edgy content attracts more 18-49 viewers. While WWE has been PG since 2008, most viewers of WWE are either children or men above 50. This demographic is not so suitable, hence AEW will surpass WWE in the key demographics.
2. Merchandise Sales
The way AEW presents their contents, most of their wrestlers are highly over with the fans. Wrestlers like Hangman, Chris Jericho, Orange Cassidy are fan favorites. They design their t-shirts with great thought and care, in most of the cases their t-shirts sell like hotcakes. WWE also sells good merchandise, the Fiend’s merchandise sales were the highest in 2019. But that is not the case for most wrestlers. So in 2-3 years time AEW merchandise sales might be more than WWE.
3. Better Characters
AEW gives its wrestlers more creative freedom than WWE. Chris Jericho being almost 50 years old was completely able to reinvent himself. Jon Moxley being just a mid-carder in WWE was able to come to AEW and became the hottest wrestler in the wrestling industry, he is currently the AEW world champion. The promo of the wrestlers comes from the heart and not written by high school graduates. As of this time former WWE wrestlers Matt Hardy, Brodie Lee (formerly known as Luke Harper in WWE) are on their way to AEW.
4. Better Match Quality
Most of the matches in WWE nowadays are boring and monotonous. The commentators are more focused on the storylines. The wrestlers are too restricted and micromanaged, they are not able to perform to their full potential. But that is not the case in AEW, wrestlers get the full opportunity and time to put on 5-star quality matches. Amazing matches like Kenny Omega vs PAC Ironman match, Cody vs Wardlow steel cage match set the wrestling community on fire.
5. More Edginess and Coolness
WWE has now become a show whose majority audience is the children. Most of the storylines in WWE are very childish and do not have any depth. Due to the PG restrictions, most of the wrestlers are not allowed to say certain words, not allowed to swear, no bleeding. All this PG bullshit turned WWE into monotonous, boring to watch.
On the other hand, due to the PG-14 nature of AEW, the wrestlers are more edgy and cool to watch.
Conclusion
Even though WWE is the giant in the wrestling industry, it’s popularity is declining. On the other hand, AEW is becoming more and more popular. So I won’t be surprised if AEW easily surpasses WWE in all of the 5 areas which I have mentioned above.