Bryan Danielson explains why AEW avoids “warlike fashion” with WWE

Well, also, Canada isn’t going to declare war on the United States. Sure, they’re respected and have some pull on the world stage, and they’re miles (or kilometres, if you will) ahead of a lot of other countries. But while they wouldn’t be a total pushover and could surely get some shots in, when it comes to the United States they just aren’t currently on the same competitive level overall.

@Well?
Except that the world’s looking at the US as a joke right now because of Trump.

Tourism here to the US is down because of Trump. And, it’s sounding like, because of Trump’s tariffs, lots of consumers may start feeling some pain in retail very soon.

So, right now, I’d actually say Canada is actually higher at the competitive level right now than the US is.

AEW avoids “warlike fashion” with WWE because they aren’t competition. Look at Shawn Spears. Ricky Starks. Stephanie Vaquer. Jeff Cobb. Even a few more. If AEW was actually any competition, they would’ve been able to get them to stay, let alone not allow for an opportunity for a collaborator like AAA to be purchased like it was. Tony Khan may know business and the sports industry, but he doesn’t know the wrestling industry like the people who run WWE and TKO Holdings.

@WrestleFan: Except that 1) declaring war is about military strength, not whether the world sees you as good people, and 2) I was making an analogy, not a political comment. Unlike a lot of people on this wrestling site, I would actually rather talk about wrestling than drag politics into everything. Replace Canada and the United States with, I don’t know, Denmark and Germany if it will help you take your blinders off.

@Nightmare
“Tony Khan may know business and the sports industry”
No. No, he does not. He only knows the “spending daddy’s money” industry and the “being a nice guy” industry.

@Nightmare,
Can’t count Jeff Cobb, as he was never under anything but a per appearance contract with Ricky Starks. As for Starks, the beginning of the end for him was that brutal promo against Adam Copeland in which Copeland had to save with the remark comparing Starks to The Rock. Shawn Spears was on the lower end of the card, as was Ethan Page. And I barely remember Stephanie Vaquer in AEW.

As for WWE’s purchase of AAA, if you can’t see the real deal behind that, let me explain it to you. As with WWE’s purchase of smaller promotions, the end goal is for the WWE to be a monopoly in pro wrestling, not unlike the NFL is in football. The purchase of AAA benefits WWE and not the true wrestling fans. And with this expansion, you’ll see a repeat of what happened in the 80’s. Small companies forced to shut down, a decline in the talent pool, and a downturn in quality of product.

Only thing that seperates Arena Empty Wrestling to a local bingo hall fed is the $$$. Having $$$ doesnt make it competition, as the entertainers have figured out the grass aint always greener other than Botch Queen Banks because Tony Con Man is a simp for her and paying her insane money to botch moves.

@What?
Well, unless you’ve done research on Canada’s military, you likely know nothing about their military strength.

And, don’t worry; people here probably still remember the blinders you’ve worn for politics.

@Bestofbothwords
You know, when pay-TV no longer becomes the standard with which to measure popularity, because streaming has become the new trend, you’re going to look extremely stupid when AEW ends up with tons more viewers & ratings for streaming than World’s Worst Wrestling.
Don’t forget; WCW was the older brand back in the 90s when people decided to start switching to WWF. Nowadays, might as well start seeing WWE as the older brand compared to AEW. And, with “The Lame” Crippling H doing as much damage to the company as Vince was, it’s going to be hilarious watching you WWE simps looking like jokes in wrestling as more & more talent starts opting for AEW.
Don’t forget; “The Ultimate Botch Queen Nia Fats is still in WWE, despite the harm she’s caused others.

So, when the 90s repeats, and WWE cements itself as the new WCW, can’t wait to see your permanent denial.

@WrestleFan
Have you ever considered not judging others by your own standards? Do you even entertain the possibility that what you like is not the general measuring stick?

@What?
The thing about stupid is it doesn’t need politics…

@WrestleFan

“You know, when pay-TV no longer becomes the standard with which to measure popularity, because streaming has become the new trend, you’re going to look extremely stupid when AEW ends up with tons more viewers & ratings for streaming than World’s Worst Wrestling.”

Forgive my confusion here, but are you saying that streaming is going to do away with Pay-TV?

@Luke
Not sure if you understand the irony of the comment you posted. But, don’t worry; I’ll give you whatever time you need to go through, re-read your own statement, then realize what you yourself just said.

@Joseph
My apologies; I should have been a bit more clearer in my statement. By “pay-TV”, I was referring to pay-TV networks (USA Network, TNT, TBS, etc.), not pay-per-view. Now, take that clarification into consideration when you re-read my statement.

@WrestleFan
I guess my confusion is because no matter if we’re talking about watching something on USA, TBS, TNT, or streaming it somewhere else, it’s all still pay-TV. Unless you know of a free streaming service that streams live wrestling shows, you have to pay.

Can someone please help me realize the irony of what I myself just said? Please? Master gave me whatever time I needed, it still wasn’t enough.

@Joseph
Yeah, take that! Now!!! See, you were ordered to re-read, I was kindly given time. Master likes me more…

@WrestleFan: Canadian military: 68,000 active personnel, 27,000 reserves
United States military: 1.3 million active personnel, 800,000 reserves
Or, for a more blinder-free comparison, Danish military: 21,000 active personnel, 12,000 reserves
German military: 183,000 active personnel, 30,000 reserves

But again, totally not the point. The point, since analogies apparently don’t work for certain segments of site viewership, is that AEW is not declaring war on WWE because AEW is not competition for WWE. Before you make assumptions, I watch product from both promotions on a regular basis and find things to like and dislike about both. I think AEW is the closest thing WWE has to competition right now. But they’re not there yet. Sure, everyone was getting excited when AEW’s A-show (Dynamite) was getting higher ratings than WWE’s C-show (NXT) a while back – which is no longer happening. So, just as Canada (Denmark) would not declare war on the United States (Germany) because it probably wouldn’t end well for them, even though Canada (Denmark) is a wonderful place with a capable military that is still stronger than those of many other countries, just not the United States (Germany), so AEW is not going to declare war on WWE. I’m not insulting Canada, Denmark or AEW, but it’s not “Tony Khan’s personality,” it’s the current reality of the situation. Got it?

And yes, I have made political comments on this site before. But after the Great Sock Puppet Hydra Wars monopolized the comment sections of the most mundane articles for weeks on end and changed the algorithm of the site to post articles with one little word (starts with T, rhymes with “bump”) whenever a boost in engagement was needed, I have come to realize that this is not the forum. In fact, I would love it if this site could be a refuge from the political discourse that invades the rest of our lives and just be a place where we could discuss wrestling, something on which we still may not always agree but hopefully all enjoy otherwise why are we here. So, I’m sorry if the point of my analogy was missed and inadvertently started the thing I was trying to avoid, but I’ll be happy to continue the discussion if the discussion is about wrestling.

Wow. I didn’t realize how long that was when I was typing it. I apologize.

TL;DR: Just as it is not an insult or a political dig but rather a statement of fact to say that the Canadian military is not legitimate competition to the U.S. military, so AEW has many good qualities but is not at this point in time legitimate competition to WWE, which probably has more to do with them not being “warlike” than does “Tony Khan’s personality.” Also, I’m sorry if my military analogy caused some people’s political claws to come out, so let’s not discuss that anymore and keep this wrestling site about wrestling. Cool? Cool.

*Apologies for the lengthy post…*

@What? & Joseph
If I might make a bit of an observance here…

I’m proud to be an overall wrestling fan. I don’t restrict myself to one single promotion (WWE/NXT, AEW/ROH, TNA, NWA, etc.). And, it’s my opinion that the, as I’ve come to call them, “brand-exclusive” wrestling fans are about as ignorant, stupid, & closed-minded as the voter-base for certain political parties (particularly, parties led by individuals with NO political experience prior to running for the Presidency last year & in 2016, & parties led by “politicians” who only show up to run for the Presidency every four years to act as a spoiler). In fact, I’ve even joked to people on X (particularly brand-exclusive wrestling fans) by saying that, because I’m *not* a brand-exclusive wrestling fan, “I’m better than you, and you know it!” (to paraphrase AEW wrestler MJF).

Now, when it comes to competition, by the 90s, WCW was considered a rival to WWE because WWE would, over time, essentially copy off what WCW did (for example, WCW eventually started doing monthly pay-per-view, and in order to stay competitive, WWF then start doing the same). In fact, despite what hardcore WWE fans stated back then, by doing the “Billionaire Ted” skits, WWE was practically doing what its fans would attack WCW for.

So, you’ll have to excuse me if people who publicly show disdain for AEW while essentially fanboying WWE are people whose opinions I don’t waste time on taking seriously.
And, despite WWE denying that AEW wasn’t competition, during a recent WWE HoF ceremony, was it not WWE star Triple H who made the comment to AEW star Billy Gunn about “buying that pissant company just to fire you again”? Now, if WWE didn’t consider AEW to be competition, then why would Hunter have made such a statement? I believe there’s a word that describes holding such contradictory views (starts with “h” and ends with “ypocrisy”).

And, as far as me pointing out the irony of a statement asking me not to judge others by my own standard & to entertain the possibility that what I like is not the general measuring stick…taking into consideration past comments made by those saying that to me brings to mind the concept of I believe what’s referred to as “projection”.

And, to address my comment about ratings & viewership for pay-TV networks vs. subscription streaming platforms…
While WWE programming has overall been popular for pay-TV networks, while programming for other wrestling brands has slightly lacked behind (since WWE, for now, continues to dominant wrestling), since debuting WWE Monday Night RAW on its platform in January, Netflix subscriptions have been declining, meaning viewership & ratings for WWE RAW are also declining. Now, it’s recently been news that AEW signed a broadcast deal with (HBO) Max to start streaming AEW programming on its platform.
So, here’s the hypothetical: should it turn out that AEW starts getting better ratings & viewership for their programming airing on (HBO) Max vs the declining popularity of WWE on Netflix, wouldn’t that then mean that, to a degree, not just is WWE’s popularity waning, but also the fact that, as cord-cutting becomes more & more a sustaining trend, more wrestling fans are getting bored with WWE programming &, as a result, they’re looking for programming from other promotions in order to re-ignite their excitement in wrestling?

Oh, and as far as the comparison between national militaries: how about the realization that China’s military actually has much larger numbers than that of the US? But, then again, seems like ignorance of the reason WHY the US has such larger numbers of active-duty than other countries.

In conclusion…..at this point, I think I’m done wasting time here. If there’s anyone else interested in taking on….. whatever is it that What? & Joseph are maybe suffering from, then by all means, go right ahead & take my place. After I post this, I’m completely avoiding this article from here on out.

“then by all means, go right ahead & take my place”
Yes! The WrestleFunnies are coming!!!

Monday Night Raw has been losing viewers since debuting on Netflix. Netflix however, and this is from what I read online, has not been losing subscribers. They’re actually estimated to hit 340 million this year. Right now, it’s around 301 million. AEW Dynamite made its debut on Max in January. As a whole, AEW Dynamite has been losing viewers, but I can’t find anything on whether or not they’ve been losing or gaining viewers on Max. Only that they’ve had an estimated 500,000 viewers for each show. Not sure if that number has gone up or down. As a whole, I believe wrestling viewership has been declining so this isn’t one company vs the other company. It’s both companies that have been losing viewers.

Now I agree with you that more and more people are going to be cutting those wires and going to streaming services. It’s been happening for years. I haven’t had cable in years. I watch everything through ROKU but here’s where I disagree with you. It’s all Pay-TV. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching Monday Night Raw on Netflix or AEW Dynamite on Max, you’re still paying for it.

@Joseph: True, but there’s paying for it and then there’s paying for it. I already had Max so the addition of AEW was a nice surprise, but one I don’t really use since I usually just DVR it off of TNT/TBS (which I also already had because I’m the last person with cable) anyway. On the other hand, I specifically got Netflix so I could continue watching Raw, and while this will probably eventually change I currently don’t use it for much else. So, while I am paying for all the channels/services that air the wrestling shows I watch, there’s only one where I consider myself to be paying specifically for that show.

As to wrestling-related comments made by people who took their balls and went home after getting annoyed that people wouldn’t play political games anymore, the WCW/WWE point is a good one. I consider whether promotions are competition to each other to be based off of measurable standards, because anything else is subjective. Is WWE or AEW “better?” That’s a matter of preferences and opinions and differing definitions of what makes one “better” than the other – perceived quality of the product, perceived star power of the roster, Meltzer’s near-meaningless “star” system, etc. Measurable standards are things like ratings, live show gates/attendance, breadth of exposure (for example, TNA is less competitive now because whatever channel it’s on is available in fewer households), but “borrowing” ideas from another company could fall into that category as well. But that also depends on whether they’re blatantly ripping them off, which WWE would do with WCW, or if it’s just that there are no original ideas anymore so some of the same things happen independently.

I wouldn’t put it past Triple H to have just been making a joke with the AEW/Billy Gunn thing. It was likely more about Gunn than about AEW – if Gunn had been working for TNA, NWA, CZW or whatever, he probably would have made the same comment, and he was in rare form that night. But hey, WrestleFan could be right about that one too and I’ll admit that; we don’t know what Triple H’s motivation was for saying that.

And yes, if WWE’s numbers keep going down and AEW’s numbers keep going up, AEW would be more competitive. I’m not saying AEW will never be competition for WWE, just that they aren’t there right now, and that’s why AEW isn’t getting “warlike.” Seriously. That’s all I was trying to say. Just trying to talk about wrestling here on this wrestling site.