Why isn't AEW reasonating with lapsed fans?

[Benoit's Weight Machine]

Not sure how to start this off. Not sure if this is a widespread issue or just something amongst my friends but most of them are lapsed fans just like I am. Even though most of them haven't watched in 15+ years, it is not uncommon for me to call one of them and have an in depth discussion about some obscure angle from years ago. Many of them do not watch WWE anymore but they are vaguely aware of what is going on, if anything, most of them might catch wrestlemania once a year but that's about it.

With that being said, pretty much all of my friends loved the 2019 version of double or nothing and were excited for AEW but most of them lost interest about a week or two later. By the time Fyter Fest came around, I only had one friend still interested. He liked Fyter Fest but decided he was going to skip Fight for the Fallen and just wait until dynamite premiered. As you can probably tell, he lost interest as well and never watched dynamite.

This brings me to the Tyson-Jericho angle last night. With the exception of Austin, Hogan or Rock, I can't think of anyone more impactful that AEW could bring in besides Tyson. The angle from last night has been met by complete indifference amongst my friends. If this is a microcosm of the lapsed fan community, then this is not a good sign at all. I'm sure that AEW and TNT are happy with the numbers at this point but quite frankly, 600-700k with an occasional spike to 900k with no new signs of growth just isn't sustainable in the long term.

What does AEW need to do to reasonate with the lapsed fans? Is there anything that can be done at this point or is professional wrestling just on borrowed time? Did AEW wait too long to go to TV? It seems as if they have a small niche of fans while a good portion of the internet wrestling community seems to be completely ass-blasted over the mere existence of AEW.

 

[Chris]

Nothing can get over anymore tbh, I don't know how much I blame AEW. If it's not a meme on social media, literally nothing gets "over" in our culture, all the shows and movies that are super popular now are just memeable shit

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Nothing can get over anymore tbh, I don't know how much I blame AEW. If it's not a meme on social media, literally nothing gets "over" in our culture, all the shows and movies that are super popular now are just memeable shit

LITTLE BIT OF THE BUBBLEH

 

[Benoit's Weight Machine]

LITTLE BIT OF THE BUBBLEH

I'm pretty sure that 80% of the people who circulated that meme had no idea what AEW was or any of the context surrounding that catchphrase.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Real answer though is that everything is a niche at this point.

In the 70's, MASH, Happy Days, and Three's Company were "it". The 80's had A-Team, Miami Vice, and Hulk Hogan as "it". 90's were the Monday Night Wars, Seinfeld, and Friends. 2000's had LOST, Sopranos and The Office. 2010's had Game of Thrones, and that's about it. One show that really, honestly, and totally screamed mainstream. Whereas 20 years ago you'd have shows that were watched by the boat loads, nowadays with the advent of streaming, YouTube hitting its peak, and multiplayer video games becoming mainstream, everything is a niche and it's hard to really find a show or product that is so widely beloved.

 

[Chris]

I'm pretty sure that 80% of the people who circulated that meme had no idea what AEW was or any of the context surrounding that catchphrase.

Which is about the best that you can hope for nowadays tbh, 15 minutes of meme fame.

 

[Hoss]

Chris and Grim are really spitting facts here that I honestly never even realized until now.

 

[Benoit's Weight Machine]

Real answer though is that everything is a niche at this point.

In the 70's, MASH, Happy Days, and Three's Company were "it". The 80's had A-Team, Miami Vice, and Hulk Hogan as "it". 90's were the Monday Night Wars, Seinfeld, and Friends. 2000's had LOST, Sopranos and The Office. 2010's had Game of Thrones, and that's about it. One show that really, honestly, and totally screamed mainstream. Whereas 20 years ago you'd have shows that were watched by the boat loads, nowadays with the advent of streaming, YouTube hitting its peak, and multiplayer video games becoming mainstream, everything is a niche and it's hard to really find a show or product that is so widely beloved.

I definitely agree with all of this. While I wasn't a fan of GOT, I think this may have been an exception of something that was widely beloved. A bad ending probably killed most of the buzz however bad endings seem to be a prevailing problem with HBO shows.

The question is though, why are so many former lapsed fans keeping tabs on WWE while being completely indifferent and dismissive to AEW? Is it nostalgia, brand loyalty or something else? I tried to get a watch party going for All Out last year but there was zero interest. A few people asked if I would do something similar for a WWE show implying that there may have been some interest in watching wrestling, just not AEW.

 

[Benoit's Weight Machine]

Chris and Grim are really spitting facts here that I honestly never even realized until now.

It's definitely sparking some good discussion.

 

[Hoss]

I mean I always kind of knew it subconsciously but I think they really summed it up in a way that I've never seen anyone else say it.

 

[Vegeta]

I’ll have to give this a bit of thought honestly. I’ll get back to you once I’m more awake but surely something good to talk about.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

I definitely agree with all of this. While I wasn't a fan of GOT, I think this may have been an exception of something that was widely beloved. A bad ending probably killed most of the buzz however bad endings seem to be a prevailing problem with HBO shows.

The question is though, why are so many former lapsed fans keeping tabs on WWE while being completely indifferent and dismissive to AEW? Is it nostalgia, brand loyalty or something else? I tried to get a watch party going for All Out last year but there was zero interest. A few people asked if I would do something similar for a WWE show implying that there may have been some interest in watching wrestling, just not AEW.

I believe it may have something to do with the fact that a lot of them became WWE fans during the Monday Night Wars and are desperately hoping for a return to that era, so they can be WWE fans again.

A lot of lapsed fans are WWE or WCW fans by heart and probably don't feel it's worth trying to get invested in a company that isn't WWE so they don't set themselves up for disappointment.

I think their standards are just too high for any company to really deliver.

 

[Vegeta]

I would think former WCW fans would wanna see someone take it to the WWE and would wanna help out by watching. Surely those who stopped and never became a fan of WWE. Hell it’s even on the same damn network haha. Either way it sucks.

I don’t know if you can count the bad ratings up to what’s going on right now or not, as the ratings were better before the Rona hit. A lot of stuff has taken a hit during the shit. But surely aren’t anywhere near two million. But they should and probably will be back in the million once the worlds normal again.

 

[Hoss]

Also a factor... some people just grow out of shit. Lose interest or fall behind or find new stuff they like. Some people probably loved wrestling at a point in their life, and genuinely were fans, and still like to look back on the era when they were fans, but could never be brought back because they just can't get into it... no matter what. It happens to people. I loved Yu-Gi-Oh at one point in my life and can watch the old episodes I saw as a kid and enjoy the nostalgia, but there's zero chance of me watching the current Yu-Gi-Oh series or any anime at all for that matter. I just can't get into it. Same goes for MMA. Was really into it for a few years. Now I just don't care. It hasn't gotten worse or anything. I've just grown out of it.

 

[Chris]

I think a big problem is winning over new generations is harder now with the sheer amount of niche stuff available as far as entertainment choices go.