AEW is AEW. They're not WCW or WWE.
WCW was a huge success in 1996-97, and a dumpster fire from 1999-2001. They went from making $60m in one year to losing $60M in one year.
WWE has every possible advantage and way more money than AEW, but despite that they're pissing those advantages away, quickly. However WWE is not in danger any time soon. They get over $600M a year in TV money from Fox, USA/Peacock/Comcast. They have that ridiculous deal with the Saudis where they traded their morals and ethics for $50M per house show. Their TV production is incredible--the shows look great on the surface. But there are cracks showing...TV ratings are way down from their peak, ticket sales are way down in some markets, the creative and booking are shit, and the actual wrestling and TV is not nearly as good as AEW.
AEW has a long way to go to catch WWE, but their ratings are up 33% over last year, which is incredible in a market where almost all TV other than the NFL is down year over year, and the ratings are way closer to WWE than a 2 year old company should be--they have beaten Raw and Smackdown in the key demo. Ticket sales are hot in most cities, and their PPV buys are up 100% over just a year ago. No question they are on the way up, and are gaining loyal viewers each week. They're going to get a huge boost in TV money in a few years, and TK 's family has more money than VKM so they're not running out of cash anytime soon.
And most important, in the ring, AEW is just a superior. The promos are way way better, and the in ring performance is so much better than WWE. They have better workers, better booking, better promos, and more exciting matches. AEW is better in the ring than post 1994 WCW ever was.
