The thing about WWE potentially dying is it would be a terrible day for the wrestling world and for wrestling history in general but I don’t think it would be catastrophic and I actually think in the long run after the wounds healed it would lead to a healthier landscape overall. WWE for the longest time had such a stranglehold on the main stream US audience that it was almost impossible for anyone else even come in and break in TNA came close when it got on Spike TV but even then they couldn’t really maintain a solid number to stay. It took almost 2 decades later after the death of WCW set up for AEW to finally start getting a strong ratings hold on to television shows and near WCW record pay-per-view buys.
When WCW died there was indeed a large chunk of wrestling fans that tuned out and never came back. It’s hard to say how likely that were to occur again if WWE folded. I do think there are people that only watch WWE, but I also don’t think there are as many casual fans as there were back in 2001. I feel like another company could potentially win some of those diehards over if they had a similar look and feel to WWE. Potentially Freddie Prinze Jr’s.
AEW would also definitely take a significant portion of the fans that don’t want to just stop watching wrestling since it’s already mainstream and accessible. That’s the main barrier for most I feel. They don’t want to track down indies. They want it on a cable channel they have access to it. Easy.
I definitely believe the vacuum of WWE dying would open up the space for at least one new challenger to fill the void, but I actually think this could even lead to a new top three. The deals WWE would leave behind would probably be split up by the next two rising feds looking to make a name for themselves.
Impact could even theoretically make a resurgence.
The main thing though is if someone can build buzz around a new project, have a roster ready to go people want to see and have PPV and TV lined up before launch, someone could easily follow in AEW’s footsteps with the new space WWE left behind, imo.
cmon m8
