5 Reasons why AEW isn't going to be another WCW

2018 has started with a bang with the announcement of All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The Florida-based native financed by the Khan Family of Jacksonville Jaguars Fame and headed creatively by Cody and The Young Bucks have been in the headlines for the past week.

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This past Tuesday, the newly-formed promotion held a rally at the TIA Bank Area, the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, to make a few talent announcements and reveal the date and location of the very first AEW event called ' Double or Nothing'. The event will be held on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A large portion of the wrestling community has been rejoicing at this announcement as after almost two decades since WCW shut shop, a promotion, with the backing of a billionaire, is challenging WWE on its home turf.

While promotions like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling have a made a name of themselves, they haven't even come close to challenging the WWE in any way, shape or form.

But, AEW with their talent acquisition and their global partnership with Oriental Wrestling Entertainment, a Chinese Promotion, has made it abundantly clear that they aren't restricting themselves to North America and have plans of being a global promotion.

While a lot of fans have lapped up AEW with open huge, there have been a few who are cynical about this new promotion. Many believe that eventually AEW runout of steam and fade away into oblivion, just like WCW.

While one can predict the future, going by the recent trend and AEW's marketing strategy, it seems like that they are in for a long haul. Here are five reasons why we think that AEW won't be another WCW.

#5 Some of the best talents in the world

The Elite are the most sought-after wrestlers in the world at the moment

This isn't a knock on the WCW roster by any means. But, if one takes a closer look at the WCW roster during the early 2000's to the time that they folded up, there weren't many young upstarts in the promotion.

Superstars like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan were past their prime at that time and barring Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page, they didn't have a lot of young talent around whom they could build their product.

They were paying their established stars large sums for a selected amount of dates whilst completely ignoring younger talent.

The youngsters would've carried the company for forward, once the established stars stepped away from the ring. The work environment became very toxic in WCW which ultimately led to its downfall.

AEW, on the other hand, has some of the best young talents in the wrestling world today. They have already signed Joey Janella, Hangman Page, Pac, and MJF, who are in their early to mid-'30s and have a lot to offer to the wrestling world.

Besides, the promotion is being run by Cody and The Young Bucks, who aren't old by any stretch of the imagination. AEW is a promotion being run by young and a passionate group of people, unlike WCW which had a lot of talent, well past their prime.

#4 The changing Wrestling Landscape

In the last two decades since WCW closed down, the wrestling landscape has undergone a massive overhaul.

The first half of the 2000s was mostly about the WWE dominating the entire wrestling business and the emergence of promotions like ROH, TNA, and PWG.

The 2010s was when the business started picking up to a point where independent wrestling became a legitimate alternative to the WWE.

Over the past few years, independent wrestling promotion has witnessed a sudden rise in popularity.

This rise has been due to the quality of wrestling increasing exponentially on the independent circuit where the performers aren't put in shackles and are at liberty to tell the story that they want to inside the squared circle.

Besides, lightning only strikes once and we believe that WCW shutting its shop wasn't necessarily due to the rise of the WWE but rather due to the gross mismanagement that happened backstage in the company during its last stages.

That doesn't seem to the case in AEW and we believe that the promotion is here to stay for years to come.

#3 WWE's failure to give the fans what they want

The McMahons promised change, which we are yet to see

The biggest gripe that most of the hardcore wrestling fans have with current WWE product is the fact that the company has stopped listening to its fans.

Professional wrestling is largely based on perception and crowd reactions play a huge role in determining the course of a wrestling programme.

But, given their monopoly over the business, the WWE doesn't seem to care about what the fans think and this has resulted in the company drawing low crowds on live events and record-low ratings on primetime television.

The company has constantly overlooked some of its most talented superstars and failed to cash in on their popularity at the right time.

Vince McMahon seems to have lost sight as he believes what worked a decade ago will definitely work now when that isn't the case at all.

There isn't anything exciting to look forward to in WWE's weekly programming. The fans are looking for a genuine alternative and many of them believe that AEW could be one.

ALL IN was centered around giving fans what they want and breaking WWE's monopoly over the wrestling business.

The huge success of the event clearly indicated the wrestling community was wanting change in the business and the AEW seems to be that change that they have been looking for.

#2 The Philosophy

At the outset, AEW has made it abundantly clear that they don't intend to compete with the WWE but are rather working towards making a more fan-centric product which the fans can really sink their teeth into.

The basic principle behind the formation of AEW as per the president of the promotion, Tony Khan, is to make it more of a genuine athletic competition whilst retaining the entertainment aspect of it as well.

Another thing than Khan elaborated on was the fact that AEW isn't really looking to buyout promotions and is rather open to having a working relationship with other promotions all across the globe.

Unlike WWE, which believes in crushing the competition, AEW's philosophy seems to that of having a healthy competition amongst the wrestling promotions, which will lead to an even more healthier wrestling scene.

One of the biggest points by Cody, Brandi and the rest of the management team of AEW is that they will be paying men and women on an equal scale, which we believe is a step in the right direction.

In addition to that, the promotion is also said to have a lighter schedule to ensure that their talent does not get burned out.

AEW seems to have its heart in the right place and that is what matters the most at the moment (H/T- 411 Mania)

#1 Tony Khan is no Ted Turner

Khan talking to the media after the conclusion of AEW rally

There are a lot of similarities between Ted Turner and Tony Khan. They both are billionaires and they are huge wrestling fans.

When Media Moughul, Ted Turner, bought World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988, he is believed to have called Vince McMahon and said that he was now in the wrestling business.

While Turner is believed to have been an avid wrestling fan, he was never really involved in the WCW and had basically given a free hand to Eric Bishoff to run the company.

Tony Khan is also a lifelong wrestling fan, but, unlike Turner, he heads the analytics team at Jacksonville Jaguars and is the General Manager of Fulham FC, a premier league team.

Besides, the guy seems to behave well with all the nitty-gritty of the wrestling as was evident during the multiple interviews that he gave during the AEW rally and most recently on XPAC's '12360' podcast.

Going by how AEW isn't rushing things up at the moment and how judiciously they have been putting out various information, it seems to us that Khan is well aware of what he is getting into and judging by how well he is done so far, he isn't anything like Ted Turner. Pull up your socks WWE, there is another game in the town.

Edited by Alan John