'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, professional wrestling was enjoying one of the most intriguing periods in its recent history. Part of the reason for this was that WWE no longer sat on top of the industry unchallenged.
For years, Vince McMahon's promotion had held a monopoly over the wrestling business in the United States. In truth, WWE had not been truly challenged for their number one spot since WCW went under back in 2001.
All this changed last year, when multi-millionaire businessman Tony Khan - alongside The Elite - announced that he was set to launch a new wrestling promotion. With Khan at the helm, All Elite Wrestling possessed both the contacts and the budget to make significant waves in the wrestling industry. A little over a year into its existence, AEW has certainly done just that.
The first major statement that AEW made was to negotiate a prime time weekly television deal with TNT - the former home of WCW Nitro. This was a far stronger television presence than any other wrestling company had been able to secure in decades. Tellingly, the deal was also a financially lucrative one for AEW, meaning that the promotion's chances of success were already high - even before they had officially run a show.
Make no mistake, at this point WWE recognized that potential threat posed by AEW and were immediately forced to alter the way in which they operated. No longer able to coast as the industry leader, WWE has made many changes in response to the existence of AEW. Here are 5 of the biggest.
#5 Creating a third prime time television show in NXT
One of the most immediate changes that WWE made in response to the emergence of AEW was to launch a third weekly prime time television show. In August last year, WWE announced that NXT would be joining RAW and SmackDown as part of the WWE's prime time television portfolio.
It was, however, the timeslot in which NXT was to air that would be most newsworthy. It was revealed that the Black & Gold brand would present a live two-hour episode on the USA Network each Wednesday at 8pm - and it was no coincidence that the show would be going head-to-head during that period with AEW Dynamite on TNT.
Now, NXT had been a quality product for years whilst streaming exclusively as a one-hour program on the WWE Network. The brand certainly deserved some increased exposure. It is undeniable, though, that WWE engineered NXT's television deal with the USA Network in order to ensure that they could oppose AEW's programming on TNT.
Adding a third live television show each week is no small matter, but WWE were determined to make the change in the hope that they could stop AEW from gaining momentum as an alternative product.
#4 Going to great lengths to promote the WWE brand as the best in the industry
As mentioned in the previous slide, WWE has enjoyed a near-monopoly over the professional wrestling industry for much of the last 20 years.
Of course, during that same time period, social media's popularity has exploded. WWE, as the market leader, naturally put its stamp on the vast majority of wrestling-related results on search engines.
The upshot of this is that if anyone searched for "Who is the best wrestler ever?", or "What is the best wrestling match ever?", then they would previously have, almost certainly, got a WWE-based answer.
Even in the event that a search produced a WCW-related result, then WWE would still have profited. A result such as Ric Flair being the best wrestler ever, or Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero from WCW Halloween Havoc 1997 being the best match ever, is a win for WWE - as they now own the rights to all WCW footage.
This, obviously, is not the case where AEW is concerned. At the AEW Revolution pay-per-view earlier this year, The Young Bucks had an awesome bout with Kenny Omega and Adam "Hangman" Page. Some observers online called the bout the greatest tag team match they had ever seen.
Aware of the level of talent that call AEW home, WWE have recently moved to try and strengthen their search engine dominance. A big part of this strategy is their promotion of Edge Vs Randy Orton at Backlash 2020 as the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever".
WWE clearly has confidence that Edge and Orton can deliver a great match at Backlash, but few genuinely expect the match to be the best of all time. The true purpose of the tagline, reportedly, is to make sure that whenever a fan searches for the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever", they are directed to Edge Vs. Orton - instead of, for example, an AEW match.
This sort of tactic is something that WWE, even a year ago, would not have considered necessary. It is a mark of AEW's impact in the wrestling industry that WWE are pushing the Edge Vs Orton match so hard.
#3 Keeping top talent in NXT
One of WWE's initial acts on the first episode of NXT that went head-to-head with AEW Dynamite was to move Finn Balor back to the Black & Gold brand. This switch was made solely with the intent of bolstering the level of star power on NXT.
More than just a WWE developmental brand
It is hard to say that this was not a necessary decision. With NXT now featuring on prime time television opposite AEW, the brand could no longer serve as just a developmental platform for Superstars of the future. WWE needs to keep enough top names on the brand to ensure that NXT can be competitive with AEW Dynamite in the ratings - and this has likely changed the career paths of several NXT performers.
If it were not for the existence of AEW, it is hard to argue that Superstars such as Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole, and Keith Lee (amongst others) would not have already been called up to the WWE main roster by now.
NXT is a bigger stage than it once was, though, and its talent now regularly features on some of WWE's largest annual shows. Rhea Ripley even appeared on this year's WrestleMania card to defend her NXT Women's Championship.
NXT has been pushed firmly into the spotlight ever since the birth of AEW. The emergence of a rival promotion has forced WWE to fully utilize a brand that was once seen as simply a developmental territory.
#2 Tying Superstars to longer, more lucrative contracts
At the height of their dominance of the wrestling industry, WWE was generally happy to grant lower card Superstars a release from their contract if they were unhappy in the company. After all, the promotion felt that there were very few places - other than WWE - where a performer could go to make a real mark in the wrestling industry.
In fact, even future AEW executives Cody and Brandi Rhodes were allowed to walk away from their WWE contracts in 2016, after Cody expressed his frustration at the way he was being used in the company.
WWE's attitude to Superstar releases took a sharp turn in 2019, though, with many performers being held to their contracts. Acts such as Mike Kanellis, Rusev and The Revival all revealed publicly that they had asked for their releases - and each had their requests refused.
Ironically, many of these performers got their releases in April this year, but it took the financial impact of a global health pandemic for WWE to agree to their departure. Far from being willing to release Superstars, WWE have actively tried to entice many performers to put pen to paper on highly-paid, long-term contracts.
Potential AEW target AJ Styles announced on Twitter that he had signed a new deal with WWE in March last year, which is expected to see him through to near the end of his in-ring career. The Revival, though, reportedly each turned down offers of $1 million per year to remain in WWE, opting instead to join AEW last month under the name "FTR".
The former Revival were rarely seriously pushed in WWE. Yet, the company still felt it was worth a hefty sum to try and keep the pair away from AEW. Although WWE failed to do that, it is likely that they will be able to persuade many performers to stay loyal to them - as long as the contract is lucrative.
The presence of AEW has shifted power away from WWE when it comes to contract negotiations. That can only be a good thing when it comes to performers negotiating new deals in the future.
#1 Erasing several Superstars from WWE history
In order to make a splash as a new promotion in the wrestling industry, it was perhaps inevitable that AEW would need to call on some experienced former WWE performers. Aware of their importance to his new promotion, Tony Khan spared no expense in obtaining the services of some of the greatest talent of all time.
Wrestling legends such as Chris Jericho and Jim Ross were soon joined by Jon Moxley as AEW made some high-profile acquisitions in their early days.
As exciting as this was for wrestling fans, WWE were not quite so happy. In fact, once news of Jericho's signing became public, WWE quickly removed "Le Champion" from their opening show credits. His removal from other online material quickly followed as well, leading Jericho to suggest he had been banned by WWE.
The erasing of Jericho was even noticeable on a recent edition of NXT, when Fandango was talking about his WWE debut at WrestleMania 29. Fandango actually defeated Jericho on that night, but no footage was shown of the match, nor was any reference made to whom Fandango had beaten.
Iconic announcer Jim Ross has also received similar treatment. The voice of WWE for several decades, the promotion only tends to feature Ross' commentary when they have no other option. Aside from his work at the announce desk, the WWE Hall of Famer is no longer mentioned by the promotion.
Jon Moxley's association with AEW also means that WWE have sought to erase the former Dean Ambrose from their history. Once a member of one of WWE's hottest factions, The Shield, Moxley's association with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns is now seemingly something that WWE wants fans to forget. It may be some time before we hear the name "The Shield" mentioned on WWE television again.
It is, of course, understandable that WWE does not want to acknowledge talent signed to another company. However, there is a degree of sadness in the fact that some significant figures in WWE history are now actively being hidden away.
