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Despite the inauguration of Tony Khan and The Elite's brand new wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling, I feel it is safe to say that till this day, WWE still remains as the biggest wrestling promotion in town.
For the past few months now, WWE might have been heavily criticized by the majority of the Pro Wrestling Universe but that certainly doesn't change the fact that The McMahon Family's company is definitely still at the top of the mountain, regardless of all the criticism that's been coming their way.
In all fairness, WWE didn't really have too much of a competition opposing them, considering that it been decades since WCW went out of business and the once Atlanta based company has been defunct for years now. WCW was the last legitimate company that came close to opposing WWE, as they sparked the Monday Night Wars back in the 90s but eventually ended up losing it, courtesy of some genius booking of WWF's behalf featuring the mainstay Attitude Era stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, DX, Undertaker, and Mankind.
WCW, on the other hand, went from one of the most beloved and popular companies to a promotion which solely focused on the rise of the nWo which eventually led to the fall of the entire company.
Nevertheless, with The Khan Family and The Elite now introducing All Elite Wrestling, WWE might just have a big problem on their hands, considering the fact that AEW might just consider going into a full-fledged war with the WWE and we might even witness the re-birth of the Monday Night Wars.
That being said, AEW certainly isn't the only legitimate threat WWE should be worried about at this point, given that several other top promotions are also on the rise and in this article, I'll take an in-depth look at the 5 biggest wrestling promotions who are the biggest threat to WWE.
#5. EVOLVE Wrestling
Now, for all we know is EVOLVE Wrestling is currently in a working relationship with WWE or more specificially are working alongside NXT. For the past several months, we have had the chance of witnessing several interesting crossovers between NXT and EVOLVE Wrestling, so much so, that NXT stars Fabian Aicher recently captured the EVOLVE Wrestling Championship and The Street Profits also won the EVOLVE Tag Team Championships as well.
There is certainly no doubt in the fact that the EVOLVE roster is filled with some of the biggest names on the Independent Circuit today and the likes of Matt Riddle, Shane Strickland, and Tony Nese switched from EVOLVE to WWE by signing a contract with the latter promotion.
Despite the working relationship between the two, if EVOLVE ever calls it a day on their good relationship with the WWE then things might certainly get a bit rough for NXT, as EVOLVE might get into direct competition with WWE's developmental brand, which one way or the other definitely affects on the main roster as well.
#4. Major League Wrestling
MLW was initially founded in 2002 but after going through a tough period of time, the promotion eventually closed its doors in 2004 due to a shortage of money after a few sponsorship deals closed out on the company.
Former WWE writer Court Bauer once again resumed promoting MLW events in July of 2017, as the promotion also entered into a working relationship with Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA and by 2019, MLW well and truly evolved to the very next level and established themselves as one of the finest promotions in all of US.
Bringing in the likes of Jim Cornette certainly did provide a massive booster for the promotion and also moving their operations into a corporate office building in New Rochelle, New York turned out to be another outstanding move, as well.
The current MLW roster includes some of the biggest names in the world of Pro Wrestling, as the likes of Pentagon Jr., Tom Lawlor, L.A. Park, Teddy Hart, MJF and other notable names are all part of their current day roster. And the promotion currently also has a TV deal in the US and have recently also landed another deal in UK Television, as well.
Another interesting point to be noted out is the fact that some of MLW's top stars are also working for AEW, so a potential partnership between the two promotions would be historic, to say the least.
#3. Impact Wrestling
Regardless of what majority of the critics think, Impact Wrestling certainly remains as one of the consistent promotions of all time. Even if it goes by the name of TNA, GFW, or its current incarnation, Impact surely remains one of the most-beloved promotions' in the world of Professional Wrestling.
At one point in time, Impact was directly in competition with WWE, as the promotion was pretty determined to go head-to-head against WWE and restart the Monday Night Wars. However, those plans never really took off but we did witness the company line-up one of the most stacked rosters of all time, filled with veterans and newcomers of the business.
With the likes of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Mick Foley working alongside the likes of AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode, and Eric Young, it was certainly a sight to behold given that Impact successfully brought along two generations together on screen.
The current Impact Wrestling roster also consists of some of the biggest stars' in the world of Pro Wrestling with the likes of Brian Cage, Killer Kross, Tessa Blanchard, Jordynne Grace, and even the company's newest signee Michael Elgin.
Viewership ratings have slowly and steadily also started to rise for Impact and if done right, the promotion could still pose a huge threat to WWE, till this day.
#2. New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling has been on the rise for the past several years and in 2017, the company decided to expand in the United States of America and successfully did so when they organized their first show in the country and crowned the first IWGP US Champion in Kenny Omega, as well.
Since then, NJPW has been on the rise and as usual, have been putting together some of the best shows of all time in both Japan and the US. The match quality in New Japan has been absolutely superb for the past few years now and with the likes of Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White, and now Jon Moxley signing for the promotion, NJPW should definitely be considered among the top three wrestling promotions in the world today.
If done right, NJPW's US expansion could definitely be a bit worrying for the WWE and the latter promotion will have another top company, which isn't named AEW, to worry about.
#1. All Elite Wrestling
Speaking of AEW!
Tony Khan and The Elite's newly introduced promotion All Elite Wrestling is currently coming off their first ever pay-per-view billed as Double or Nothing, which took place at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas and was sold out, as well.
The event featured some of the best-talented wrestlers from all around the world and the fans also had their first opportunity to get a closer look at some of the biggest names' representing the AEW roster. Superstars such as Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, Cody and Dustin Rhodes, Britt Baker, Kylie Ray, and The Young Bucks certainly did steal the show.
Whereas, the icing on the cake was the debut of former WWE star Jon Moxley, who made his shocking return to Pro Wrestling and attacked Jericho and Omega to end the show. With Moxley now signing with AEW, the promotion certainly does possess a huge threat to WWE and considering the fact that AEW has already landed a TV deal with TNT, Vince McMahon's family definitely needs to be consider All Elite Wrestling as their biggest threat at this point.
