But that's all it is now, hipster smarks taking pleasure in trying to show that show how WWE is failing.
I tuned out of WWE and hope they do improve the product now they seem to have some competition, but to suggest AEW are suddenly going to overtake a company that has built their following over a number of decades in a matter of wee because of a few thousand viewers is pathetic.
For weeks now this thread has been about ratings and very little else and it's getting very boring now.
WWE aren't going anywhere and with the resources they have, if they start to haemorrhage viewers to AEW they'll throw money at it until the viewers return. AEW won't be able to compete with that so they'll remain the niche option for hardcore fans.
Wat
No, you'll find most people who care about viewership were at some point a big WWE/WWF fan and would like them to go back to doing the things they enjoyed, when wrestling was booming and was far more popular with a much higher viewership.
I think most people would also tell you theres a correlation between bad WWE shows, storylines and ignoring the fans who are making a big deal out of one guy, but Vince has decided someone else is going to be the main face in the company and those drops in viewership.
The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were major babyfaces because the crowd wanted them to be. Not because Vince has a hard on for their physique and tries to decide it for the fans, despite them tuning out in record numbers. He just stubbornly keeps going on in the same direction. And he's been able to do that for years because there has been no real competition for WWE.
Now there is. Although its only the start for the competition and they'll have to build their audience over time. The general perspective of their fanbase as opposed to WWE's is, AEW will listen and make changes based on what the fans want to see rather than what the owner wants to see. And that good will goes a long way. You can see it with the buzz in the AEW crowds, wanting to help make the show succeed. Whereas a lot of WWE fans in the audience are sitting there waiting for something to entertain them before they make a noise and given the state of their shows, its a long wait.
With AEW being successful, Vince will have no choice but to try new things. As we're seeing already with this Raw Vs. Smackdown Vs. NXT angle. While its already got stale with so many blue shirt vs red shirt vs black shirt scuffles (there were 3 on NXT, a 2 hour show) its also made NXT seem more on par with the main rosters. They could have done this years ago, they didnt bother. Its happening because NXT is on a tv network to compete with AEW and losing every week. So they're trying something new and thats great for the fans even if they arent executing it very well, its still a bit refreshing compared to the same shit we get every year from survivor series
well said.