Insiders within WWE believe that AEW will likely end up like WCW or Impact Wrestling when it comes to talent acquisition.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer divulged an intriguing insight into the ongoing wrestling war between AEW and WWE.
According to a source within the WWE, there is a belief that AEW may follow in the footsteps of predecessors like WCW or Impact Wrestling, with older talent seeking a brief stint in AEW before retiring from the wrestling business altogether. Conversely, WWE is expected to capitalise on AEW’s rising stars by signing them and transforming them into even bigger names. Meltzer wrote:
One person in WWE noted that they believe the wrestling war will turn into WCW or TNA or Bellator as the competition in the sense there will be signings of older talent from WWE with names while WWE will take AEW’s younger talent (Cargill being the first example) and this is history repeating itself. The claim is that a pipeline has developed and some of the younger AEW stars are already talking about leaving when their deals are up.
Even in AEW there are people saying the same thing, that it’s known that people are looking to leave and the hope is that the number is few because the perception of AEW as the AAA league in wrestling (a baseball reference for the top feeder league, not a wrestling reference) would not be good for AEW. There will likely be movement in both directions as there has been, but WWE is interested in the key younger talent.
The wrestling war between AEW and WWE has been a hot topic in the industry, with both promotions vying for supremacy in the highly competitive world of professional wrestling. Many industry insiders have both praised and criticised both companies, recently Eric Bischoff criticised AEW by labelling it “full of bad wrestling.”
How Long Has AEW Been In Business?
AEW was launched in January 2019 and is owned by co-founders Tony Khan and Shahid Khan, the father of Tony Khan, and other key members of staff including Senior Vice President Kenny Omega and Executive Vice Presidents Matt and Nick Jackson, also known as the Young Bucks.