As a big fan of professional wrestling, I have witnessed the ups and downs of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) throughout the years. So, believe me when I say I was very excited for the creation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), WWE’s biggest competitor. 

AEW was pitched as the hot new wrestling company who was going to compete with legends of wrestling, big-name wrestlers and a lot of young up-and-comers. AEW quickly grew in popularity over time. WWE stars jumped ship to join the rival company, which helped grow their audience. The company was so popular, WWE NXT, one of WWE’s three weekly televised shows, lost the ratings war and had to move from Wednesday nights to Tuesday nights. 

However, within the past year or two, the public perception of AEW has changed, and it has gotten to the point where people are questioning if AEW can ever reclaim its glory. 

First, I believe AEW is failing because there are large conflicts of interest within the higher ups. 

AEW’s executive vice presidents (EVPs) are still active wrestlers while being EVPs, as well as champions, all the way until 2021. This can cause a conflict of interest, as the EVPs can just decide they are going to win any match they want on any night, much to the dismay of fans and other wrestlers. Cody Rhodes, who was a wrestler and an EVP, acknowledged this problem and added a stipulation to his title match with Chris Jericho in 2019 that if he lost he would never compete for the AEW Championship ever again, as he did not want to have people criticize him the same way they did his father for doing the same thing. Ever since Rhodes departed from AEW in early 2022, the company has declined in multiple ways. 

AEW is also declining in popularity due to their CEO Tony Khan. Khan needs to make better decisions, as he has made decisions during AEW’s time that have been embarrassing and have backfired majorly. He has let top stars leave for WWE, ranted on social media about behind the scenes issues and mishandled serious backstage conflicts on multiple occasions.  

AEW’s first video game, “AEW: Fight Forever,” could’ve brought back some popularity to the company. However, this game felt unfinished with very limited match types and missing wrestlers. The campaign mode is bland, as the story never changes and the amount of things to do within the mode is very minimal. 

Watching all AEW content is also not easily accessible. WWE has cable television deals and multiple different streaming deals. AEW still uses the pay-per-view method, which definitely hurts their viewership numbers, as wrestling fans don’t want to pay $50 for one event when they can pay as little as $8/month for the streaming service Peacock, which includes every WWE event and weekly show. 

One single AEW event usually costs the same as about 6 months of a Peacock monthly subscription. If AEW could get a serious streaming service with its video library on there, they would definitely benefit, as it would increase their viewership. At the moment, it seems that AEW has distribution deals with HBO Max and Prime Video; however, the two deals work against each other, as Max is for older content to rewatch and Prime Video is for the newest event to watch live. This Prime Video deal should’ve been with Max instead. 

The final reason AEW is struggling is due to WWE’s change in leadership and its inability to adapt as the primary competition. AEW’s popularity stemmed from timing and the competition. WWE’s content was not fun and entertaining at the time with Vince McMahon, the former owner and chairman of WWE, at the helm, so AEW was an alternative. Acquiring some WWE wrestlers has backfired as AEW has failed to utilize them in a way that benefits both the wrestler and the company in terms of revenue and popularity. 

Since the pandemic, WWE has blown AEW out of the water with Triple H, a former wrestler and McMahon’s son-in-law, taking over for McMahon. Triple H’s approach to wrestling and how he has treated wrestlers has been overall better and the fans have loved the new leadership change.  

AEW’s decline in popularity is a result of severe leadership and management issues, an underwhelming video game and being outperformed by the competition.