Many fans continue to debate whether AEW has truly become WWE‘s competition in the wrestling world. It’s a hot topic, to say the least, and the conversation rages on.
Legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter has seen many companies, like WCW, rise and fall, and he’s been watching AEW’s rapid growth in recent years. During a recent appearance on It’s My Wrestling Podcast, Apter shared his belief that, though Tony Khan’s promotion isn’t “viable competition,” it’s gaining ground because even casual fans are starting to gain awareness of the brand.
“It’s the fact that people who are looking for less entertainment value, and more pro wrestling are going in that direction, but I’ve always said this forever to become true competition you have to have the same amount of network TV, have the same amount of internet saturation, YouTube channels, etc,” said Apter. “WWE has long arms like an octopus, they have arms every place.
“AEW is growing those arms right now, it isn’t viable competition but it is becoming that because more people that I talk to who don’t know about pro wrestling will say hey, what’s this new lead that I see on Wednesday nights when I’m channel changing? So it’s obvious they’re picking up on it.”
To elaborate, Apter called AEW’s growth “amazing”, and he also noted that TNT executives clearly believe in the promotion and its solid ratings. He then praised the promotion by calling it “a really good product.”
“To have a group of people come out of nowhere and start up a wrestling company and gain this kind of TV exposure is amazing,” said Apter. “And for companies like Turner to reinvest in pro wrestling after throwing it out and having many profitable years it just shows that they believe in what’s going on now and the ratings are really good.
“I hate when people say oh my god, they didn’t do a million viewers they only did 999,992. Come on. They’re still there. They’re still out there and I think it’s a really good product. I enjoy it. I also enjoy WWE.”
For now, the debate about the two companies will continue, but at the very least, Apter has weighed in on the matter and left fans with some food for thought.
Thanks to the It’s My Wrestling Podcast for sharing the quotes used in this article.
The full episode is available here:
