Batista: AEW Isn't Legitimate Competition for WWE
Batista spoke with Chris Van Vliet this week as part of a promotion for his upcoming comedy, [...]
Batista spoke with Chris Van Vliet this week as part of a promotion for his upcoming comedy, Stuber. During the interview All Elite Wrestling was brought up, which led to "The Animal" giving his honest opinion about how he feels the company stacks up compared to WWE.
The former WWE Champion stated that while it's great for AEW to present some competition to WWE, it will be a long time before it can legitimately challenge Vince McMahon's company as the top wrestling promotion.
"I don't see it as legitimate competition, I see it as competition, which is great," Batista said. "There should always be competition. But until they actually produce one of their own major stars, until they actually have a production as big as WWE, and until they start — I mean, WWE's already got — they've got the next three generations of superstars because they have, like, NXT camps all over the world now. They're so far ahead of the game that I don't see any real competition. Not even close... But I believe that competition is always good, especially in the sports entertainment industry. I really support them."
In a separate interview with Pro Wrestling Sheet earlier in the week, Batista discussed his frustrations with WWE's creative team, saying the process has gotten worse since the last time he was on WWE television every week back in 2014.
"The creative process, I still don't get," he said. "It was a nightmare to me the last time I was there, which was 2014, and it seems like it's become worse. I feel like they don't have a clear vision, a long-term vision. Everything's very week-to-week, and it doesn't seem like they stick to a plan very much at all."
"It's a very frustrating place to be," he added later in the interview. "When you're ready to go and you want it and you're hungry and you just want to be there, you're starving for it, but they can't find a place for you. Or if they do find a place, they can't stick with it long enough for it to mean anything."
That frustration has been part of the reason why several former WWE stars have already jumped ship to AEW, including Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) and Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger). According to Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, a large number of WWE wrestlers are expected to follow suit once their current contracts expire.