All Elite Wrestling is coming up on its inaugural show’s anniversary. Five years ago this month, a new force entered the wrestling industry when AEW Double or Nothing hit pay-per-view. The event was a smash success, selling out the MGM Grand Garden Arena in four minutes, and caught the attention of Warner Bros. Discovery (then known as WarnerMedia). By that fall, AEW had a weekly television series, AEW Dynamite, airing on TNT and was rapidly transforming from challenger brand to bonafide competitor. While that initial honeymoon period has expired, AEW is the biggest it’s ever been, boasting one of the deepest rosters in wrestling history and putting on match of the year contenders on a monthly basis.
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Tony Khan Reveals AEW’s Biggest Strength
AEW’s latest business moves have emphasized the company’s biggest strength.
Speaking to Cincy 360, AEW President Tony Khan declared that the quality of the AEW roster is what sets it apart from competitors.
“Our biggest strength is the quality of our athletes and the charisma of our biggest stars,” Khan said. “Some of the biggest names in wrestling are in AEW and there is a reason why big free agents want to come to AEW. This is where the best wrestle.”
AEW has made grand efforts to hammer those points home in 2024. This year alone, AEW has added Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, and Mercedes Moné to its ranks. While Moné has yet to make her debut, Ospreay and Okada have already astonished with their contests against Bryan Danielson and Pac, respectively.
“AEW, we have, what I believe is the most exciting matches and we have great stories happening,” Khan continued. “We really are a challenging brand. We’re fighting against an establishment and we’ve built a huge fanbase in a pretty quick time. People love the fast-paced exiting action, and the interviews. In AEW, people really feel a connection with the wrestlers.”
That “establishment” that AEW is fighting is WWE, the global leader in sports-entertainment. Despite starting with the mission statement to simply be an alternative, the sentiment in recent years has transformed to being competition. AEW has succeeded in some areas of this rivalry, as AEW Dynamite defeated WWE NXT in the year-long “Wednesday Night Ratings War” and AEW ALL IN: London broke WWE’s record for largest paid attendance in professional wrestling history.
AEW Dynamite returns to television tonight at 8 PM ET on TBS.
