All Elite Wrestling made headlines this week when they had a rally in Jacksonville, Florida last Tuesday.  The start-up promotion, going “all-in” held the rally not far from where WWE was about to have their Smackdown Live event.  A gutsy move that, although WWE is blowing off at this time, is a clear notice to WWE that AEW is coming.

During the rally we got a little bit of information about the promotion, including the first few signings and the date and location of Double or Nothing.  Double or Nothing is the follow-up to the previously successful pay per view All In, which was held in Chicago last September. A show that saw Cody win the NWA world championship.

I have a feeling Double or Nothing will be the launching pad for AEW.  I think we may see the NWA title involved again, but I think AEW will be crowning their inaugural champions.  I am also intrigued by the location…Vegas, home of the UFC.  It makes me think that there may be a few more surprise signings come this May.

But  that is over four months away, lets discuss what we know so far.  First and foremost the support that AEW has is off the charts.  Fans are clamoring for a change in wrestling, and AEW appears to be giving us that change.  Another reason AEW is garnering a lot of buzz, the support of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

Although it appears his son Tony will be running the operation as president, the fact that there is a billionaire supporting the start-up business gives me the feeling it will be successful.  AEW promised change and to finally give the fans what they want to see, and with the major singing of Chris Jericho, it is a big step forward in that direction.

Jericho is a well established wrestler that started his career in the mid nineties, making a name for himself in the now defunct WCW.  He went on to WWF/E to find success and will be a future hall of famer for the company.  Jericho is the lead singer of Fozzy and for the past year has been doing work for New Japan and even put on the first pro wrestling cruise in the fall of 2018.

Always changing his look and charachter has helped Jericho remain fresh and innovating to wrestling fans.  Always looking for ways to change the game, Jericho who at forty eight, is one of the most talked about wrestlers in the industry.  And despite his age shows no signs of slowing down.

Some other major signings are obviously Cody and The Young Bucks. Hangman Page, Joey Janela and Britt Baker.  Billy Gunn was signed as lead producer for the company and word in the industry is he has a very creative mind for wrestling.  As far as the signing of women wrestlers go, it was announced that they will receive equal pay as the men.

I think that announcement is going to lure a lot of up and coming and even established women wrestlers to AEW.  Women’s wrestling is the best it has ever been and the matches are equal to or better than the men’s matches anymore.  Equal pay is long overdue for women, not just in wrestling but in any business.

The most interesting signing in my opinion is of PAC.  PAC formally known as Neville in the WWE, left WWE in a very CM Punk like manner.  PAC was not happy about the direction of his character and was very vocal about it.  Eventually leading to his release from the company making him a free agent.

Let’s be honest, there are probably dozens of WWE wrestlers not happy with their position in the company, most notably Zack Ryder.  Ryder has been vocal on social media lately about his lack of TV time.  Ryder is a guy that was very over with the fans about five years ago and WWE cooled him off.

He has a legitimate gripe.  When The Rock was standing in the middle of the ring in Madison Square Garden a few years back, the New York crowd was chanting “We want Ryder!”. Granted it was the hometown of Ryder, but for The Rock to have to hear those chants, WWE certainly should have taken notice.

If a guy like Ryder wants to wrestle and be noticed for his ability, then AEW is the place to go.  I have no idea when his contract is up, but I would like to think he is on his way out when it is.  And personally, I would like to see him leave and become the most over guy in the industry, like a Steve Austin/WCW situation twenty-five years ago.

The fact to the matter is WWE is a much safer place for a contract at this time.  They are established and have been for close to sixty years.  AEW is in its infant stages of existence and  who knows what the future holds for this company.  Double or Nothing could flop and AEW could be over before it even starts.

I don’t know anything about Tony Khan other than he has been a life long wrestling fan.  Hopefully he has taken after his father in the business aspect of things and can make the right decision when it comes to the financials of AEW.  Alot of the future depends on if AEW can land a television deal with a major cable company.

And that is where the fate of AEW lies in my opinion.  They are going to need exposure to a world-wide audience, otherwise they are a glorified indy promotion.  Tony Khan was recently on X-Pac’s pod cast and was noted as saying there are offers on the table.  Lets hope it’s a major network like, A&E, TBS or TNT.

Ok, so lets say they do land a tv deal, then we need a decent time slot, and the most successful televised wrestling is live.  In order to be taken seriously it would have to be a live show.  That’s asking a lot for a company that we just found out officially exist a couple of weeks ago.

We should probably cool the jets on competing with WWE talks and let this promotion develop first.  WWE probably only sees AEW as an annoying fly, buzzing around their kitchen table.  For the time being they are just swatting it away.  But they are aware of it, and I think that is half the battle for any company looking to eventually be as well-known as a WWE.

These are exciting times for wrestling fans.  And even those who are not wrestling fans, can certainly appreciate the fact that wrestling is once again becoming main stream.  Hopefully AEW will build with a strong foundation and produce a product that is enticing to both new and old wrestling fans.  I know I am rooting for them!

Thanks for checking out gohomepwb.com, and there is some big news coming down the line for this blog as well.  Stay tuned for that as I hope to have more information in the coming months.  Let me know what you think about AEW.  Are we on the verge of another wrestling war?  And who would you like to see AEW sign?  Thanks again!