On September 11, 1995, Lex Luger appeared on the debut episode of World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) Monday Nitro. As a mainstream wrestling fan, I was used to Lex Luger as a proto-Hulk Hogan face (read: good guy) in, at the time, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known across the world as the live entertainment media giant, the WWE. WWE has produced some of the most recognizable names in wrestling and pop culture lore. The Macho Man, Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, John Cena, and finally The Rock - now known across the world as the Hollywood juggernaut Dwayne Johnson. In the past decade or so, the WWE has struggled to keep its dominance in the American pro-wrestling fandom, and even the world at large. Steroid scandals, dubious business practices, abusive locker rooms, an insane, lecherous, greedy old man in charge of shaping the narrative of morality, and so on.
That moment in wrestling history, the debut of WCW Monday Nitro, changed the wrestling world forever and launched what has been colloquially referred to as "The Monday Night War." The most agreed upon "first shot" of said war was Lex Luger's defection from the WWE, which then became the catalyst for wrestling contracts (WWE wrestlers labelled as "Independent Contractors" for tax breaks' sake) requiring "60 day no compete" clauses that would prohibit WWE talent to jump ship so rapidly while riding a popularity wave and mainstream exposure. Kevin Nash (WWE's Diesel), Scott Hall (WWE's Razor Ramon), Hulk Hogan, and many more followed this exodus...
Lex Luger wasn't a great wrestler, not even a little bit. But he was famous enough to give fans and sports journalists at the time pause to reflect on what just happened. Why would anyone leave the glamour and fame (not to mention millions of dollars in salary and merchandise compensation) of the WWE? Why leave such an established safety net? This was 1995.
We are now on the verge of a wrestling era unlike anything seen by modern day fans.
An era where wrestling companies work in association with one another. The world, thanks to the miracle of social media, has become smaller. The wrestling world, an even more niche group with a harsh learning curve, is even smaller now.
But, by compressing the myriad styles and companies around the world, a new player has entered the landscape of American pro-wrestling. One that doesn't treat its athletes as an afterthought. A company that values wrestling over "sports entertainment" (read: soap opera-styled storylines, to include any and all tropes associated with the genre), and validates their work, no matter how obscure and hidden away from the spotlight it may be.
Born out of love for wrestling, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has provided both the fans and the wresters that have been kept in the dark for too long, an outlet. A return to cable via TNT was orchestrated by Tony Khan, co-owner with his father, Shahid Khan, of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL), as well as Fulham F.C. of the European Football League (EFL) Championship. A shadow of WCW's birth and maintenance by then billionaire Ted Turner, the main difference lies in Tony's passion for wrestling, and the secret weapon that the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and WCW themselves employed.
Wrestlers who are bookers.
The WWE has spent the past twenty years trying to distance themselves from the sport they gorged themselves with. Vince McMahon himself, Lord Creator and Ultimate Authority over what goes from written page to the wrestling mat, and on to the televisions of millions of fans around the world, has stated that WWE does not have "pro-wrestling," He even went as far as to hire writers and production employees that have zero wrestling experience. Hence the dipping ratings (as of this writing) and fallen-flat stories over the last few decades. Women giving birth to hands, wrestlers engaging in actual necrophilia on screen, "live sex" celebrations, abusing the disabled, "Mean Girls" behavior from veteran women wrestlers, the list goes on and on...
Right.
Tony Khan surrounded himself with four key wrestlers. Cody Rhodes, son of the legendary "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, known as one of the most brilliant minds in wrestling, both as a booker and a performer. "The Young Bucks", Matt and Nick Jackson, a real-life sibling tag team act with acrobatics that would intimidate a Cirque du Soleil performer. They are pioneers of tag team wrestling--one of WWE's main faults--but also, of social media wherewithal to advance storylines and fan interaction by a YouTube video series known as "Being the Elite" (BTE). Finally, Tony Khan recruited one more wrestler into his Executive Vice President club. The most popular leader, at the time, of the biggest wresting faction in the past 30 years, "The Bullet Club." I'm sure you've seen the shirts, especially if you have a local Hot Topic. Nicknamed in Japan (the toughest of wrestling territories) as "The Best Bout Machine" for his impeccable encounters with New Japan Pro Wrestling top star Kazuchika Okada, his trilogy of matches against the Japanese "final boss" of NJPW are the stuff of legend, and brought a lot of attention to him, as well as Japanese style wrestling (puroresu, if you will).
The man?
Canadian-born wrestler Kenny Omega.
The team assembled, Tony released AEW's first live Monday TNT show Dynamite (a callback to the WCW's Monday Nitro name) on October 2, 2019, and the rest has been history. Dynamite debuted on TNT averaging 1.409 million viewers, which made it the largest television debut on TNT in five years. For comparison's sake, the latest WWE Monday Night Raw numbers hover around 2.067 million, with drops under two million happening more frequently across their Friday show "Smackdown." Talks of Forbidden Doors being open and wrestlers from around the world (still employed with other promotions, even!) began to flock to this new space. A space where wrestlers can come to hone their craft, to engage with the fans who desperately want to see them succeed, to expose them to the world as the mighty warriors and charismatic characters that they are. And in doing so, Tony Khan created the perfect platform for some returns and debuts that would have been previously impossible to achieve.
On September 5th, 2021, their monumental pay-per-view event "All Out" (itself a sort of sequel name for the company's inaugural independent show "All In") emanated from Chicago, Illinois. Home to one of the most important wrestlers of the past decade: CM Punk. CM Punk famously left the WWE seven years ago due to his continued mistreatment by the company, which he elaborated in an episode of fellow wrestler Colt Cabana's "Art of Wrestling Podcast." What Punk exposed was a toxic environment that was killing its wrestlers. That the Wellness Program instituted by the WWE after the horrible double murder-suicide of Chris Benoit and his family, was intended as a mechanism to prevent further physical damage from breaking their bodies, mental state, and spirit. However, it was revealed to be a farce, and CM Punk, once wrestling's most coveted act, left the one thing he loved the most: wrestling.
But on the night of "All Out", he returned, his love reignited, and fought Darby Allin, AEW's homegrown talent and most popular act. If you walk into an AEW crowd, there's a chance you will see children and fans with make-up reminiscent of Darby's half-face skull paint. But Tony wasn't done. Appearances from superstars like Minoru Suzuki (Japan's resident murder grandpa), Ruby Soho (formerly WWE's Ruby Riott), and one epic appearance at the end of the show by former Bullet Club member and recent WWE release, Adam Cole. Adam Cole left an entire future in WWE after having dominated as the leader of WWE's NXT brand faction, "The Undisputed Era." And yet, here he was, basking in the glory of AEW's continued growth and success; another "fan favorite" has jumped ship.
Tony has done his research, and unleashed one final surprise for the crowd, on a night of wrestling that rivaled even the greatness of wrestling lore, like the legendary Wrestlemania X7 (agreed upon by the fans as the greatest PPV ever produced by the WWE). He released "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson.
If that name doesn't mean anything to you, fine. You may prefer "Daniel Bryan."
The guy that beat Triple H, Marvel's Drax (Batista), and Randy Orton - considered an equal rival to the popular John Cena at Wrestlemania XXX's Main Event, winning the WWE Undisputed Championship in the process.
The man that changed at entire company's direction because the fans willed it to be (Google the #YesMovement).
A man that sacrificed his body, trained by WWE Hall of Famer Shawn "HBK" Michaels, and mentored by William Regal.
A man that main evented the "show of shows" just this year in a Match of the Year candidate against Roman Reigns (The Rock's actual cousin) and Adam "Edge" Copeland (another Cena rival). Tony Khan didn't so much as deliver an opening shot in this war--he had an entire army sitting behind McMahon's odious empire. And he hasn't even introduced us to all of the generals in his deck.
This?
This is only the beginning...
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