Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: aew, all elite wrestling, crossover, impact wrestling, tna, wwe

How WWE, AEW and Impact Collaboration Can Re-Invigorate Wrestling

Time's been tough lately, particularly anyone participating in physical contact like sports and professional wrestling. If a talent tests positive for COVID-19, then he/she has to be quarantined, and the story he/she is involved with is either dropped altogether or postponed indefinitely. There's no reason given how these uncertain times how the major three wrestling organizations in World Wrestling Entertainment, All Elite Wrestling, and Impact Wrestling couldn't work together in some capacity. As rigid as WWE is about their IP and how they throw their weight around as the gold standard for the industry, the business hasn't exactly been "booming" for Vince McMahon and company.

Why WWE Dominance and Pettiness Doesn't Help Anyone and Keeps Wrestling Stagnant

It's been pretty lonely at the top of the mountain for a good 19 years and counting for WWE and the professional wrestling industry as a whole. Sure AEW and Impact Wrestling established themselves as clear alternatives to the Stamford, Connecticut conglomerate, but who are we kidding? There hasn't been anything to excite wrestling fans since the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era. Most contemporary fans argue the time when WWE co-existed with World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling was the industry's golden age. Rather than rehash the long history of how WWE continued to drop the ball despite owning 99 percent of wrestling, fans see the company's content resting on their laurels and let their writers dictate the stories. The company's paid their top stars handsomely enough that we'll never see a CM Punk, John Cena, or even Dwayne Johnson appear on AEW on TNT. Not even Steve Austin, who's long been out of the company's limelight, appeared for the competition. The fans are simply not flocking over to the competition rather just abandoning their wrestling fandom altogether, which benefits no one really. Maybe blame WWE for ruining their former fans' love for the business. How do we solve this? How about some dramatic changes? It would likely take several concessions that the company will never be comfortable with, but you know what they say, "can't make an omelet…."

Changing for the Better in 2020.

First, I propose to let the wrestlers keep their own gimmicks. It's 2020, and there's no reason why WWE would ever recycle the Goldust and Stardust characters from the
Dustin and Cody Rhodes, who won't likely ever wrestle for them again. Second, fans are smart; they already know Jon Moxley IS Dean Ambrose. There's no point pretending otherwise. Letting Jim Ross talk about Moxley's past in WWE isn't going to take anything away from his gimmick, the AEW talent. Third, there is plenty of things you can do with the talent that makes winners of everyone.

A Supercard with WWE, AEW, and Impact Wrestling with talent fighting in a special exhibition would give fans a special treat, especially for a PPV. Having special exhibition matches creates dream cards, and whoever thinks it matters who goes over doesn't know wrestling. It's naïve to keep score on wins and losses when the talent is just there to entertain fans. It changes things up and gives the fans a new dimension of unpredictability never before seen in the industry. Sure, call me an idealist, and the likelihood of this happening is next to none, but know this. WWE had gone out of its way to work with Impact Wrestling in the past when they never had to, especially when it came to inducting Kurt Angle and Sting into the company's Hall of Fame. The company never had to contact Ring of Honor to get the extra background of Daniel Bryan or CM Punk. The fact WWE's willing to go the extra mile and to collect related footage of their current stars means they're open anything. A talent exchange is just the thing that can help all companies around. A dream scenario I have for a SmackDown/AEW Dynamite main event is if AJ Styles faced Kenny Omega in a special exhibition. If WWE goes out of their way to do things like this, we wouldn't have another missed opportunity like they did when they dropped the ball of getting a Sting-Undertaker WrestleMania match together given the age of the two men now.

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