Roman Reigns - "Foolish" to think AEW is competition to WWE

[BestSportsEntertainer]

In a recent interview with The Sportster, Roman Reigns commented on AEW.


I’ll just say this. It’s all so new, and it was what it was with Ambrose leaving and popping up over there. Competition? No, there’s no competition. WWE, we know exactly what we’re doing. We have the best talent in the world. There’s no comparing, I say that with firm confidence, all the way from the top to the very bottom. We are world class all the way through.

Is it another option? Sure. For wrestlers around the world and in the locker room, AEW is another option and another place to get a check. I’m never against optimism, but I think you have foolish thoughts if you really think there’s a comparison or actual competition. Just an option, which isn’t a bad thing.

It's hard to disagree with Reigns. AEW is a long way from competing with WWE, if they ever do. For now AEW can be another option, which is what wrestling has needed for years. If that causes WWE to get better, then it's a win-win.

[Y 2 Jake]

My take is thus- they are not competition until they have shown they are competition.

[Jack-Hammer]

I think a lot of word games are being played when it comes to competition.

Is AEW a wrestling company fighting for their share of the market? Yes

Is AEW a wrestling company outside of the control of or not affiliated with WWE? Yes

Technically, that makes them "competition" in that they're in the same business and hoping to attract the same audience while bringing in new fans as well.

Now, are they competition in terms of being a threat to the dominance of WWE as the biggest wrestling company in the world? Not at all and they have a long way to go before they get there. AEW has a major financial backer in the Khans, Tony Khan's father is even richer than Vince McMahon is, but I don't consider someone a threat to WWE's spot on top of the money and ratings mountain when you're not on TV and you've only put on, literally, a very small handful of shows that, while good overall, have been heavily overrated and exaggerated by fans and writers who want legit competition for WWE so badly that they've essentially become non-paid spokespeople for AEW.

AEW has a LOT of positive buzz and momentum right now, they also have Vince McMahon rattled to such a degree that he's actually made some legit changes in how the creative process goes in WWE. The more credible AEW becomes and the more it grows, the more Vince is going to have to realize that doing things his way just isn't working out anymore. TV ratings for pretty much everything are down across the board due in large part to the different ways people are able to watch TV shows that've come about over the past several years, but AEW is now being seen as a hip, cool, edgy company that's being run by much younger people who pay attention to and are more in touch with the mind set of modern wrestling fans than Vince McMahon is.

Let's see how AEW is doing when/if they put on their 20th, 30th or 40th live show. Let's see how well their TV show does after it's been on the air for 6 months and maybe then, they'll be "competition" in the way most people mean because, as of right now, they're not.

[Spidey]

Between hadoukens, Maria's pregnant infidelity, gimp tag teams, and Karl Anderson being a willing cuckhold, I think it's a tad naive to think they're not competing ...for some weirdo teenage demographic at least.

[mrluck_07]

Reigns put it best by saying they're an alternative. WWE has been around 62 yrs so it will be tough but the good thing for AEW is that they have national TV.

[Big Nick Dudley]

Depends on what AEW wants to accomplish. Compete for TV ratings? It's 2019, not 1989. If they create buzz by having a great show, they can absolutely compete. I would almost say right away. It doesn't take long to build an audience anymore. Marketing is everywhere.

Global dominance? Total revenue? No. TV war? Very possible.

[Psykohurricane]

Is AEW competition for WWE? Hell No but it'S a narrative that been thrown around by the wrestling media because of The Kahn's waste fortune.

It's also been put in the mind of their fanbase because of Cody and Jericho especially saying it non stop.

The thing is, we all know the mcmahon's by know, Vince as been through everything in his life, HHH will be his successor when Vince feel he's ready to takeover and HHH as been pretty much emulating Vince's way of doing and promoting for a while now. Cody as been taking Cheap shot at HHH for months now and i'm sure it doesn't sit well with HHH as he's as competitive if not more so then Vince ever was and when you're taking a cheap shot at him, he will reply quickly, Just ask CM Punk, so he's the last man that you want on your bad side.

So now, i feel like HHH will do everything in his power to try and squash AEW and Vince will let him do it, the more successful HHH is facing AEW, the better it is for his career in the long run and if he can stop AEW's momemtum all together, then we could see him takeover the WWE quicker then expected.

So what i aspect will happened is that When AEW starts on TNT in October, expect WWE to transfer NXT from the WWE network to FS1 in the U.S. and have it go 2 hour lives every week to compete against AEW. AEW doesn'T have the undercard or the production value right now to go head to head with NXT, so it's the perfect time to go and try to stop the momemtum that they have.

IS AEW the alternative to WWE? right now i would say no as their company with a lot less money and a worst tv deal that have a better product then them, MLW comes to mind, But can they be the number 1 alternative for WWE, yeah they have the potential especially with the main event rosters they have right now. I know they want to be inclusive and give all their friend a chance at making good money but if they want to be taken seriously by people outside the wrestling bubble we live in you need to take what you're doing seriously and i sure hope they do when they start airing on TNT because after three shows, i really don't see why this product as so much momentum as a lot of the booking decision feel like Vince russo is back on the creative team and that's not a good thing.