AEW vs WWE: Why We Pick Sides

Whenever professional wrestling fans discuss the industry landscape today, there’s a term we often see thrown around when it comes to WWE and the emergence of a viable alternative in AEW: “We can enjoy both.”

Even AEW’s own boss has said “I also don’t think it needs to be a hostile thing where you can’t support both companies, because I never want it to be something where a fan feels like they should only support one or the other.”

But in actual reality, it’s just not as simple as that — and to suggest it is would mean that there is little to no difference between WWE and the rest of the pack at the back. Indeed, there’s a gulf between them, in many ways. Here, we’ll look at why.

I started watching pro wrestling back in 1990 when satellite television in the United Kingdom had started to bring the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to our screens in the country. I began to tune in week after week, as it was apparent I’d never seen anything quite like this ever before: characters such as “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake and Mr Perfect demonstrated incredible strength, agility, and technical prowess, captivating audiences with their outlandish costumes and personas, complemented by managers such as Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Slick, Mr Fuji, and Jimmy Hart. I decided to watch the WWF’s WrestleMania VI event, headlined by the main event of Hulk Hogan versus the Ultimate Warrior in Toronto’s SkyDome with over 60,000 fans in attendance and…