Dave Meltzer says why WWE are purposely losing money to try and ‘get rid’ of AEW forever
The wrestling landscape is as strong as it’s ever been at the moment with both WWE and AEW having big followings.
As well as the likes of New Japan Pro Wrestling, TNA and other smaller promotions, wrestling in general is in a strong place, with WWE leading the way as always.
For the WWE, it is the competition of AEW and their ability to pay big money that is the biggest threat right now.
Many have crossed over either to or from WWE to AEW, and much like the late 1990s, there’s a feeling of genuine competition between performers.
Nevertheless, it is WWE who remain the behemoth of the wrestling world and according to Dave Meltzer, they are trying to kill off the competition again.
How WWE are trying to get rid of AEW and lower their own salaries
If you are a wrestler right now, the market is there for you to go and earn big money.
WWE pay huge amounts, while AEW also compensates its top stars very well as well. Add in that WWE have a foothold in AAA as well, and everyone is feeding.
However, speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, wrestling critic and commentator Dave Meltzer believes WWE are once again trying to swallow up the competition.
“They’re fighting AEW so hard, so that they can get back the control that they thought that they were going to have, and then they don’t have to be escalating salaries anymore and they’d have even bigger profits.
“That’s their loss-leader mentality. It’s like, yeah, we’ll take some short-term money losses, but if we can get rid of them, if somehow we get rid of them as far as being major competition to us, maybe we can start asking guys to take pay cuts because they don’t have the leverage of going somewhere else.
“The ones that we see on TV on Raw and SmackDown, the ones on the main roster, they’re all doing great, far, far, far beyond their dreams of what they ever thought they would make in pro wrestling, partially because revenues increased and more so because AEW exists and it’s raised everyone’s salary.”
With AEW and WWE going head to head with some events, there is definitely a feeling of us or them when it comes to certain fans.
AEW does have some top stars too. The likes of Jon Moxley, MJF, and Darby Allin would all be welcomed in WWE, while we’ve already seen CM Punk and Cody Rhodes make the switch back.
For now, AEW existing is a good thing. But as we’ve seen in the past, WWE like things to go their own way and can, when needed, be ruthless.
