All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is approaching its fifth anniversary! AEW Dynamite debuted on TNT on October 2, 2019.
Since then, you could say the rest is history, or maybe I should say they have continued to make history. AEW took the wrestling world by storm!
It was one of the first promotions to compete against WWE in comparable ratings, creating a new atmosphere for wrestling fans. Tony Khan took a considerable risk by launching All Elite Wrestling, but ultimately, the audience gave it a chance.
I can’t speak for Khan but I imagine this is one of his best decisions. Since then, All Elite Wrestling has grown exponentially and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
It has quickly become global, featuring phenomenal talent from all over the world. Let’s examine AEW’s rich history and how it rose rapidly as a company.
Many components make it unique compared to other wrestling companies.
Creation of AEW
It all started with Tony Khan, a man born into money because of his successful father, Shahid Khan. Tony used his money to invest in professional wrestling, which he grew up as a fan of.
Khan took it upon himself to create All Elite Wrestling, the second-largest wrestling promotion in the world. Rumblings of this promotion began towards the end of 2018 and into 2019. Khan became in contact with a few of the hottest indie wrestlers at the time: Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega, who all became Executive Vice Presidents of the company.
When the company announced those four were EVPs, everyone knew this would be a prominent wrestling promotion. Many people debated whether they wanted to see them in WWE because WWE has a history of burying or changing outstanding wrestlers but it was the only prominent wrestling promotion.
That wasn’t anyone’s worry anymore when they were shown to be part of AEW.
The first AEW event and pay-per-view was Double or Nothing 2019. This made their mark in the wrestling world, bringing many familiar faces to wrestling fans.
Double or Nothing 2019
Yes, Tony Khan created the company, but we all know that if it weren’t for the wrestlers and everyone else involved, it wouldn’t be what it is now. It took a team to create and fight for AEW, and they picked some of the best players.
They made a bang by showcasing their roster of wrestlers for the first time at Double or Nothing 2019. All of the EVPs wrestled on the card, as they are part of the roster, along with stars such as Chris Jericho, MJF, Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Dustin Rhodes, Pac, Billy Gunn, Jon Moxley, and many more.
With these stars and the intense matches created, AEW may have risen to the levels it did so fast. That first event showed the company’s potential and that they could take this company to lengths people wouldn’t think imaginable because of the immense force of WWE.
Only four months later, on October 2, 2019, AEW debuted its weekly show, AEW Dynamite, which airs every Wednesday night.
It’s Wednesday, You Know What That Means…
It's Wednesday. You know what that means.
— Brodie Lee (@ThisBrodieLee) October 7, 2020
Although Double or Nothing was the beginning of AEW, the creation of AEW Dynamite showed that they were here to stay. It was only the beginning.
What pulled the fans in was that the wrestlers have much to do with the storylines they are involved in. It’s noticeable in their performance when they like the story they tell.
It makes it so easy for the fans to fall into the kayfabe. New types of matches, along with more freedom among the wrestlers, include more violent matches.
I would say AEW is geared more towards a hardcore wrestling audience, while WWE is the PG show if anyone wants something less graphic. AEW has had insane match stipulations, from the classic stadium stampede to an exploding barbed-wire death match.
They consistently keep the audience on their toes and put on pay-per-view-worthy matches every week.
Company Partnerships
Many wrestlers coming to AEW had made a name for themselves among companies such as Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). There would be many crossovers before any of the wrestlers signed with AEW.
For example, Jay White made his AEW debut in February of 2022 on Dynamite, but White didn’t sign an AEW contract until April 2023. Having these wrestlers cross over without being signed opened doors for new and unique matches while helping publicize these other wrestlers and their promotions.
This isn’t common for large companies because they typically sign contracts for so many years, so they can’t compete elsewhere. In March 2022, Tony Khan announced that he had purchased Ring of Honor and would continue to keep the company alive.
This purchase let fans know that some of their favorite wrestlers would still be in the company. It also allowed even more wrestlers to crossover from ROH to AEW and vice versa.
Having a good relationship with New Japan and many of its wrestlers, both companies came up with the idea of doing a combined pay-per-view event, Forbidden Door, where the companies cross “the forbidden door” into each other’s realm. The first Forbidden Door event was held in 2022 and has continued to be an annual PPV event.
This past year, they expanded the event to include other wrestling promotions. Forbidden Door 2024 consisted of AEW, NJPW, Stardom, and CMLL wrestlers.
Like always, the show will leave you speechless. It will be exciting to see any more collaborations in the future!
As we approach five years of AEW Dynamite, it is incredible to see the progress they have made over the years. It’s genuinely impeccable from acquiring wrestling legends such as CM Punk (even though he left, he returned to wrestling in AEW), Bryan Danielson, Sting, etc., to simply having engaging stories and matches and weekly putting on never-before-seen performances.
It will be exciting to see where AEW is in another five years.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube
