It seems to be in a bit of a lull these days, perhaps because the world outside our windows is making it clear that most of what happens on-screen and behind-the-scenes of competing wrestling operations doesn’t really matter much.
Whatever the cause, open online arguments and attacks between AEW and WWE diehards and detractors are down from their peak, a period that probably stretched from Brawl Out in 2022 until sometime around when both companies landed their new media rights deals last year.
But
tension still exists, and “battles” in the so-called “war” still flare up — especially with WWE’s recent counterprogramming efforts, and reports it and corporate parent TKO want to drive AEW out of business.
A wrestler who’s an established AEW guy recently spoke on the AEW/WWE “war” and tribalism among wrestling fans with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri. Eddie Kingston is doing media promoting his return to the ring at All Out tomorrow (Sept. 20) — a PPV that will start in the afternoon because of WWE just recently created a new show on the same date, loaded up for the launch of their partnership with ESPN.
While Wrestlepalooza seems designed at least in part to hurt AEW, Kingston hopes fans don’t get caught up in all that. And while he and other talent in both AEW and WWE have taken some on-screen shots at the other company, Eddie says those shots should be left to the professionals:
“We’re independent contractors, dog. Why would anybody want places to close? I don’t want a place to close. Am I going to talk shit about WWE? Yes. Why? Because I’m not there and I’m with the other team right now. That’s it. There’s no hatred. I got friends there, dog. And I don’t have a lot of friends, but the people who I do consider my friends — some of them are there. You think I want them out of a job? Hell no. Because then they’re going to come for me for money, and of course I’m a sucker for them, so I’m going to give them money and then I’m going to be broke. And I don’t want that.
“Like I tell people, man: leave taking shots to the boys. Let the boys do it, because it’s fun for us, you know what I mean? That’s it, you know what I’m saying? It’s fun for us. But fan-wise? Don’t cut yourself off from enjoying wrestling.”
Asked about being brought back for such an important show (Kingston has been out since suffering multiple serious leg injuries in a New Japan match last year), Eddie talked more about WWE’s tactics. He called them “bullshit”, and explained what he sees as a key difference between AEW and WWE’s business plans. He admitted he didn’t know what AEW president Tony Khan and his business partners would do if they were in WWE’s place, however:
“Humbly, it’s flattering that they think I matter that much, that I can help that much. I don’t think too highly of myself. Not because it’s a beat yourself up thing. I was taught that the meek shall inherit the Earth. So you gotta be humble. So I’m very humbled that they believe I can help in whatever bullshit war or bullshit thing that’s going on. Because all it is, is bullshit, you know what I mean? It’s competition, and it’s one place wanting to monopolize. And there’s another place that doesn’t want to monopolize — for now.
”Because you know how once people get power, it changes. So let’s not get it twisted. I’d like to think if the shoe was on the other foot, things wouldn’t go down like that, you know, the way it is. But power corrupts, man.”
But if you’re a fan the way Eddie’s a fan? The bullshit doesn’t matter. What’s happening tomorrow is a win, because even if it’s not all to your taste… more wrestling!
“To me, having multiple companies is a good thing for the boys too because we get to get paid. We’re independent contractors — more companies, more money. That’s why I hope — I at least hope the boys get that.
”That’s why I say everything is bullshit cause that’s what it is. It’s all bullshit. It’s all part of the game. I’m not saying it in a mean way— at the end of the day, it is what it is. 50 years from now when we’re all dead, or 100 years from now when we’re all dead and gone, there’s going to be another company that’s going to do it again and again and again. It’s a business and that’s it.
“The wrestling fan wins if they’re open-minded.”
Check out Shak’s entire conversation with The Mad King here.
