Over the course of this year, WWE and their corporate parent TKO have made little attempt to disguise* their efforts to run events on the same date or in the same markets as AEW. It doesn’t take much to prompt debate among wrestling fans — especially those who affiliate themselves with or have a particular enmity for either WWE or AEW — and WWE’s “counter-programming” of AEW has been the subject of more than a few discussions around pro wrestling’s virtual water cooler.
Wading into that debate is
Dynamite’s newest commentator and former WWE and AEW champion Bryan Danielson. In an interview with Australia’s The Kairouz Bros to promote AEW’s next trip Down Under in February of next year, the former Daniel Bryan was asked about the strategy WWE is employing against Tony Khan’s company.
His answer strikes a very different tone from the bombastic statements made by Khan and some of his stars in AEW’s early days. It does reflect the realities of where both companies’ current market positions.
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious,” Danielson said when “the narrative” of WWE counter-programming AEW was brought up. As he’s not longer a full-time in-ring performer and (until starting his new gig on Dynamite this week) hasn’t been a regular presence on the road since retiring last year, he couldn’t answer a question about whether WWE’s strategy motivates the AEW locker room. But Bryan did offer his own thoughts on it:
“I’m just curious what the people who are making these decisions, what they’re thinking? In the sense of like, ‘Oh, okay, this AEW thing, it’s a real danger to our billion-dollar business.’ That can’t be it.”
While playing up AEW’s identity as a “challenger brand” rather than a legitimate competitor, Danielson continued to act mystified by the approach TKO/WWE is taking toward his current employer. But he did lay out one reason many believe the larger outfit wants to limit AEW’s growth or end their existence entirely: wrestler compensation. In the process, he makes a big claim about how much of its revenue AEW pays out to talent:
“AEW existing and being this challenger brand and being as successful as we’ve been has changed the landscape for wrestling for the wrestlers themselves.
“Wrestlers are being paid more now than ever. From a sports rights perspective — so for example, most major sports in the United States, the players get anywhere between 40% to 50% of the revenue. And WWE was paying their wrestlers nowhere close to that…
“AEW does pay that 40% to 50% of their revenue to their wrestlers and despite making much less money. I mean, our TV rights deal was incredible, but we’re still the challenger brand catching up on however many years WWE’s had. But they do have to pay more, because if they don’t, the talent is going to leave and go to AEW. AEW does pay that 40% to 50% of their revenue to their wrestlers. You know, despite making much less money. I mean… our TV rights deal was incredible, but we’re still the challenger brand catching up on however many years WWE has.”
When the Kairouz brother interviewing him theorizes it’s because WWE views AEW as a threat, Danielson cuts him off:
“But it’s interesting, because we’re not at the point of being a threat. It’s just weird. This is one of the things that people who really crave power and a lot of money play these weird games that I don’t understand…”
The American Dragon also made the argument for how AEW’s existence has benefited WWE, talent-wise:
“I don’t understand, it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna run all the competitors that might be competitive with us out of this business.’ Why? It’s good. It’s good for the wrestlers. It’s good for the wrestlers, both in AEW and in WWE.
“It’s been good for them. Okay — if AEW wouldn’t have started, would Cody Rhodes be where he is right now? No, they have a megastar because AEW exists. Would CM Punk ever have come back? Probably not.
“I would be really interested — and I’m not saying this in the sense of like, ‘Oh, those evil people.’ Because — when you think of corporations, they are not people, right? In the United States, I don’t know if it’s like this in Australia… but corporations have been, have been determined as, like, legally, as people, they have the same rights as people. It’s just like, ‘Wait, what?’
”But they’re not people, right? So these corporations make these decisions, but like the people in WWE, a lot of people I know, are great people, right? So it’s like, I’d be interested to know, okay, what’s the decision-making process in this?”
Some interesting food for thought, as it pertains to wrestling — and the revenue-growth-uber-alles approach of modern corporations and it impact on our society and world.
You can watch the rest of the Bryan Danielson’s appearance on The Kairouz Brothers’ YouTube here.
* Regarding Wrestlepalooza, the loaded WWE premium live event recently announced for the same day as AEW All Out, Triple H told Pat McAfee yesterday it was created on short notice at ESPN’s request. Which is probably true, but doesn’t mean it’s the only reason they settled on that date.
