AEW has been a professional wrestling company for 7 years. It has been in existence since 2019. Enough time has passed, and the fans can judge where the product is and what the viewership has been over the last 7 years. Fans were very excited for AEW when it debuted because they were fed up with Vince McMahon and his creative direction for WWE.
Let’s analyze the reasons for the decline in viewership for AEW in 7 years.
1. Inconsistent Creativity and Storytelling
The biggest reason that AEW has not seen growth in viewership in 7 years is that the creative direction for the company has not been consistent. When the company started, the storytelling was top-tier, and the wrestling fans were hooked from the beginning. The viewership that they would get would be over 1 million plus on a regular basis.
The storylines involving The Elite, Jon Moxley, and Britt Baker were the best. However, it seems like in the last 4 years, Tony Khan has had very little storytelling that has connected with the fans. Some of the exceptions include Toni Storm vs. Mariah May, which is one of the greatest women’s feuds of all time. They do rinse and repeat as they are running FTR vs. the Young Bucks and MJF vs. Adam Page for the nth time.
2. Lack of Big Stars
AEW is lacking big-time superstars who could spike the viewership when they are on TV. When they started, they had Chris Jericho, and then they added Jon Moxley, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, and Mercedes Mone, who helped keep the viewership on a consistent basis. Currently they have MJF and Kenny Omega, who are big stars, but the rest is basic.
They do not have someone like Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, or Cody Rhodes who could help spike the viewership. Jon Moxley has gotten stale, Mercedes Mone is not a draw anymore, and Okada does nothing for viewership as well. They need to establish big stars who feel like an attraction. Their women’s division has no stars other than Toni Storm. WWE has Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, AJ Lee, Liv Morgan, and The Bella Twins.
3. Constantly Trying to Get One Over WWE and Copying Them
Competition is good when it is used only to help the product of the company that is trying to compete. When AEW first started, they were the alternative, and the wrestling fans instantly gravitated towards them because they were the cool guys. They were professional wrestlers in the sports entertainment era of WWE.
They were doing very well and taking some shots at WWE. However, that all changed in 2022 when Cody Rhodes and CM Punk left the company. Tony Khan always wanted to get one over on WWE and all the time took shots at WWE. They even started copying WWE, as last year they tried giving Jeff Jarrett a retirement tour like John Cena. Recently they made Tomasso Ciampa turn heel exactly like he did with Johnny Gargano 9 years ago. AEW needs to compete with WWE as to who can produce the better product and who can sell more tickets, not these petty things.
