A remark from WWE was included in the piece, referring to the brutality on show amid AEW's TV-14 programming.
A report published last weekend in the Toronto Star examined the antagonism between AEW and WWE. A remark from WWE was included in the piece, referring to the brutality on show amid AEW’s TV-14 programming.
The Street Fight between Anna Jay and Tay Conti and The Bunny and Penelope Ford, which aired on AEW Rampage’s New Year’s Smash edition, was specially mentioned by WWE.
“If you look at the gory self-mutilation that bloodied several women in the December 31 event on TNT, it quickly becomes clear that these are very different businesses,” WWE wrote.
“We had an edgier product in the ‘Attitude’ era and in a 2022 world, we don’t believe that type of dangerous and brutal display is appealing to network partners, sponsors, venues, children, or the general public as a whole.”
On the recent edition of AEW Dynamite, Max Caster of The Acclaimed made a reference to WWE’s remark.
Caster began his rap before their tag team match against Sting and Darby Allin by claiming that fighting The Acclaimed is equal to “gory self-mutilation.”
“The Acclaimed, beating that a** if you’re hating,” Caster rapped. “Fighting with us is gory self-mutilation. Two grown men and they’re going through a goth phase, we’re black & white and we don’t even need facepaint!”
The lines elicited a resounding “OH!” from the audience. During Dynamite Cody Rhodes also took a stab at WWE. He referred to WALTER’s controversial rebranding as “GUNTHER” on this week’s NXT 2.0.
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Before we look at why the concept of these two businesses feuding is counter-productive to professional wrestling as a whole, it’s crucial to note that both AEW and WWE are doing something well.
WWE’s creative output is inconsistent at best in recent times. AEW hasn’t exactly reintroduced professional wrestling to the masses. But neither business is without quality.
With Roman Reign’s run as the ‘Tribal Chief’, WWE has given fans one of the best character journeys in professional wrestling history.
In the last few months, AEW has also displayed a true proclivity for high-quality wrestling television.
It now has enough legitimately top-draw wrestlers to produce a credible main-event scene. This also allows some of the younger talent time to grow and go over.