Rassle Inn #50

Several weeks back, Tony Schiavone made some interesting comments during an interview.  A source escapes me, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.  Hey, I wouldn't lie about something so trivial.  Anyway, he was making the case that AEW is in no way similar to WCW.  Granted, he was a little defensive.  And he did actually work there, but I was there, too.  As a fan.  We all were.  Before you belittle me, I'll remind you that without us, the viewers, Nitro never would have succeeded.  Okay, I'll get to my point.  For those of you who miss WCW, I got news for you.  AEW is, like, totally WCW.  It doesn't draw the same numbers, and there is no inter-promotional war taking place, but for all intents and purposes, AEW is WCW.

In the mid-90's, free agents in professional wrestling had two basic options in the United States.  With WWF, you had more structure up top.  Concurrently, you had less money.  With WCW, your bank account was sure to swell.  The caveat?  It was a creative shit show.  The roster was so large, it was easy to get lost in the shuffle.  Inconsistent booking didn't help matters.  Nowadays, free agents in professional wrestling have two basic options in the United States.  I think you can see where I'm going with this.  With WWE, you are guaranteed structure and a professional presentation.  With AEW, you are guaranteed a fat contract.  Plus, it's a lighter schedule.  Hmm, didn't WCW run less dates and house shows than WWF?

I should make one thing universally clear.  I'm not saying that one is better than the other, even if one is objectively better than the other.  You can be a WWE/AEW mark if you want.  Buy all the merchandise.  Just don't tell me there aren't parallels between late-era WCW and Tony Khan's pet project.  Of course, there is one main difference.  AEW won't be dissolving anytime soon.  At the very least, it's cool that these athletes do have options on the table.  We've seen what a monopoly can do to the wrestling business, and it's not pretty.

As an aside, what the hell was that random gauntlet match on Dynamite?  Shota Umino?  Hechicero???  Why not throw in Saba Simba and T.L. Hopper for good measure?