[Ozy_Flame]

I'm not confident you folks drive any benefit from watching AEW other than to compare it to WCW. It just seems like you want to position it as a second rate and point out more of its flaws and completely avoid highlighting anything positive about it.

As for the ratings, do you care about the ratings? Is it your dollar? No. And do you go to the shows? Do you have a good time? I certainly do. I mean, RAW's ratings is only half as good as it was in 2019, NXT has been declining year over year, and Smackdown has remained generally consistent. AEW - believe it or not - has been relatively consistent during that time.

But honestly, who gives a #### about ratings? They're still both some of the most watched programming on their respective networks.

I feel like the general trend with wrestling fans is to fulfill a self-fulfilling prophecy - especially when it comes to brand perception. Oh, I heard AEW is no good anymore? Then if you watch it you're looking for low hanging fruit to find why you don't like it. It's confirmation bias. And wrestling fans are absolutely horrible for that.

WWE and AEW are like art with four sides - what you might find interesting and awesome is no good to someone else. And vice versa. This is a tale as old as wrestling time. Sunrise, sunset.

And yes, I personally find AEW more interesting. Here's why - it's a wildcard, and there is no pecking order for mid and main-card status. In WWE it is, and always has been that way. I also saw the Rock/Cody/Seth/Reigns far too much over the last 15-20 years to even give a flying hoot about them anymore. They are overexposed IMO, and bring nothing to the table in terms of young, interesting talent or talent that is due for a shine. Maybe Gunther (re: WALTER), but that's about it. Their women's division is also underwhelming, even with talent like Io Shirai. AEW is doing so much better with theirs at the moment IMO. Willow and Julia are going to be stars, and they're getting great screen time.

I'm also a sucker for the underdog - the team that has an uphill battle to prove itself. I think AEW is hanging just fine. The product has a market - this is a company that had 70k+ people in Wembley last year. And it has a strong following despite what fickle wrestling fans might think.

And even to the casual wrestling fan - if you can't flip to Dynamite one night and enjoy the incredible matches between Danielson/Omega/Moxley/MJF/Hangman/Swerve/Joe/Ospreay/Okada - even without a story - then I don't know what to tell you?

Just watch your favourite product. Don't worry about competition. You'll be fine.