AEW is finally giving Vince McMahon what he hasn't seen in 20 years: Competition

AEW has come really far in terms of becoming a true competitor for the empire of WWE, according to columnist Gavin Bridge.

In an insightful article, the author explores the leaps and bounds that All Elite Wrestling has taken in the past few months. This includes signing major names like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, and Ruby Soho.

AEW is pushing all of its chips into the middle of the table, and has cashed in on an attempt to be the best product in the industry today.

It's interesting to see a mainstream media source acknowledge AEW this way.

WWE is the industry leader, but AEW is catching up fast

While WWE continues to dominate in terms of revenue, it's being challenged in terms of popularity by Tony Khan's brash and upstart promotion. With an almost limitless checkbook and the aura of being the 'new kid on the block', AEW is being recognized as a serious threat to World Wrestling Entertainment - at least in terms of public opinion.

As Bridge wrote in his column, it feels AEW has taken huge strides recently in its 'war with WWE.'

(AEW was) bolstered in recent months by signing big-name free agents who left WWE, such as CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole — has seen viewership of flagship 'AEW Dynamite' increase while 'WWE RAW' sagged in early September on a total household level.

Despite the fact that WWE has publicly denied that they view AEW as a legitimate threat, it's gotten to the point where the company can no longer ignore AEW, which is its first real contender in a long time.

AEW is not yet a full-fledged rival to McMahon and WWE, but it is already showing the potential for doing so. While WWE can rely on a greater total audience watching its shows, the fact that AEW has been able to bring in former WWE stars and significantly boost its audience will be a concern to both McMahon and his broadcast partners, which paid a substantial fee to WWE for wrestling primacy on TV.

WWE may go down as the greatest and most successful wrestling promotion in history. However, what matters is TODAY. And it sure seems like today belongs to Tony Khan and All Elite Wrestling.

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What do you think about the current rise of All Elite Wrestling? Sound off in the comments section below.