What if AEW tanks?

#2 Ring of Honor benefits

ROH may be the biggest winner of AEW doesn't succeed.

While wrestling pundits are focused on the idea of AEW positioning itself as a competitor to WWE, it will realistically take some time before even an extremely well-resourced startup can meaningfully challenge the top wrestling promotion in the world.

AEW seems to be leapfrogging most of the second tier national promotions in terms of notoriety, buzz, and ability to sign major free agents. If the company does not stand the test of time, however, we can expect to see a bit of a resurgence from Ring of Honor.

While Impact Wrestling has often garnered a bigger spotlight than ROH, and New Japan has persistently built its profile among US fans, ROH has been the steady standard bearer for smaller promotions, known for great wrestling, and boasting a history of launching top tier stars like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, and Kevin Owens.

In terms of both securing talent, and being the top promotion left standing, ROH could do quite nicely for itself if AEW does not succeed.