What if AEW fails in its first year?

#1. No hope for competition

If AEW can't survive its first year, it may become a cautionary tale.

Pundits have generally held that there is no chance of anyone competing with WWE in the foreseeable future. That AEW has come about and threatened to do just that is pretty remarkable, and only came together on account of a confluence of events that included Tony Khan bank rolling, Cody Rhodes’s creative vision, and the unlikely success story of All In.

If AEW fails, it not only means that this company won’t be competing with WWE—it reaffirms the idea that no one can. Of all of the major players in launching this new brand, Khan is probably the most important and least replaceable for the resources he brings to the table.

It’s difficult to fathom any billionaire or company with those kinds of resources trying something like this again if AEW is an outright flop right out of the gate. So, if AEW fails in its first year, the case is probably closed on competition at the top of the wrestling world.