What if Sami Zayn had said more about AEW on WWE Raw?

In one of the more intriguing moments of this past week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, Sami Zayn made explicit reference to AEW, chastising fans who had sent in questions for him for not asking his opinion about one of the hottest topics in wrestling.

The moment created buzz for how reticent WWE typically is to reference anything resembling a competing promotion. Moreover, the comment was delivered in off the cuff fashion, and subsequently cut from the version of the segment WWE posted to YouTube.

The question now is whether Zayn was following a script, or genuinely made his own call to mention the upstart new promotion that many view as a prospective competitor to WWE. This article considers what might have happened if Zayn had made more than the initial mention, but rather gone into greater depth in talking about All Elite Wrestling during his Electric Chair segment with Corey Graves.

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#5. Casting AEW as the heel company

Jon Moxley made major waves by appearing at Double or Nothing. What if WWE cast itself as the victim and AEW as a heel company?

Since returning to action after WrestleMania 35, WWE has doubled down on Sami Zayn playing a heel character. He seems to be getting a longer leash to offer worked shoot commentary on fellow Superstars, WWE on the whole, and the fans. Introducing All Elite Wrestling into the conversation feels like the next step for his outspoken, edgy character.

But what was WWE going for, assuming this mention of the rival promotion was authorized or even scripted for Zayn? Or what was Zayn aiming at if it was his own idea to mention Cody Rhodes’s new promotion? This might have been Zayn’s character being provocative for the sake of garnering attention, but it also may have been an interesting attempt to cast AEW themselves as villains.

After all, Zayn himself is a heel. Anything associated with him is, within the WWE Universe, heelish by extension. As such WWE could subtly plant in at least the more casual audience’s mind that AEW isn’t the scrappy underdog or a fun alternative, but rather a company fans should actively root against.

#4. Burying AEW

WWE could bring up Cody Rhodes and AEW just to bury them.

The traditional WWE way of doing business is to not reference outside wrestling promotions. At the least, this could be seen as offering another company free advertising.

Times have changed, though, and recent years have seen WWE more explicitly make mention of Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and a handful of other smaller promotions. Rather than counterintuitively helping the competition, the general understanding of this move is that WWE sees itself as so far above these smaller promotions that there’s no harm in mentioning them.

If invoking a smaller company’s name or history can give WWE Superstars a boost or allow WWE to use old footage, there’s little harm to be done, and paying a licensing fee or at least citing the smaller company gives them a rub—it’s a win-win proposition.

AEW feels like it has more potential to rival WWE than any company since Impact made a push to in the early 2010s, or arguably since WCW more legitimately competed in the late 1990s. WWE discussing AEW at greater length may have gestured toward not taking them seriously, or gone into Zayn poking holes and showing limitations Double or Nothing demonstrated ,like Jim Ross’s uneven commentary work, or the convoluted Casino Battle Royal concept.

#3. Trying to coopt the AEW buzz for WWE’s own purposes

AEW Double or Nothing is the talk of the wrestling world--WWE may want in on that buzz.

WWE has a long history of trying to tap into pop culture for its own gain, aiming to make the company seem topical, garner mainstream attention, and generally take advantage of buzz that was generated well outside the company’s borders. Take celebrity bookings like Mr T, Lawrence Taylor, Snooki, or Floyd Mayweather for WrestleManias past.

Alternatively, consider stunt casting Kevin Federline as John Cena’s opponent for the first WWE Raw of 2007, or staging a match between Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell impersonators to cash in on their war of words, long before Trump got into politics.

When there is buzz around something so close to home as another wrestling promotion, it makes some sense that WWE would try to steal some of that sizzle, too. AEW has been the talk of wrestling fans, and made gestures towards crossing over to the mainstream in recent days, including getting a shout out from high profile congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. WWE mentioning AEW at all may have been a stab at snatching back the spotlight.

Moreover, if WWE had gone for more than a mention, but rather led into a full blown promo, it could have represented WWE more pointedly inserting itself into the AEW conversation.

#2. Furthering the idea these companies are at war

The drama and buzz that comes with a perceived war between promotions could help everyone.

There’s a way in which it makes little sense for WWE to further or reinforce the idea they’re at war with AEW. Doing so legitimizes AEW and runs the risk of giving them more eyeballs and momentum, which could ultimately make them a more legitimate threat.

However, there could also be some merit to WWE creating the perception its under siege. After all, the Monday Night War era saw record viewership for pro wrestling at large and the brand loyalty that WWE accumulated during the Attitude Era in particular helped shore up a fan base that extended long past when the War was over.

Especially if WWE is confident it will never actually lose a war to AEW, then giving Sami Zayn a platform to expound on the AEW, and pose them as threat could follow a certain unconventional logic and benefit WWE in the longer term.

#1. Giving AEW legitimacy

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, WWE may have reasons to want to help AEW.

The more fans know about WWE and its inner workings, the more surprises tend to come up. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon took over the company and expanded aggressively, including buying out other territories, and raiding top stars from others.

A number of old timers have suggested that, as brilliant as the strategy was from the perspective of competition and positioning WWE on top, it also stunted the business, and WWE’s opportunity to find top stars. After the national expansion, there weren’t other significant platforms for wrestlers to hone their craft and become big deals outside the WWE system.

The last twenty years have seen smaller promotions rebuild with a wider variety of companies gaining traction and cultivating interesting talent. While AEW could pose a threat to WWE, it also means there’s another big time wrestling entity that can develop stars and innovate ideas.

Sami Zayn pushing AEW could, as backwards as it might intuitively seem, function like WWE offering ECW stars air time in the 1990s, giving the smaller promotion the rub, and while treating it like an investment in the long term health of the wrestling industry, and most importantly WWE itself.