>>10633033Meltzer stated that there was no way any independent show could draw 10k. Cody took the bet and with The Elite created a super show with NJPW, NWA, ROH, MLW, CMLL, and AAA.
The show was a major success and would eventually lead to AEW’s creation thanks to the interest of a billionare wrestling autist.
2019 led to the first Dynamite, then the world fell apart for a few months later killing all momentum.
Tony wound up signing many stars independent stars looking for work during Covidmania including some who were dropped from WWE or walked from the company.
Obtaning many stars in a short time, bloated the roster and a third hour was added to shows. This show would be Rampage. The problem, however is that Tony decided to make a second brand mirroring WWE before there were enough habitual AEW viewers to justify its existence. Less significant things began happening on Rampage over time and it went from a “b” show to whatever the fuck Velocity or Heat were. Rarely does anything significant happen on the show and the fans realized this. Fans will only watch if there is a significant match/segment worth vieweing and in that case, it must be very significant otherwise they’ll just check it out through various SM platforms.
Fast forward and CM Punk has a freakout directly after AEW’s WrestleMania last year eventually leading to Collision. This is now AEW’s show to rival Dynamite but again, the number of habitual viewers just isn’t there. It saw a nice viewership on debut because Punk’s return to the ring is actually a big deal and then promptly shrunk down to expected numbers because no one is watching wrestling on a Saturday unless it’s a major show.
