AEW has quickly grown since launching in 2019 under the ownership of Tony Khan as the promotion signed top names such as Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, and many more before getting a TV deal to air in primetime on TNT, now TBS.
They continued to grow their attendance, TV ratings, and social media engagement in 2021 when they took the next step by signing Bryan Danielson and CM Punk.
Jericho took a risk by signing with the rival promotion instead of staying in WWE. Many people believe WWE is the top promotion in the world due to the amount of money they make. However, Jericho stated in an interview with popculture.com that he thinks AEW is the top promotion right now.
“Well, in my opinion, what is the top wrestling promotion?” Jericho asked. “To me, I think we already are, as far as in-ring product and entertaining shows, storylines, characters, et cetera. If you’re looking at like will AEW overtake WWE as the wrestling brand in North America? I don’t know. But that’s not something that we ever really think about or worry about. All we’re worried about is continuing to grow our fan base, which we are, grow and continue to improve and create amazing stories, which we do.”
Jericho continued by noting AEW is killing it in the demos and that will result in them getting more money for its TV rights when their deal expires in a few years.
“So ask me in a couple [of] years, if we’re going to be the most dominant promotion. I know we’ll be making a hell of a lot more money than we are right now, which will enable us to continue to put on the best wrestling product in the world today, which is what we’re already doing.”
