AEW’s momentum continued this week with a newsworthy AEW Dynamite that drew big numbers for TNT on the heels of Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson making their debut but people in WWE management are reportedly not too worried about the recent defections.
Ringside News is reporting that Cole making the jump to AEW is not being seen as a big deal. A tenured member of the creative team was quoted as saying, “No one here views it as a big loss. Whether that’s right or wrong, that’s the mentality.”
It’s clear that Cole was never going to be slotted as a main event star since it was pitched to have him become the manager of Keith Lee on the main roster. Ringside News first reported the news on Wednesday about the creative pitch for Cole to be a manager and Dave Meltzer followed up on Thursday by reporting that the person Cole would have managed would have been Lee.
In regards to CM Punk, it was reported by RSN that “WWE has no interest in CM Punk and even less for Phil Brooks as a human being.” Punk has not had nice things to say about WWE since he left in 2004 so those comments do not come as much of a surprise.
For what it’s worth, the belief in WWE is that Vince McMahon does not watch AEW so he is likely not aware of the buzz that the company is generating right now. WWE continues to rake in record profits, primarily from their TV deals and their shows in Saudi Arabia and there is no sign that they are going to be in any financial trouble in the near future.
What may start to raise some eyebrows is if AEW continues to draw in more fans. This week’s AEW Dynamite beat Raw in the key 18-49 demo. If this continues then it will make things interesting when networks bid on pro wrestling during the next round of TV contract negotiations.
