There’s no denying the world of professional wrestling changed when Tony Kahn entered the picture and AEW was born in 2019.
AEW gave everyone a viable option besides the WWE that had a feeling of being worn down and beaten under its own weight, and it was welcomed by fans and wrestlers.
It can be argued that AEW is the same size as the WWE depending on what metric is used, and every time the WWE released someone fans expected them to go to AEW.
There’s nothing wrong with healthy competition in the marketplace, and the WWE is living proof of that. It wouldn’t be nearly as big today had the Monday Night Wars with WCW happened.
Providing an opportunity
AEW also gave wrestlers an opportunity and hope if they were released from the WWE, and it’s something Brian Myers talked about on “The Sessions with Renee Paquette.”
He talked about a power shift happening in wrestling and termed the current era as the Tony Kahn Era. Since his release from WWE, Myers has been a mainstay in Impact Wrestling but has also had a thriving career in the Indies alongside Matt Cardona.
Special thanks to wrestlinginc.com for the following transcript.
“There’s the 80s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling and the Attitude Era and we’re living in something right now. It doesn’t have a name yet… The Tony Khan era I don’t know because he’s pretty much to thank for all the jobs and opportunities that weren’t there before [because] it was a monopoly.”
As we mentioned above, the opportunities have allowed wrestlers to take power over their careers in through the Indies and major promotions as well as various social media sites.
The perfect current example is Mandy Rose.
The power of being independent
Myers continued, “I think through the podcast, Matt Cardona and I, we’ve really found kind of a cheat code to the business because we really work for ourselves now and we don’t have to be employed by anyone to get by. We don’t have to beg for things. It makes a really big difference when you’re in that position of power.”
While Myers, Cardona, and other’s positions don’t necessarily reflect what others are experiencing, it does show that wrestlers can use their talent and brains to make something more for themselves.
We’ve always heard that if we’re willing to work hard enough and get a couple of breaks we can be anything he dream of, and the current pro wrestling world is a testament to that.
What do you think about wrestlers being able to take more control of their careers? Let us know in the comments below.
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