Conrad Thompson: AEW Is For The Fans, WWE Is For The Investors
Conrad Thompson feels that the key difference between WWE and AEW is who their audience is.
In and around the wrestling community enough, plenty of talking heads who are happy to give their opinions on anything and everything wrestling. Conrad Thompson, who runs the Starrcast fan convention, has been a part of wrestling for a long time, including hosting a podcast with Jim Ross. Now, the 45-year-old has given his view on the key difference between America’s two top wrestling promotions.
On The Ariel Helwani Show, he noted that AEW is actually trying to make a show for fans, while WWE is making one for investors.
It’s worth mentioning that Conrad discussed how he understands why there are so many ads on WWE ring mats, and that he knows that WWE/TKO is doing well financially due to all the deals they’re making. However, he also reveals that because of all they’ve been doing recently, his personal interest in the product is much less than it was.
The company’s steady increase in advertising since the TKO takeover hasn’t gone unnoticed by the majority of fans regardless of what happens between the ropes. Viewers have seen aspects such as entrances and t-shirts having sponsor integration, while many came out of WrestleMania 42 frustrated with the extent of advertisements between matches.
All Elite Wrestling are known for keeping their mats clean, though it should be mentioned they also integrate certain sponsorships into their presentation from time to time. Most notably, AEW World Champion Will Ospreay has enjoyed a strong relationship with the Assassin’s Creed franchise, basing multiple entrances around the series of games, though this is an isolated incident rather than sponsorships dominating the show.
Speaking of TKO, it’s believed the company were surprised when The Rock addressed AEW and Tony Khan in his tribute video to PAC. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the respective approaches of WWE and AEW as soon as we hear more.
