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Longtime wrestling analyst Dave Meltzer explains how AEW is “closing the gap” with WWE

Aaron Rift

During an edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com discussed AEW’s momentum shift in recent months against WWE. Meltzer stated the following…

“It’s always about a wrestling war, right? And like a year ago in wrestling when they were talking like that, I mean, All Elite Wrestling was just—momentum-wise—they had terrible momentum. Even when they put on good stuff, the momentum was so bad and everybody was talking down about them. It just became this thing of like they’re dying, they’re dying, they’re dying.

And now, right now, it’s like all those people are very quiet. All those people that were hounding me about how they were going to die and all this—it’s like they’re very quiet. Other than the ones who want to do the ‘oh, the Paramount Global thing now, they’re going to get cancelled because TKO Group Holdings will make them get cancelled.’ They don’t even get it.

But that’s the difference. And again, that’s another story. In 2027 everything can be different, and probably will be. But right now, you think you got them—like what Eric Bischoff had in 1997. They’re in the dust. They’re not even competition anymore. We won the war. And then all of a sudden, you didn’t win the war.

And I think in this one, they’re way, way ahead, but the gap is closing. Even though they’re still way ahead, the other guys are coming up. And all the little tricks—when they started coming up, or even before they started coming up—to try to put them in the dust, like putting those head-to-head shows, every time it backfired. AEW did a good number, and they always did a lower than usual number every single time.

All of a sudden, it’s like the big picture—those things weigh into it.”

After Meltzer’s remarks went viral on social media, he went into further details via Twitter/X about how “the gap is closing” between the two companies…

“Scam is in the denial. From last year, Mania ticket sales down 19%, Revolution up 14%. Same buildings for each from a year ago. Collision just did its two best viewers numbers for shows opposite a WWE PLE and an NXT PLE since 2023 each in the last two weeks. From one year ago in viewers this past week, Raw down 7.0 percent domestic, Smackdown down 31.1%, NXT down 25.2% (this one is unfair but week before was down 13.5%), Collision up 1.9% and Dynamite up 8.3%. It is what it is.”

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