The debate among fans about AEW’s real impact on WWE often revolves around ratings and demographics. For WWE Hall of Famer JBL, however, the most significant influence happens behind the curtain. On a recent episode of the Something To Wrestle podcast, he argued that the presence of a rival company is essential to keeping WWE focused and creatively sharp.
JBL explained his view that Vince McMahon historically turned to unusual side projects when he lacked a true wrestling competitor to channel his energy.
“I think it makes it better. I think it makes it a lot better. The times that Vince did things that were crazy was when he was bored,” JBL said. “He came up with ICOPRO when WCW had no ratings… He came up with the XFL when WCW was no longer around later. When you have no competition… creative guys need to fill a void somewhere, and there’s no reason to fill it with wrestling because you don’t have competition.”
He contrasted that with WWE’s attempts to create its own rivals by reviving ECW and NWA, noting that those efforts “just hasn’t worked very well.”
Looking at today’s landscape, JBL acknowledged doubts about the scale of AEW’s challenge but maintained that its existence directly fuels the quality of WWE’s product.
“I think their show is absolutely on fire and all the stuff they’re doing is a response to… I don’t think AEW is big competition – you could argue how big they are as competition, I don’t think it’s much – but they do respond,” he said. “And I think that has a huge positive effect on the business.”
From a performer’s perspective, JBL stressed that the stakes rise when another major company is in play. With competition, accountability becomes unavoidable.
“You wanted to beat them. You wanted to see what they had on their show and you wanted to go up against it,” he recalled of the WCW era. “And when there’s no competition, what happens if you s—t the bed? It doesn’t really matter… If you’re not good when you have competition… you’re either gotten rid of or you’re put way down on the roster somewhere. You won’t be in that spot again. So you love the competition.” (h/t Wrestletalk)