Since AEW's inception in 2019, tribalism has grown in professional wrestling, as Tony Khan's company, which has gone head-to-head with WWE, is seen as the first real competition to WWE in years. Although tribalism within the industry is often viewed negatively, AEW star Chris Jericho seems to perceive it differently.
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He explained on "Busted Open Radio" how the competition between WWE and AEW has benefited both companies financially.
"Tribalism is always a thing and that's okay. Listen, nobody should be universally loved, that's not cool ... hate us, love us, hate WWE, love WWE, hate Busted Open, love Busted Open, it doesn't matter," said Jericho. "All that matters is it's thriving and pro wrestling is bigger now than it's ever been from a financial standpoint. Maybe not from a ticket standpoint or a ratings standpoint because, once again, the landscape has changed. But from a pure dollar and cents, there's never been a time in this business where companies, both WWE and AEW, two separate companies, are making hundreds of millions a dollars a year."
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Despite WrestleDream coming up this weekend, "AEW Dynamite Title Tuesday" only drew 329,000 viewers which was the lowest overall viewership in the show's history. That being said, the show was pre-empted to Tuesday this week and went up against "WWE NXT's" second show on The CW, which drew 874,000 viewers, both of which seemed to affect "Dynamite's" ratings.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
