WCW forced WWE to start giving more guaranteed money to talent and raise the downside guarantees but WWE's rise was more about copying ECW than WCW
They followed WCW's blueprint, DX is a direct response to NWO for example.
All three ended up in the same ballpark obviously, but notes were xeroxed from WCW for counter culture edge and still appealing to mainstream viewers. Paul/ECW just didn't have the filter, plenty of edge but no network was taking them serious
Not even saying "copying" is a bad thing, it's just that AEW ain't caused anybody to do shyt lol. There's nothing new under the sun, I said it a long time ago in '21 when they brought Punk/Danielson in, that was the time for them to draw a line for that weirdo fanbase and let them know where we're going, and where they can get off if they don't like it, cause most of them don't fit into the equation of a growth company. Let's be honest, where the fukk would they have gone lmao
You should be responding to what's already working, only somebody with more money than sense is gonna keep spending on something that's not. fukk New Japan "fans", look at the numbers they're not even watching New Japan shyt