Ca$h: Sports Entertainment VS Pro Wrestling

Rey Ca$h ponders if there’s a difference between sports entertainment and pro wrestling, and how that affects WWE and AEW.

As a content creator, I’m often motivated by other people’s opinions.  I often find myself reading a tweet or an article, or listening to a podcast and screaming at my phone or laptop.  That’s how I know what I need to talk or write about.  And there is no more scream-worthy conversation right now than WWE VS AEW.

The WWE VS AEW rhetoric is completely understandable.  WWE has been a resident monopoly in the wrestling world for almost 20 years, so the second a viable major alternative pops up, it was inevitable that people were going to take sides.  While the arguments have ranged from fun to downright toxic, there is one that particularly drives me crazy and is the reason you’re reading this article.  I just can’t understand this assertion that WWE is sports entertainment, AEW is pro wrestling, and the two are markedly different.

Now, WWE willingly markets themselves as sports entertainment, and that’s totally a business reason.  By separating themselves from the guise of legitimate sport, they can get around government regulations, and in turn, still leaving a faint association with sport allows them to have a much different (and often unfair) agreement with their talent.  The independent contractor label is one that is specifically affected by this distinction because as their not sport, there’s no governing union that negotiates for them as a whole, and as their not typical entertainment, they aren’t considered actors enough to join the Screen Actors Guild.  As such, WWE has been able to grow their business exponentially because of the unique label they have chosen.  It’s this reason that they choose this ideology.

As stories are told, Vince McMahon has never been a fan of the way traditional wrestling was run.  He dreamed of a much bigger world, ripe with unlimited possibilities.  A world that traditional wrestling had never had those possibilities.  With the new moniker of sports entertainment, WWE has grown to become a billion dollar powerhouse, buoyed by major sponsors like Snickers, Mattel, and TapOut to name a few.  They’re regularly reported on by major publications and platforms like ESPN, Variety, and Sports Illustrated.  And the one thing that’s always separated WWE from any other possible company is that they create stars that become completely mainstream, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, John Cena, and Dave Bautista as recent examples.

So why did WWE have to change their label to garner these successes?  What’s so wrong with the pro wrestling label?  And is there even a difference between the two?

We’ve seen this argument come up multiple times in the past 20 years, with the advent and rise of organizations like TNA/Impact, Ring of Honor, and the American expansion of the fully sports-based New Japan Pro Wrestling.  But it’s the rise of AEW that’s brought this argument to the front and center.  Tony Khan is as big a traditional wrestling fan that we’ve possibly ever seen as the owner of a wrestling company.  Every time you hear him talk, you can realize how motivated he is by the love of the business that grew in him watching as a kid and on.  Because of this, he’s chosen to bring a few different tenets to his wrestling company.  For one, he’s emphasizing that wins and losses matter, and he’s showing this by having win/loss records available and mentioned as a part of the program.  Also, Tony allows a certain level of creative freedom with his talent.  For the most part, the wrestlers are able to come up with their own gimmicks, promos, and match structure.  And finally, AEW is showcasing the strength of their wrestling prowess by having long, major matches every show.  The basis of their show is usually built on the strength of the matches scheduled for that night.

But is a WWE show really that different from an AEW show?  And is there really a difference between the terms pro wrestling and sports entertainment?

WWE is known as the entertainment company.  They value promos, segments, and the pomp and circumstance of presentation.  But they also have really good wrestling matches.  They also have kid friendly and hokey gimmicks, but they also have serious ones too.  And they don’t put a premium on wins and losses to the extent that AEW does, but currently, the main way to challenge for a championship is to beat the champion in a non-title match.  Isn’t that basically showing that wins and losses matter?

AEW, while known as the wrestling company, still values some of the entertainment value.  There are MULTIPLE promo segments on each show, either in ring with Tony Schiavone, backstage, or even pre-taped.  They’ve brought in numerous non-wrestlers to be important parts of the show, such as Shaq, Mike Tyson, and currently Dan Lambert of American Top Team.  And for every serious wrestling gimmick and wrestler in AEW, there’s an Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus, and Abadon.  Finally, the win/loss records of AEW are a major part of the company, but there have been numerous times where the number 1 contender didn’t get a title shot, or a lower ranked contender received the big title match at the Pay-Per-View.

I’ve often thought that there is literally zero difference between the two labels.  Sports entertainment IS pro wrestling.  They’re two sides of the same coin, just differently named for convenience.  It’s no different than most people calling a tissue a Kleenex or calling all soda a Coke.  It’s just a label used to further and change the perception.  And as such, both shows are much more alike than anybody will ever admit.  If you really break down both companies match by match, show by show, you’ll see that while there’s a perception that sports entertainment and pro wrestling are drastically different, they’re actually the same thing.

FIN