WWE Backstage Reaction To All Elite Wrestling’s Formation

All Elite Wrestling has been announced and their presser is in the books, which led to lots of questions and answers about the future of the company.

I reached out to several WWE wrestlers and personalities on the condition of anonymity about the formation of All Elite Wrestling, and gained a pretty unanimous response. I should note that only about half of those contacted replied, with a couple of others stating that they didn’t feel comfortable talking about the company, even anonymously. 

The consensus was that more places to work is a major positive, but there were a lot of wrestlers who hadn’t been clued in to their business models. On the other hand, several wrestlers in WWE learned of the news as far back as September. The most clued in seem to think that this is a legitimate venture with a great shot of making it work because of how in tune the players are with wrestling in 2019, but also said it would be key that they break through to the fabled casual fan.

One wrestler told me that they think Impact Wrestling will take the biggest hit of anyone in the situation because of evaporated good will and repeated opportunities. There are also several wrestlers who told me it will help fill the contract void left by Lucha Underground and the uncertainty surrounding them.