The Advocate Finally Admits Two Can Play At This Game

For years, the internet wrestling community has been stuck in a perpetual tug-of-war. We have WWE loyalists waving the flag of the juggernaut and AEW truthers acting like Tony Khan discovered electricity. Usually, the folks on the WWE side of the aisle act like AEW is a mild skin rash that will clear up with enough corporate ointment. But then you have Paul Heyman, a man who has forgotten more about the business than most bookers will ever learn.

In a recent chat with WrestleTalk, the Wiseman didn't do the usual company man song and dance. He didn't scoff at the competition or act like the competition doesn't exist. He looked reality dead in the eye and admitted the obvious: the talent roster is getting paid, and that is entirely due to AEW becoming a real-deal alternative.

Let’s call a spade a spade. When you have two major players trying to snatch up the same pool of athletic freaks, the price tag goes up. Heyman noted that competition changed the compensation for talent. It turns out that when wrestlers have leverage, billionaires start opening up the checking accounts. Gone are the days where you have to take whatever crumpled up flight voucher WWE slides across the desk.

Is the product actually better though?

Heyman’s take wasn't just about the money, though. He brought up the legacy of ECW, and honestly, the man deserves his flowers. You look at the current wrestling scene and see matches that would have been considered death-defying, blood-soaked spectacles in the 90s, now happening on basic cable in the middle of a random Tuesday. Heyman essentially planted the seeds in the bingo halls of Philadelphia, and now we are watching the harvest happen on a massive scale.

However, we need to address the elephant in the ringside area. Just because talent is getting paid and the action is higher-gear doesn't mean the quality of storytelling has hit a golden age. While the spot density is up, there are still head-scratching booking decisions on both sides of the fence. We have seen shows where the work rate is technical perfection, yet the crowd sits on their hands because there is zero emotional stakes in the match. Wrestling needs more than just a 30-minute iron man match to be great.

Heyman realizes that influence. He knows that ECW proved you could build a brand on style and intensity, not just polished corporate presentation. AEW took that blueprint, added a massive budget, and forced WWE to stop resting on its laurels. If Vince McMahon’s old company had stayed in a vacuum for the last five years, we probably would still be watching the same tired, paint-by-numbers segments from 2017.

Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of things that make me want to throw my beer at the TV. We have seen too many instances of 'dream matches' that feel like disjointed gymnastics exhibitions. A match is just a match if the audience doesn't care who wins, and both companies have occasionally forgotten that basic law of physics. Still, watching Paul Heyman give credit where credit is due feels like a massive shift.

When the greatest talker in the history of the sport says that having more eyes on the product and more money in the pockets of the boys and girls in the back is a good thing, you listen. Competition forces innovation. If WWE has to keep evolving because they’re worried about losing a guy to an AEW offer sheet, then we all win as viewers.

Maybe stop acting like your tribalism is a personality trait. The reality, as articulated by the man himself, is that the wrestling landscape is thriving because of the pressure. Paul Heyman being the one to point it out proves he is still the smartest guy in the room, even when he is busy trying to get his head kicked in by the next rising star on the card.