All Elite Wrestling's All Out pay-per-view event concluded Saturday night with a Lights Out Steel Cage match between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page. The latter sewed a hypodermic needle through his opponent's cheek before unloading with an unprotected steel chair shot to the head, ultimately earning him the victory via referee stoppage.

Moments earlier, Jon Moxley betrayed world champion Bryan Danielson by placing a plastic bag over his head and attempting to suffocate him while fans in Chicago chanted, "this is murder!"

Both moments earned criticism from fans who believed AEW had gone too far in terms of excessive violence, while others touted the product and their belief it was needed in those particular situations.

It was another example of the fine line between establishing a mainstream or niche product that AEW and its pro wrestling counterpart, WWE, walk with each broadcast.

AEW's Excess Threatens Growth

Tony Khan is an admitted fan of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and ECW, the defunct extreme promotion out of South Philadelphia that revolutionized the industry in the 1990s. The owner and operator of AEW tweeted to confirm his presence in the crowd for Chris Jericho's final appearance with ECW.

Whether it was the violence of ECW or the Japanese strong style that relies heavily on strikes and the timing of finishes, there is an undeniable excess that goes into Khan's fandom. It is prevalent in his booking, too. Every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night, it is right there for the world to see.

Shows are jam-packed with matches, promos, backstage vignettes, and angles galore. On top of nonstop action is often unnecessary violence that ultimately waters down whatever else is going on, to the point that the only way to escalate the hatred between two wrestlers is to have one of them, well, stick a needle through the other's face.

After all, once you have seen glass, thumbtacks, and fire utilized on free television, there really is nowhere else to go but to spots designed to shock fans instead of adding to the product.

It is a formula that works for like-minded fans who want all of that pro wrestling carnage candy but it also threatens the company's ability to grow and evolve.

In August 2022, AEW Dynamite averaged 987,200 fans. Two years later, in the same month, the show averaged 678,500 viewers, based on ratings numbers compiled by Fightful.com. This suggests over 300,000 fans have decided that the product is no longer their thing.

Even as television viewing changes and evolves, and audiences find new ways to consume content that isn't on broadcast TV, that is a significant falloff.

None of that has deterred television networks from wanting AEW. Sean Ross Sapp reported for Fightful Select that Khan is closing in on a new deal with Warner Brothers Discovery, and a new show on the Fox family of networks is not out of the question.

To maximize those relationships, Khan and Co. must recognize what works and what does not and make the appropriate adjustments.

There's a Reason AEW Has Plenty of Fans

AEW does certain elements better than anyone on North American television. Its bread and butter is the in-ring product, which will always be its foundation. Presenting great in-ring work featuring the mix of legends and bright young stars that he has under contract will always be the foundation of AEW.

The company has an increasingly strong women's division, championed by the recognizable Mercedes Moné and the blossoming Mariah May, as well as one of the great characters in "Timeless" Toni Storm and two stars of the future in Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale.

Highlight that division, give those women more to do, and encourage them to build relationships with the viewer outside of the one segment and quick backstage promo they are allotted every week.

Tag team wrestling used to be a point of emphasis in AEW, and when it did it right, no other promotion could touch it. Over the five years it has been on television, that division has been de-emphasized even though the roster is brimming with teams more than capable of returning it to its glory.

The die-hard fans of AEW are not going anywhere. They have connections with the talent and the company that extends beyond the show's content. They will always defend the product and express affection for it.

However, there is another untapped audience for the company to invest time and energy into. Courting an audience that would bring families into arenas and increase viewership is an audience that can be attracted by staying true to its foundation while backing off of the extreme excess that has defined the product over the last year or two.

Of course, there is such a thing as going too tame.

WWE: PG Nearly Killed the Wrestling Star

WWE is as hot now as ever, with record revenue of $851.2 million in the second quarter of 2024. Events are sold out, international business is booming, and the company's television product is more acclaimed than it has been in over two decades.

Much of that can be attributed to the change in creative direction under Paul "Triple H" Levesque, who has eliminated the over-the-top kid-friendly elements of the show that grated on the nerves of young adult fans and directed them toward AEW in the first place and implemented a more wrestling-based product that emphasizes realistic rivalries and the significance of championships.

It was not always that way, though.

In the mid-to-late 2000s, WWE underwent a significant creative change that saw the company adopt a "PG" television rating in an attempt to appeal to more families. This alienated the 18-40 demographic that fell in love with the company during its hugely successful Attitude Era as the show descended into a more one-dimensional direction creatively. There was no room for real hatred, and the physicality and violence of the Attitude Era were essentially neutered.

Sure, John Cena carried the company on his back as wrestling's latest superhero, but the fans who had passionately packed arenas and watched every week had moved on to other forms of entertainment.

What had been a monster cable television juggernaut, including an 8.1 rating for the May 10, 1999 episode, settled into a number in the range of a low three by the end of the 2010s. As the company became even glossier and hollow creatively and streaming services and social media rose to prominence, there was even less of a demand to see WWE programming as it unfolded in real-time.

That turn toward the mainstream and adoption of PG content made the company more toyetic and marketable to younger fans, but it also nearly cost the company its biggest star. Roman Reigns, the dominant badass of The Shield was trotted onto television and handed lines, such as the now-infamous "suffering succotash," that nearly ruined any chance he had of being taken seriously as a main event attraction.

The determination to appeal to young people and the uniformity of shows took away any real emotion and creativity from the writers and performers responsible for executing Vince McMahon's vision.

It was not until the post-pandemic period, the rise of Reigns as The Tribal Chief, and the layered story of The Bloodline that the company and its business saw an upturn that led it back to juggernaut status.

Creatively, Triple H has found a fine line between mainstream and niche. He appeals to wrestling fans with his knack for old-school booking and multi-layered stories while not straying too far into the excess of the 1990s.

WWE President Nick Khan has struck partnerships with businesses eager to work with the company on sponsorship and advertising deals. Upcoming films and video games appear on guardrails and ring aprons, and Prime Hydration takes center stage in the middle of the canvas.

Those deals were made possible because WWE is hot now, with increased interest in its television product and an undeniable social media presence. Significant sports stars, including Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers, and Patrick Mahomes of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, are eager to appear on the show.

WWE is cool again, appealing to fans of all ages and demographics—enough so to convince Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to come back to the company that made him a household name and give his seal of approval to this generation of stars, including Reigns and current WWE champion Cody Rhodes.

What's Next For AEW?

AEW could easily find itself in this position. It has the talent and a passionate fan base to do so. The question is how it grows that fan base.

Becoming the excessive alternative, rife with uber violence at a time when attendance numbers and television ratings suggest that is not what the larger audience wants, is the wrong way to go about it.

Leaning into what endeared the company to fans at the foundational level while emphasizing some of its greatest strengths is a logical path forward.

Learning from past mistakes and avoiding the potholes that WWE hit along the way.

It's the difference between becoming a legitimate, mainstream alternative to WWE and emerging from the niche product the company has handcuffed itself to in recent years.

It is possible for AEW to retain its current edginess while maintaining a level of violence that separates it from its counterpart. There is room for two completely different organizations in professional wrestling.

The key for AEW is recognizing the fine line between too much and just enough.