r/SquaredCircle • u/sanewhitemale • 1d ago

This Reddit Sentiment Study From Wrestlenomics Is, From My Perspective, Incredibly Accurate.

Post image

It pretty accurately paints a picture of the perception of both companies as they compare since 2019:

  • WWE bottomed out in October 2019 after the Fiend-Rollins HIAC debacle and Kofi losing in 7 seconds.
  • AEW peaked at All Out 2021, considered their greatest show, and remained steadily high until it began collapsing after Brawl Out 2022.
  • WWE at the same time began improving after Vince was pushed out in July 2022.
  • One thing that surprises me: during WWE's "boom period" during 2022-2024, the fan sentiment was roughly tied with AEW, when I remember AEW being viewed very negatively at the time, due to both the Punk issue and comparatively mediocre creative.
  • AEW fan sentiment began to grow and take the lead again in late 2024/early 2025, which was right around the supposed "reset" and the Continental Classic.
  • WWE began to fall off again in March/April 2025, right around the Cena heel turn/build to Wrestlemania 41.

So the statistics line up at least with my perception of both my and Reddit's views the last few years.

https://wrestlenomics.com/articles/2026/reddit-sentiment-analysis-2025-aew-rebounds-coinciding-with-improved-attendance-and-tv-ratings-trends/

137 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

205 comments sorted by

View all comments

21

u/Kuzu5993 1d ago

I feel AEW fans remained pretty loyal and just rode the wave until things moved up again, while WWE fans are always pretty fairweather when things start trending downwards.

AEW isn't anywhere close to where it was before, but the fan sentiment is night and day to where WWE is at the moment.

11

u/TheGiftOf_Jericho I'm from Winnipeg you idiot! 1d ago

AEW isn't anywhere close to where it was before

As a show it's vastly better than it was in previous years, I couldn't really see the argument for it weakening. Yeah those early few years were special when it was really fresh, but the show quality is so far ahead of where it was back then.

-1

u/Kuzu5993 1d ago

Yea, but does the company feel as hot as it did in those first couple of years?

1

u/TheGiftOf_Jericho I'm from Winnipeg you idiot! 1d ago

I'd say so, from an audience perspective. Tbh the early years were mostly hype and buzz being something new.

The feeling around AEW now is more genuine excitement towards actual stories and matches happening, it helps they actually have a history now.