Feb 22, 2023; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Wrestlers battle during a tag team battle royal during AEW Dynamite at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

In the last five years alone, the pro wrestling landscape has seen no shortage of changes. None, however, has arguably been bigger than the arrival of All Elite Wrestling and its flagship show, AEW Dynamite.

It was five years ago the Dynamite first hit airwaves on TNT, marking the arrival of the latest pro wrestling promotion to challenge WWE’s dominance following the demise of WCW in 2001. Few — namely TNA and  Ring of Honor — had tried, but largely failed to put even the smallest of dents into WWE’s effective monopoly of the industry. And while there was plenty of optimism about AEW, its initial crop of talent, a media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery and owner Tony Khan’s deep pockets, the odds were very much stacked against it.

Yet five years later, AEW finds itself not only celebrating Dynamite’s fifth anniversary, but on the verge of announcing a new media rights deal that could very well make it the second-most profitable pro wrestling promotion of all-time. You’d have to go back to WCW in 1998 to find the closest comparison and AEW hasn’t just accomplished this over the course of a half-decade, but it also appears much better positioned for the long term than WCW ever was.

Make no mistake, AEW is far from perfect and its decline in popularity from 2021 to now is borderline jarring. Creative has gotten stale and the promotion’s star power has been diminished amid dwindling crowns, all the while WWE is arguably the most successful it has ever been.

But while AEW may not be the same threat to WWE that it seemingly was as recently as three years ago, toppling WWE and its 40-year head start was never a realistic expectation. And any chance AEW had of actually doing that was ultimately eliminated when Vince McMahon was forced to resign in disgrace, eliminating his lackluster creative control over WWE, which doubled as one of AEW’s biggest advantages.

What was a realistic — albeit lofty — expectation, however, was for AEW to become a viable alternative to WWE for fans and talent alike. Five years in, it would be impossible to argue that the Jacksonville-based company hasn’t accomplished just that, ultimately proving Khan’s hypothesis that there’s room for more than one mainstream pro wrestling promotion correct.

For all its faults, AEW still possesses what is arguably the best weekly in-ring wrestling show in Dynamite, while its pay-per-views are reliably some of the best shows of the year. In his own words, Khan books for the “sickos” and it shows, as evidenced by Wednesday’s fifth anniversary episode of Dynamite,  which will feature Bryan Danielson facing Kazuchika Okada in the third installment of their dream match rivalry.

Danielson-Okada III might be the official main event, but the biggest news from Wednesday’s show could very well be the official reveal of AEW’s long awaited new media rights deal with WBD. Making such an announcement on the fifth anniversary of its flagship show would certainly be apropos, as it would mark the culmination of a very successful first five years while signaling a future that possesses the potential to be even brighter.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.