The existence of AEW over the last seven years has affected the wrestling business in many ways, the most obvious being it has given WWE its first real competitor since WCW during the Monday Night Wars of the 90s. But arguably the biggest thing AEW has affected is the pay scale in wrestling by offering wrestlers two companies to negotiate with. It’s a change that former WWE wrestler and writer Road Dogg has particularly noticed.
Appearing on “Busted Open Radio,” Road Dogg discussed the effect AEW’s existence had on contract negotiations, admitting it had influence over certain WWE booking decisions. In fact, Road Dogg linked some of his disenchantment during his latter days in WWE with the influence of contract negotiations over creative, pondering whether that had superseded the wrestling component when it came to booking decisions.
“It’s definitely a thing you’re going to talk about now,” Road Dogg said. “And if Santos Escobar is going to go there and maybe make a difference, then you say ‘Hey, maybe we re-sign you for three years,’ you know what I mean? And that’s…the difference is…I don’t know. I think the booking used to be about wrestling. And I think the booking’s…maybe it’s always been about the money, and I just thought it was about the wrestling.
“But like, it just feels like it’s just all about the money now. And so maybe that goes to what you’re saying, is like the money…you can go over there and make some money too. So like, the money is deciding everything. But I don’t know man. It just feels like WWE right now, for me, was a money grab, and…I don’t know. It didn’t feel right. I wanted to step away from that.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
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