Dave Meltzer Addresses 'Negativity' AEW Faces In Pro Wrestling Industry

This weekend marks the five-year anniversary for AEW, which the promotion will celebrate by presenting Double or Nothing 2024 on Sunday, May 26. Co-founded by Tony Khan and The Elite, AEW has established itself as the primary American alternative to WWE in the time since, but it has also seen significant pushback from critics, including several who once worked within the industry, who often seem to be actively rooting against its success.

That particular sentiment was recently addressed by Dave Meltzer during "Wrestling Observer Radio" when Meltzer admitted that he was surprised to see the level of vitriol against the promotion, particularly on social media each week when TV ratings are announced. Meltzer opined that this anti-AEW subsection has greatly affected the company. 

"I knew for sure there would be certain people who were gonna be negative on it no matter what, and no matter how successful it was or was not, they were gonna be negative on it, and I thought they were gonna be voices in the wilderness," Meltzer said. "I did not realize how many people would be taking that tack and really bank on the thing dying. It actually turned into, almost, an industry of people trying to make their living based on the idea that AEW is folding, Tony Khan is an idiot and he's a 'money mark' and all that, while the company was successful."

Meltzer conceded that some of the criticism was valid, but noted that he feels like when AEW starts to falter, the negativity grows louder, much of which he finds ridiculous.