Senior Referee Calls AEW “Wrestling For Nerds”

An AEW referee has called it like he sees it when it comes to wrestling fans and who the company’s target market is.

Bryce Remsburg, a senior referee for AEW, has seen and heard how the company’s fans behave live and online and as such has given a straightforward description of who the company appeals to during an episode of the Should I Keep This podcast.

“AEW is wrestling for nerds. AEW has embraced the nerd culture of wrestling. It’s about star-ratings and matches because our owner and CEO and boss is a self-admitted wrestling nerd.”

According to Remsburg, those with the most influence in the company aren’t afraid to target a demographic that he thinks largely gets ignored by WWE. He also pointed out the company’s openness regarding things like Dave Meltzer’s star ratings and fan ratings on sites like cagematch.net as things that form part of AEW’s identity as a promotion.

Additionally, he noted that the company has some of its roots in CHIKARA, which was more of a comedy and lucha-inspired promotion that at one point filled the same niche that AEW has filled since 2019.

AEW has busy two weeks ahead

All Elite Wrestling’s relationship with this specific subsection of wrestling fans will be put to the test in the coming weeks. The biggest show in that company’s history, All In, takes place this upcoming Saturday in Wembley Stadium in London, England, and has allegedly surpassed almost every attendance record in modern wrestling history.

All In is slated to have several high-profile match-ups, including CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe, MJF vs. Adam Cole, The Young Bucks vs. FTR III, and Chris Jericho.

Eight days later, the company will have another, albeit smaller, PPV in All Out, which will emanate from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois,

h/t WrestlingInc