Dumbass thread premise - Hall & Nash weren't just big gets for WCW, they were MASSIVE losses for WWF. Sure, Bryan main evented Mania but he was far more replacable than either of them were in 96. Nash was one of the four pillars of the main event scene and Hall was their biggest mid-card act.
WWF had absolutely nothing going for them in 96 star power wise. They had HBK, Taker and Bret, and Bret was gone most of the year. WCW roster was stacked with name value guys and they were already neck and neck with WWF prior to Hall & Nash's arrival. AEW's starting from nothing. Just to make things EVEN with WWE, AEW will first have to steal Roman and Brock like how WCW got Hogan and Savage in '94. That was when their business finally turned the corner. THEN to push past them, a couple years later AEW will have to steal whoever WWE builds up in their place.
Nowadays, WWE has a self-sustaining business model and a big ass roster. The only way they'd really be hurting is if a Roman, Rollins, Lashley, or a Drew jumped ship - one of their big featured main event guys. Or on the women's side the four Horsewomen. Charlotte and Sasha seem like the most likely of them to just up and leave
And as others said, it was the Hogan turn that made the big difference. AEW doesn't have John Cena
Edit: If we're really keeping it a buck, it's WWE itself that's more comparable to '96 WCW. '96 WCW had anybody who was anybody in the previous 10 years of wrestling, while WWF had NOTHING. HBK, Bret, and then a bunch of guys like Austin and Foley who were career undervalued workhorses. A roster of guys who needed to be elevated and built up vs. a stacked roster of big stars and elite workers on the bottom, too. Punk and Bryan are more their HBK and Bret.
Cm punk booking stinks more tho…and he looks gassed
…marks will eat that shyt up
