The Heat and the Shine

"You see all these churches?" the wise man observed, on a Memphis to Little Rock road trip a dozen years ago, "They were all started by the same guy...  Some guy who thought every other church sucked." And so we have All Elite Wrestling.  The promotion that began because a wrestling scion, two dreamers from the California desert, and the son of a car bumper magnate thought that every other promotion sucked. WWE, suck?  Who can count the ways?  From Vince's whims to PG to scripted promos, everybody has a complaint. New Japan?  Too afraid, I'm afraid. ROH?  Too thrifty.  No vision.  Too fat, dumb, and happy with their lot in life. PWG?  What could have been...  Maybe if Danny were born with Cody's ambition, it would have happened.  There is honor in being the template; just not much money. And does Impact still exist...? Impact, it could be argued, is AEW's greatest inspiration.  It had so much potential...  if only it didn't suck.  

Names matter, and the name "All Elite Wrestling" matters a lot.  The promotion authored by Cody & the Young Bucks and owned by Shad Khan's son will be Elite, or it will die trying. The term "Shad Khan's son" is hardly music to the money man behind All Elite, Tony Khan.  Sons of successful entrepreneurs rarely enjoy discussion of the fact that their dads made a lot of money.  There is a perception that being such a son comes with inherent advantages.  Vince McMahon says that Shane had to work twice as hard to reach his position, but many fans and journalists simply don't believe it.  Dynasties like the McMahons of wrestling or Rooneys of football are spotlighted.  Cases where the family business is not handed down -- the Denver Broncos' present ownership drama, for example -- are ignored. Shad Khan is relevant to AEW because he is a remarkable man, with a remarkably American success story.  He emigrated from Pakistan, and simply decided to