Tony Khan’s AEW, the Jacksonville-based promotion, has emerged as the biggest challenger to WWE since its inception in 2019. Now, it has left behind one of WWE’s biggest ambassadors in the world- Dwayne Johnson. As per a list published by LinkedIn, AEW has overtaken Johnson’s co-owned ZOA Energy in a key metric.

The two companies, however, are vastly different in nature. However, they got clubbed into the same category of cluster- startups.

What rank did AEW secure?

According to LinkedIn, AEW is ranked 18th on the list, that recognized the top 50 startups in the USA in 2023. While controversy has taken root inside AEW for a good part of this year, they added another weekly show to their programming.

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AEW Collision, which premiered on June 17,  airs as a weekly show every Saturday. Apart from that, the second edition of All In, the promotion’s biggest pay-per-view, attracted over 70,000 spectators at the iconic Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom. AEW had reported figures over 81,000, thus making it the biggest PPV in terms of attendance. However, 72,265 emerged as the actual number in terms of the attendance figures for the August 27 spectacle.

These successes seem to have given it a better position compared to ZOA Energy, which, too, had a good year. Placed 37th, the beverage manufacturer has witnessed significant growth recently. 

As per a press release, ZOA Energy has had a 138% year-over-year growth while making $100 million in sales in 2022. According to the list, Johnson’s company has 75 full-time employees. AEW has 105 people on its payroll. Reports stated that ZOA Energy could get an investment from Chicago based multinational Molson Coors Beverage Company. This could allow the brand to bolster its operations and business.

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Meanwhile, other recent developments have left the AEW and Tony Khan in an interesting position.

Will AEW make up for CM Punk, Jade Cargill departure by signing WWE Hall of Famer?

The four-year-old startup has a lot to figure out currently. Within a span of weeks, it has lost two of its biggest talents- CM Punk and Jade Cargill. While Punk was booted out for aggressive backstage antics, which left Tony Khan fearing for his life, Cargill sought greener pastures in the WWE, just months after her record-setting 508-day reign as the AEW TBS Champion came to an end.

With two prime players gone, Khan could now turn to WWE Hall of Famer Edge to embellish his roster. There are rumors that The Rated-R Superstar, who had his last match a few weeks ago in his home country of Canada, could move to the promotion to unite with his long-time collaborator Christian Cage.

Apart from that, WWE’s recent mass layoff, which saw veteran pros like Shelton Benjamin and Dolph Ziggler, and crowd favorite Mustafa Ali being released, could also play into AEW’s hands.

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However, these are speculations and fans will have to wait for the next few weeks to find out the reality. That said, what’s your view on AEW’s dunk over ZOA Energy? Let us know in the comments.