AEW World Champion Samoa Joe Explains Online Fandom Negativity Despite Wrestling Boom

AEW World Champion Samoa Joe has promised a new era in AEW with himself positioned at the top of the mountain, which is a promise that would be welcomed by many fans of the promotion as there has been negativity surrounding it lately. A combination of backstage turmoil, frustration amongst fans, and WWE finding its form has led to AEW becoming the victim of a lot of scrutiny, no matter how good the in-ring product may be.

The majority of this negativity has stemmed from social media and online fandoms, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by the AEW World Champion. During a recent interview with "ESPN," Joe explained that, even though professional wrestling seems to be going through something of a boom period, people still find the time to speak negatively about AEW. 

"Online fandom isn't about sharing an experience with somebody. It's about being right," Joe said. "It's about having a point of view and then finding every tidbit or morsel to support that point of view and hammering away against the other people who may have an opposing point of view. 

Joe explained that the fandom that some people have for professional wrestling is different from other mediums, claiming that it's not about the wrestlers, the matches, or the product. "It's just about beating this other person at the other end of the Twitter handle, or whatever it may be. That's really what it boils down to," Joe said. "I best sum it up this way. I've never heard somebody say, 'Man, I really changed a lot of people's minds with that tweet.'" 

AEW President Tony Khan has even pinned some of the 'anti-AEW' stigma online to "Twitter Bots" designed to discredit the company's name.