WWE tends to thrive on competition. The hottest period in pro wrestling history came when they were directly competing with WCW for viewers, and while that was ultimately unsustainable, it’s a catalyst that they’ve tried to recreate over the years by splitting their own roster into brands. The thing is, while fans remember the company pushing the envelope in terms of action and content in order to beat their rivals, the effects of being the last company standing go well beyond what you see on the screen.

By its very nature as the largest wrestling promotion, WWE is in a weird place with regards to its business practices. They’re the target of an incredible amount of scrutiny, leading to highly publicized stories about how their superstars don’t get health benefits or the outrage among both fans and wrestlers about doing shows for the reigning monarchy of Saudi Arabia after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. At the same time, they have no real reason to change, since they’re basically the only globally recognized company in their field. Even if you don’t like what they do, there’s no real viable alternative if you want to watch mainstream pro wrestling.

The same lack of a viable alternative applies to the wrestlers themselves. Right now, WWE has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to talent, with a massive roster that’s full of incredible performers. As much talent as they have, though, and as many hours of television as they’re willing to put out every week, and as much as they’re willing to pay wrestlers more than they could be making anywhere else, there’s only so much screen time to go around. WWE has signed plenty of wrestlers that could (and should) be huge stars that there quite simply isn’t room for, and even when the product itself is very good, as WWE’s shows frequently are, that stagnation can take its toll. That’s why, despite the fact that WWE is pretty firmly entrenched as the #1 wrestling company in the world, people on all sides of the industry are very interested in finding some kind of viable, profitable alternative.

While everyone involved with AEW is a seasoned veteran of pro wrestling, it’s worth noting that the company has as much to do with something Cody and the Young Bucks did outside the ring as what they’ve accomplished in it. In fact, it’s easy to argue that AEW wouldn’t be happening at all if it weren’t for, of all things, a YouTube series.

In 2016, after splitting off from the Bullet Club and forming a faction called the Elite, Cody and the Bucks launched a YouTube series called Being The Elite. Originally designed as a sort of behind-the-scenes, road-diary style series following the group and their travels, BTE eventually became much more. Entire storylines were fleshed out through the series and major announcements like the formation of AEW and matches for their events were made there.

Being the Elite blurred the line between the stories being told through pro wrestling and the reality behind it, and built a tight continuity over which the Elite themselves had complete control, separate from any of the (many) promotions they were wrestling for. It allowed them to take advantage of the platform to reach an audience that was maybe not interested in following Ring of Honor or New Japan, but were definitely drawn by charismatic performers to see goofs like the Young Bucks having a living room feud with Santa Claus. As a result, they forged a connection with die-hard fans that made the entire group even more popular than they already were, and they did it completely outside of the existing structure for promoting pro wrestling.

To put it mildly, All In was a big deal. With its 30-minute sell-out, it became the first non-WCW, non-WWE wrestling show in 25 years to sell over 10,000 tickets, and by the time those fans were crowded into Chicago’s Sears Centre (or streaming the show at home), it had turned into an incredible international showcase. Not only did it feature ROH talent, but the Elite also brought in matches from Mexico’s CMLL and AAA promotions, Impact Wrestling, New Japan, and the National Wrestling Alliance. It even had a match with TV’s Green Arrow, Stephen Amell (who had previously wrestled Cody at WWE’s SummerSlam in 2015), and he was actually pretty good.

While virtually all the matches were well received by fans and critics, it was the NWA World Championship match that might end up being the most important in the long run. In addition to winning the championship that had defined much of his father’s career, Cody sported a pair of boots with “6:05” emblazoned on them.

That might’ve been a little confusing for younger fans, but for those of us who grew up watching World Championship Wrestling, the meaning was clear. WCW Saturday Night, the show that Dusty Rhodes always referred to as “the Mothership,” aired for years at 6:05 PM on TBS. It was a notable tribute to Dusty, and also an interesting piece of foreshadowing.

The formation of a new wrestling promotion, even one featuring popular stars like Cody, Omega, the Young Bucks, and Glacier (bear with us on that last one), isn’t exactly huge news. The fact that they have financial backing that can afford top talent is a bigger deal, but if AEW really wanted to compete with, or even provide an alternative to WWE, they needed one specific thing: mainstream television. Streaming is great, but TV provides access to a more casual audience that goes beyond the 10,000 people willing to pony up for tickets to the live event, which is what a company truly needs to thrive.

And that’s exactly what AEW got, in a place that’s both surprising and completely appropriate. On May 15, TNT announced that they’d be airing a weekly AEW show. It’s notable for a couple of reasons, including the fact that TNT is a major cable network that’s available worldwide, but also because of that network’s history with wrestling. TNT (a sister channel to TBS), was the home of WCW Monday Nitro in the late ’90s until WCW folded in 2001, and was where that company had their greatest success and eventual failure.

The announcement included a couple of relatively subtle nods to the network’s history with wrestling, including a fiery background for the AEW logo that mimicked Monday Nitro. There was a much deeper cut in the form of a tweet that read “we’re back in the wrestling business.” That’s a reference to a phone call Ted Turner made to Vince McMahon after he bought WCW, telling him “I’m in the wrestling business!” McMahon famously replied “that’s great, I’m in the entertainment business.” But with an emphasis on “entertainment” that’s led to things like running a full trailer for The Secret Life of Pets 2 during a match in a split-screen, fans might just be looking for a little more wrestling.