I have believed, for a few years now, that WWE is a paper tiger just waiting to be knocked down, and I think people in the company kind of know it now.
WWE fears AEW for many reasons, most of which have to do with Vince's deepest fears and insecurities.
AEW is owned by a member of the same family that owns an English Premier League football team and an NFL team. Vince's dream of the XFL as an alternative to the NFL is undercut, in his mind, by the fact that the Khans could buy into both that league _and_ probably the wealthiest sports league on the planet. Vince cannot compete with that kind of money, and Tony Khan can extend himself, if he chose, into WWE territory in a heartbeat. It also means access to major TV networks (TNT among them) and to TV production grades that'll make Kevin Dunn look even more like an amateur with a Camcorder.
Second is who is running the show and what they can bring. The sons of one Virgil Runnels would have had access to his wisdom throughout their lives together and, especially, to his ideas on booking. They also have access to a wide array of other former bookers and pro wrestlers and managers and executives, many of whom may have been burned by Vince over the years and who would love to help Dusty's kids stick it to Vince.
Third, they also have good rapport with a number of other promotions in North America, in the UK, and with NJPW. Those companies will have no trouble working with AEW on the bigger shows or with coordinating dates for their stars (as long as they get a cut from the deal.
Fourth, they have access to talent, including WWE talent. AEW's central talent has worked with most of WWE's current roster additions from the last five years _at minimum_, and can wait for those contracts to expire before putting out the feelers (some aren't that long off.) While this may save WWE having to pay out on those non-compete periods, it will mean that AEW will, over time and success, hurt WWE's recruiting and retaining power in ways and with talent they can't fathom missing.
The fifth, and biggest reason for WWE to fear is that AEW has the potential to expose the McMahons' central weakness - their shame over and contempt for the source of their fortune. Everything that Vince, Jr. has done since 2001 _at least_ has had the long-term plan of transitioning his company away from the wrestling promotion and towards a media production company. The only member of the family who gives a toss about the business and the craft, without feeling the need to put himself on the throne at all times, is Triple H - and even then it took over twenty years of being told off, criticised, harangued, harassed and threatened by fans and talent to reach the point at which he could conceive of and maintain NXT. Even now, however, his words and guidance are being turned to ashes by his father-in-law's manic obsession with becoming "bigger than 'rasslin'", his wife's need for status and his brother-in-law's dissolute need to be accepted. Only he sees the end of this road they're on, and his shouts are increasingly being lost in the wind.
