WWE's a cultural institution in that its an embarrassment for other cultural institutions. A huge reason more people don't buy into the legit renaissance WWE's had in workrate is because WWE will do things (Dennis Miller, anyone?) that are so laughably out of touch with current youth counterculture that it won't ever be able to take advantage of that type of angst ever again.

For me, that moment was when I heard the CM Punk interview when he said that WWE wouldn't let him wear sponsors on his trunks (Vince thought it was too risky) but then let Brock Lesnar do the same exact thing when he came back a year later. To me, that says WWE doesn't know good ideas until it smacks them in the head... which, well, is really their MO, isn't it?

So I don't really think AEW needs to be a "cultural institution," because in a lot of ways, having to live up to that and compare yourself to sports with real financial boom periods (the NBA being the obvious one) makes WWE a lot harder to live with. The last thing we need is a promotion that's way, way bigger than its wrestlers' creative.