Is WWE Trying to Sabotage AEW Pay-Per-Views?

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May 9, 2025 - 04:00
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Competition is healthy for the pro wrestling business. When WWE has a real rival, it usually gets focused and delivers a better product to its audience. The wrestlers make more money by having extra leverage when it comes to negotiating new contracts. Everybody wins, especially the fans.

However, WWE doesn’t seem to enjoy the existence of rivals like All Elite Wrestling. Judging by its recent scheduling decisions, WWE seems like it would be happy for AEW to follow WCW and ECW into the dustbin of wrestling history.

It all started at the end of 2024, when AEW presented its World’s End pay-per-view in Orlando, Fla. WWE ran a house show (untelevised live event) in the same town on the same day. When choosing a date for Saturday Night’s Main Event, WWE settled on July 12, which is the same date as AEW’s biggest show of the year, All In Texas.

Now, it’s happening again. This may not be a coincidence, folks.

WWE is scheduling its NXT battleground show on Peacock to go up against AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view on May 25. If that weren’t enough, WWE will air Saturday Night’s Main Event on the previous night. Wrestling fans will have so much action to watch that they might miss their family barbecues.

This means that WWE’s take-no-prisoners business practices didn’t go away with the ouster of Vince McMahon. He notoriously placed the first Survivor Series in 1987 (I was there!) up against the NWA’s annual Starrcade show. When the NWA delivered the Bunkhouse Stampede PPV in January 1988, Vince presented the first Royal Rumble on the USA Network. The NWA finally fought back by putting the first Clash of the Champions against WrestleMania IV.

I’m not sure how AEW can avoid this problem in the future. After all, they have to announce PPV dates and start selling tickets at some point. But Tony Khan should be flattered that WWE is making these strong counterprogramming moves.

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