Just a few weeks before WWE and AEW both present shows on the same day, just 20 miles apart from each other in the Chicago area, I’ve got some thoughts about WWE’s ongoing attempts to counter-program All Elite Wrestling. Before I get into that, though, I just want to put a few disclaimers out there:
- I spend more of my time watching wrestling under the WWE umbrella than I do under AEW’s. I’ve got my own reasons and preferences, and I’m more than willing to discuss that elsewhere.
- I haven’t delved into metrics like in-person attendance, TV ratings or pay-per-view buys. With changes in how those things are measured and compared, I don’t care to spend my time trying to make sense of those numbers.
With those disclaimers out of the way, what I have to say now comes from a frustrated life-long wrestling fan:
WWE needs to stop.
Without access to the conversations in WWE and TKO boardrooms that decide
premium live event schedules, we will never know the motives and justifications for scheduling big shows on the same days as AEW. All we really have to go off of is what Nick Khan, Triple H, and other executives are telling us, but it’s difficult not to try to fill in the space in between with our own perceptions. Whether they’re doing it because they see AEW as a threat or because they want to put AEW out of business so they don’t drive up the costs of talent contracts, one thing is clear.
WWE/TKO is deliberately scheduling shows to counterprogram their biggest current competition.
Pro-WWE people, at least those who aren’t outright denying that counterprogramming is a thing, might say that’s just business. If AEW wants to be mentioned in the same breath as the company that’s been on top of the industry for decades, they should actually be happy that WWE is counterprogramming them. It’s a sign that WWE actually views them as a threat to knock them off their perch as the #1 wrestling company in the country, and perhaps the entire world. In fact, at least one of AEW’s top stars subscribes to that line of thinking.
While I don’t want to speak for the AEW side of things too much, there are two prevailing thought processes that I’ve seen from our Cageside community and elsewhere on the wrestle web. Typically, it’s either disdain for the evil fed’s predatory booking… or it’s a confident ‘bring-it-on’ attitude from people who love AEW and don’t really care what WWE is doing.
Regardless of what’s been done and why, I’m pleading with whoever’s responsible for scheduling at WWE and TKO to reassess their strategy, and here are a few reasons why.
NXT deserves better
With AEW running their biggest show of the year All In on the last weekend of August, WWE decided to schedule not one, but TWO premium shows with AAA Ola de Calor and NXT Heatwave in Edinburg, Texas. Before that, it was Great American Bash on the same day as Forbidden Door back in June. In 2025, Goldberg’s retirement match on Saturday Night’s Main Event and no less than three premium NXT shows were lined up on the calendar against AEW pay-per-views. Only once did WWE run a main roster PLE on the same day as an AEW PPV, with Wrestlepalooza last September.
Essentially, WWE has gotten into the habit of using its secondary brands, especially NXT, as sacrificial lambs to try to take a chunk out of AEW’s audience. The problem is that they’re hurting their own brands in the process.
Look at it this way, using August 30th’s full day of wrestling as an example:
- People who planned to watch All In were NEVER going to watch NXT Heatwave instead.
- People who would potentially watch both companies were probably going to prioritize All In, with it being AEW’s biggest show of the year.
- People who typically watch both companies but didn’t have the time or energy to watch replays were probably going to choose All In for the same reason.
So which show was more likely to have lost viewers on August 30th? Spoiler alert: it wasn’t All In.
As one of a few on the Cageside staff who cover NXT on a weekly basis, the developmental brand has carved out a special place in my wrestling heart. Although the roster has undergone a dramatic facelift this year and the show is far from its Black & Gold heyday, several current NXT acts still have journeys worth following. In any right, stars like Kendal Grey and Kelani Jordan deserve to have their own spotlight, their own opportunity to shine. Instead, their awesome title match happened on the same night as AEW’s biggest show, undoubtedly making it so that fewer eyes were on them.
AAA deserves better
On just about every weekly program that WWE produces, you can hear Corey Graves, Michael Cole, or one of their other announcers promoting AAA as the hottest brand in professional wrestling. As someone who prioritizes WWE’s weekly shows when time is at such a premium, the one-hour Saturday night show on YouTube is currently one of my favorites every week. Instead of throwing what they call their hottest brand into a no-win situation up against AEW’s biggest show of the year, why not run their AAA show on a different night?
Wrestling fans who watch both companies’ shows wouldn’t have to choose, and AEW fans who don’t typically watch WWE shows would have a chance to try out an AAA show to see what the hype is about. Instead of definitely losing viewers by counterprogramming, why not just book your show on a different night to potentially gain a few viewers?
AEW isn’t affected as much as they think
It’s been over 7 years since All Elite Wrestling came to be, entering a US wrestling scene that had seen very few competitors challenge WWE’s stranglehold on the industry since WCW was sold at the beginning of the century. At this point, wrestling fan loyalties are mostly hard-wired, and getting people to switch camps has become increasingly difficult. While there are still (and likely always will be) people who follow both companies, that overlapping part of the Venn diagram seems to be in the minority.
One thing pretty much everyone in the IWC agrees on at this point is that AEW always delivers with its pay-per-view events. Even if some feel the shows run too long or feature too many matches, the quality is never in doubt. Some people I know even skip Dynamite and Collision every week and only watch AEW’s pay-per-views, making them monthly appointment viewing. Putting on a big show is something that AEW does just as well, if not better, than any wrestling company anywhere. There’s no reason to think they won’t continue to do the big shows right, and an NXT or AAA show happening at the same time isn’t going to change that.
At Least One More Round
In less than two weeks, the US wrestling scene has its next big night.
On September 26th, AEW will run All Out in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, with Will Ospreay defending the AEW World Championship against Jon Moxley. At around the same time, over in Rosemont and just 20 miles away, WWE is presenting Worlds Collide, which is set to feature stars from NXT, AAA, and reportedly multiple main roster talents. In a sign that WWE is stepping up its game, CM Punk will reportedly appear and don the Straight Edge Society lucha mask that he wore after losing a Mask vs. Hair match to Rey Mysterio over a decade ago.
Is this a sign that WWE is no longer willing to sacrifice the big shows of their secondary brands to make a negligible impact on AEW’s momentum?
Maybe.
All I know for sure is that on what will be a busy night in the Cageside “offices,” wrestling fans will once again have to choose. Here’s to hoping it’s the last time.
