As seen in the screenshots below, it appears that content related to All Elite Wrestling has been removed from ESPN’s official website. The development, noticed by fans, comes as ESPN and WWE prepare to launch a new, exclusive partnership for Premium Live Events next month and follows a year of increased competition between WWE and AEW.
It looks like the WWE-ESPN deal means no more AEW content on the ESPN website. pic.twitter.com/R2W7VvGmbj
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) August 20, 2025
“Page Not Found”
On the ESPN.com website, under the “Other Sports” dropdown menu, there is a subsection for “Professional Wrestling.” Previously, this section contained links to dedicated pages for both WWE and AEW. Currently, while the link to the WWE section remains active and functional, the link for AEW now directs users to a “page not found” error message, indicating that the content has been removed.
New WWE and ESPN Deal
This change comes shortly after WWE and ESPN officially announced that all of WWE’s Premium Live Events will be moving to ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service. The partnership is set to begin on September 20 with the inaugural Wrestlepalooza event from Indianapolis. This landmark deal makes ESPN the exclusive U.S. home for all of WWE’s major monthly shows. Wrestlepalooza is scheduled to go head to head with AEW All Out.
WWE’s Competitive Strategy in 2025
The removal of AEW’s content from ESPN’s website can be seen as the latest move in a broader competitive strategy by WWE and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, to directly combat AEW’s big events throughout 2025. This strategy has seen WWE schedule its own shows and events on the same dates as major AEW pay-per-views.
This pattern of counter-programming has been notable throughout the year. WWE ran an NXT Battleground event on the same weekend as AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. Similarly, NXT Heatwave was scheduled directly opposite AEW’s Forbidden Door event. It appears that this trend will continue.
While neither ESPN nor AEW have officially commented on the website change, the timing strongly suggests that as the business relationship between ESPN and WWE strengthens, the sports media giant is prioritizing its new partner’s content over that of its competitor.
