Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, AEW CEO and General Manager Tony Khan was asked if he believes WWE counterprograms against AEW events intentionally. Khan confirmed that he does.
“I do think it’s done on purpose, and I understand it, and it’s part of wrestling,” Khan said. “And I think we’ve seen a lot of it, but I think other wrestling promotions that have been the challenger wrestling brand in our lifetime have seen a lot of it.”
Khan immediately contextualized the situation by drawing a parallel to the Monday Night Wars era, recalling how the forerunner to WWE once contended with counterprogramming tactics with WCW.
“Jim Crockett promotions, which was the forerunner to WWE, saw a lot of this,” Khan continued. “And Jim Crockett promotions ended up having to sell the company to Ted Turner, who then made a great run. It took a while. And really, if you look Ted Turner took over at the start of 1989 and the strongest run came over six years later, almost seven years later, it started, really, when business peaked and took off their peak years.”
He noted that operating as a challenger requires large amounts of investment to truly become strong, which is why AEW took the necessary risks when it first launched. Khan believes that having witnessed that type of territorial behavior throughout history allows him to navigate the waters of today’s wrestling landscape with a better perspective.
The scheduling conflicts mentioned by Khan are well-documented, with WWE regularly scheduling events like Saturday Night’s Main Event and NXT Heatwave to directly clash with significant AEW events such as All Out and Forbidden Door.
“I do think that we’ve seen that kind of counter programming in those things, and I understand, and looking back at wrestling history, kind of expect that and frustrate you,” Khan added. “I think it’s okay, because for us, it’s always worked out, and we’re in a great position. So it hasn’t ever been a thing where it’s cost us anything. And even when you do something like AEW All In Texas, where we do the show in the afternoon, it really worked out for us great. And it was one of the best days in the history of the company. I think that it’s something that is a part of the wrestling business, and I definitely don’t take it personally.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Ariel Helwani Show with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the full interview on Ariel Helwani’s YouTube channel.
