A statement has been made by AEW President Tony Khan regarding WWE’s strategy of counterprogramming his company’s events. In a recent interview with Going Ringside with Scott Johnson, Khan acknowledged the direct competition but affirmed that AEW has successfully navigated the challenge throughout the year.
Khan detailed his perspective on the competitive landscape of professional wrestling and AEW’s performance within it.
“Well, we’ve been having a great year. We’ve been able to stick and move and make it work really well for us. There’s always going to be tough competition and this sport, it’s very tough competition, the kind of competition that makes you work really hard 52 weeks a year.”
He further asserted that viewership for both AEW Dynamite and Collision has increased compared to last year. According to Khan, this upward trend contradicts what analysts had predicted for the promotion’s ratings.
WWE has implemented head-to-head programming against AEW several times over the last year. These instances include WWE running NXT shows on the same day as AEW pay-per-views. A specific example involved WWE scheduling its inaugural ESPN Premium Live Event, Wrestlepalooza, directly against AEW’s All Out, a move that prompted AEW to shift its event to an afternoon start time.
Khan’s comments reflect a sentiment of confidence also shared by others within the company. AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm recently described WWE’s decision to run against All Out as a logical business move. She offered a more direct take on the competition, stating, “Come on, fight me! Come on!”