WWE ‘wants to kill off AEW by the end of current TV deal’

[RedTwoster]

From Cultaholic, but originally from Meltzer (I know it’s a struggle to trust the guy, but I think this merits discussion:

WWE have counter-programmed several of All Elite Wrestling's pay-per-views with NXT premium live events in 2025, but WWE are in the process of stepping up their efforts to go head-to-head with Tony Khan's promotion. 

Reports have noted that an as-yet-unannounced WWE pay-per-view main evented by Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena is planned for the same day as AEW All Out on September 20. WWE are also considering moving John Cena's final match to ensure it goes head-to-head with AEW Worlds End.

Dave Meltzer has reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE are going so heavy on counter-programming All Elite Wrestling as they want to put Tony Khan's promotion out of business and establish TNA as the number two company within the industry. WWE are afraid AEW will receive a large increase on their current US TV deal with Warner Bros. Discovery when the deal is potentially renewed in either 2027 or 2028, which would make AEW "incredibly profitable."

"That is certainly the story that's going around that they wanted to move from December 13th to December 27th. Given all the actions and everything that has been done, of course they want to. It isn't the only thing, there is so much going on that will probably be breaking in the next couple of months when it comes to different things. They really want TNA to become the other promotion because they can control TNA,"Meltzer said.

"This is a major full-court press. They just want this guy [Tony Khan] out of the box and they know if the numbers stay good that he's gonna get a renewal at a much bigger number, just like they did. He's already very profitable, the number will make him incredibly profitable, and they'll never get away from him or anything like that. So they feel that they need to make sure this is the last contract."

All Elite Wrestling renewed their US media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery in 2024, with the deal taking effect at the beginning of 2025. The current TV contract is worth $555 million through the end of 2027, and there is an option for a fourth year which would provide AEW with a substantial monetary increase. The current TV deal means AEW are a profitable organisation from 2025.

Coupled with that, Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated is reporting that TNA actually has discussed the idea of moving to Wednesday nights to go head-to-head with Dynamite, so as much as I find Meltzer difficult to trust, this gives it a lot more credibility in my eyes alongside the obvious counter-programming. 

I don’t think WWE will be successful with this alleged strategy, but fuck them all the same. 

[SuperBacon]

6 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Dave Meltzer has reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE are going so heavy on counter-programming All Elite Wrestling as they want to put Tony Khan's promotion out of business and establish TNA as the number two company within the industry.

TNA will outlive them all. 

[Chili]

Genuine and incredibly silly question, but with WWE buttering up Trump and that bunch, is there anything batshit he or someone in his coven could do to help this? I'm talking bunkum and poppycock probably but honestly, everything is mental and nothing surprises me anymore.

I'd be genuinely sad if this is what kills off the nuclear cockroach that is TNA. I've always been delighted that it survived so much. When AEW and NXT clashed it didn't go well. Now WWE are doing it with a safety net that it's not their promotion, so no big loss if it happens again. 

Edited August 14, 2025 by Chili

[Devon Malcolm]

I mean, this won't really be proper unless Tony Schiavone goes, "We understand that CM Punk, who once wrestled for us as CM Punk, is going to win their world title. That'll put butts in the seats!"

[Supremo]

Well I for one am shocked to hear that WWE working with TNA was for destructive, selfish reasons and not to support or grow the industry as a whole. You never could have guessed this would happen based on every historical example ever.

Funny that the news about them hoping to turn TNA into the, “real number two,” is almost word for word the same shit Bully Ray and Eric Bischoff have said in recent months, proclaiming that TNA was catching up to AEW. It’s almost as if those grifter pricks were given a script alongside their cheque.

I’ve mentioned in the past that there’s often a sense of WWE telling on themselves with the product they put out. The way no-one ever has friends for a particularly long time, even those working together in tag teams or factions are constantly squabbling, and babyfaces are scripted to make such questionable decisions so regularly that barely a week goes by where people don’t theorise they’ve seen a double turn, even when they haven’t. You sense there’s a very obvious reflection of horrible, toxic pricks writing the material, completely blind to how it comes across. Remember when Road Dogg couldn’t keep up with his own storyline and was confused as to why fans were cheering Becky Lynch over Charlotte gate crashing her matches? Perhaps you might be a snide, opportunistic prick yourself, Mr. D-O-double-G.

I get similar vibes here. It’s extremely telling that they’re seemingly oblivious to how badly this comes across to anyone bar the most indoctrinated. The industry leader - miles ahead by a significant margin - still desperately counter-programming would be a bad look at the best of times. It’s only made worse that it’s happening at a time when AEW is going through a hot streak, whilst WWE has tanked creatively. It looks terrible. Real loser bully vibes.

The ultimate kicker is AEW completely no-selling them. The greatest evidence yet as to why Triple H is one of the most overrated workers of all time. Fucker can’t even see basic psychology when he’s the one orchestrating it. A medium built on the big bully beating down the scrappy underdog, with the crowd exploding when the babyface starts no-selling and mounting a comeback. Fucking hell, Hunter. You’ve made a sympathetic babyface out of a literal billionaire nepo baby!

Maybe it won’t matter in the long run. Now Trump’s in power, it’s clear they think they’re in the Untouchable, Bulletproof Era. But still. I can’t imagine coming out of that All In weekend and thinking it was anything other than an absolute disaster for WWE. Completely cheapening the reason for doing another all-women’s pay per view, chipping away at morale, doing a bad rating for Saturday Night’s Main Event, having the very legends you brought in like Trish and Goldberg slag you off publicly and ultimately harming the Summerslam build by leaving yourself so little time between shows. All whilst seemingly making little to no difference to AEW’s bottom line.

It was a PR disaster. I simply can’t fathom coming out of that weekend and not only considering it a success but also thinking, “let’s do this again, but next time we’ll headline with a man implicated in the sex trafficking lawsuit currently ongoing against this very company.”

It was Slim Jim withdrawing their sponsorship for the Royal Rumble that ultimately resulted in them fucking off Vince, wasn’t it? It was all I could think about watching this week’s Raw, with the massive Slim Jim logo on the canvas. You wonder if someone might mention to Slim Jim that it’s a bad look having Lesnar go through a Slim Jim table, sponsored by Slim Jim. Maybe Bret Hart can make the anonymous call to Slim Jim HQ, as revenge for Hunter giving Kevin Nash his seat at The Summerslam.

Edited August 15, 2025 by Supremo

[LaGoosh]

Deranged evil right wing capitalist behaviour from a deranged evil right wing company. Absolute scum. As a WWE wrestler you'd have to come to terms with the fact that the company you work for is actively trying to make the business worse off to reduce your future salary negotiation power.

Thing is, WWE is making record profits and AEW is having no effect on that. They have different audiences now. No one is choosing AEW over WWE. Either they watch both or they don't watch WWE. If AEW dies tomorrow most those fans won't go to WWE, myself included. If anything they're doing themselves over because it's likely most their future stars will come from AEW as they seem unable to make them in NXT.

Edited August 15, 2025 by LaGoosh

[d-d-d-dAz]

A business wanting their competition to go out of business doesn't surprise. I'd say that's par for the course.

What does surprise me is this coming out now, when it's never felt less likely. Maybe you could argue a few years ago AEW was on its arse a bit and maybe there was a chance to take them down, but they've built themselves to a point where they operate almost entirely independent of the whims of WWE, have discovered a real sense of self and finally found a booking style and brand that resonates in its own right.

Maybe I'm too much in the echo chamber, but it feels like someone who wants to kill Bruce Banner waiting for him to get big and green before going for it.

Stupid company.

[Arch Stanton]

Other than from Dave Meltzer, is there any credible source for the sensationalist headline of WWE wanting to 'put AEW out of business'? Counter-programming alone does not support this view.

[The Gaffer]

You can swear to god all you want, Hunter...

If there's truth to this, it's AEW's show to screw up. It might be a bit naive but I honestly think so long as they're sticking to their guns and putting out the best product they possibly can then they'll continue to do decent business, even if it finds a ceiling and even if that ceiling is a little lower than what we all thought it could be during that crazy few months Punk and Bryan came in, pulling out of lockdown. 

There's also the extremely funny, realistic possibility that Triple H Presents: TNA loses the worst ratings war nobody every asked for despite having the D-O-double-G book a Brock Lesnar run in on one of the shows. 

Edited August 15, 2025 by The Gaffer

[Infinity Land]

2 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

A business wanting their competition to go out of business doesn't surprise. I'd say that's par for the course.

What does surprise me is this coming out now, when it's never felt less likely. Maybe you could argue a few years ago AEW was on its arse a bit and maybe there was a chance to take them down, but they've built themselves to a point where they operate almost entirely independent of the whims of WWE, have discovered a real sense of self and finally found a booking style and brand that resonates in its own right.

Maybe I'm too much in the echo chamber, but it feels like someone who wants to kill Bruce Banner waiting for him to get big and green before going for it.

Stupid company.

TKO/WWE are locked into their rights deals. That leaves undermining AEW as they're up next. 1 year into 3 guaranteed years. There's a 4th year option.

But whatever happens there's going to be a change in the terms of the next AEW deal with the WBD split into Warner (streaming) and Discovery (TNT/TBS). Musical chairs over mergers still isn't over with Peacock/HBO Max/Paramount+ are all seen as potential mergers. CNN was seen as a hindrance for future mergers in WBD as CBS & NBC also have major news outlets, this is solved by CNN being spun-off into Discovery

Edited August 15, 2025 by Infinity Land

[tiger_rick]

2 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

What does surprise me is this coming out now, when it's never felt less likely. Maybe you could argue a few years ago AEW was on its arse a bit and maybe there was a chance to take them down, but they've built themselves to a point where they operate almost entirely independent of the whims of WWE, have discovered a real sense of self and finally found a booking style and brand that resonates in its own right.

AEW seemed on it's arse from a creative POV but they came out of that period with a renewal with Turner for a ton more money. It's clear that since the renewal and the improvement in AEW's output, they've been going in hard on them. I'm not sure on the exact reason for "Why now?" other than Triple H really is Vince McMahon in everything he does and says. Never has the "They're different now" argument felt more bullshit.

AEW should just no-sell it. It will cost them a little bit of wedge but not much. Anyone who wants to watch John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar just isn't paying for their PPVs in the first place. Just keep doing what you're doing and enjoy how much you get up Triple H's nose. When that tank parks up outside Daily's Place, you know you've got him.

[Guest]

46 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

Other than from Dave Meltzer, is there any credible source for the sensationalist headline of WWE wanting to 'put AEW out of business'? Counter-programming alone does not support this view.

Other than it not being unusual behaviour from corporations generally and the history of this company specifically trying to do exactly this time and time and time again? 

 

This is one of those cases where the opposite headline would be far more interesting.  Of course WWE want a monopoly. AEW's existence is driving up their talent contracts! WWE have been trying to hamstring and destroy AEW since Day 1, and it's good for their business to do so. I mean, listening to Observer Radio, I'm not sure it's fair to describe Dave as "reporting" this. He's talking about established understanding. This isn't news. 

Using TNA to do it is a twist, but not a major one. Unless the rumours are true and Lorenzo Fertitta buys it.

Quote

but it feels like someone who wants to kill Bruce Banner waiting for him to get big and green before going for it.

I think it's because no one knows Bruce Banner is a threat until he goes big and green. When it just looked like AEW was "in the mud" as they say, just leave them alone and watch them wither away, but as Rick says, then they signed that deal.

[Infinity Land]

Former UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta is being touted as a potential TNA buyer. Also, the reminder has went out that Anthem had the for sale sign out for Tony Khan prior to the launch of AEW and subsequently in 2020 after lockdowns. Scott D'Amore obviously thought he had a chance of buying once he left but didn't meet whatever price Anthem have in mind.

[RedTwoster]

4 minutes ago, Duke said:

This is one of those cases where the opposite headline would be far more interesting.  Of course WWE want a monopoly. AEW's existence is driving up their talent contracts! WWE have been trying to hamstring and destroy AEW since Day 1, and it's good for their business to do so. I mean, listening to Observer Radio, I'm not sure it's fair to describe Dave as "reporting" this. He's talking about established understanding. This isn't news. 

I’d normally agree - particularly since it’s Meltzer, who’d believe that the sky was green if a wrestler he liked told him it was - but the use of TNA to target AEW makes it worthy of discussion I reckon - alongside the likely reasoning for it. 

AEW not existing is unlikely to make any real difference to WWE’s viewing figures. But what it likely would mean is that they could get away with paying wrestlers much less. 

 

 

[DavidB6937]

It won't be AEW that destroy WWE, it'll be WWE.

It'll be the greed, the cocky nature of their approach to being 'the' brand in wrestling, and a complacency that has clearly already set in.

It all depends on how much they bore their audience in the end. It's theirs to lose, and the more they focus on this kind of stuff rather than just putting on a decent product, the more they'll bring the shit on themselves.

Will AEW capitalise any more than they have done over however many years? Probably not. I don't necessarily think a fall in WWE's ratings or business would automatically transfer over to AEW. It doesn't really work like that anymore.