Some major news dropped on Wednesday as All Elite Wrestling announced PPVs will now steam on HBO Max and a new start time for AEW All Out. This move came for a few reasons, but there’s a lot of speculation that this in direct result to WWE’s continued counterprogramming moves against AEW. Still, this is the right decision when looking at what else was planned for September 20.
“Warner Bros Discovery, HBO Max, and All Elite Wrestling today announced a groundbreaking expansion of their nearly six-year relationship, with the launch of AEW pay-per-view events on HBO Max, starting with AEW All Out on Saturday, September 20 at 3 p.m. ET from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada,” AEW stated in a press release on Wednesday.
The PPVs will now stream without ads, and pre-orders are set to launch on Friday, September 5. The shows will run for a price of $39.99. PPVs are expected to be added as an on-demand feature, but the time it will take for them to be available after live broadcast has yet to be announced.
The impact of WWE’s counterprogramming strategy
September 20 is a packed day of action. That also signals the start of WWE moving to ESPN with its first PLE, WWE Wrestlepalooza. This is expected to be a major show, with all of both WWE’s and ESPN’s marketing power put behind it. John Cena is announced on the card, with expectations that he will take on Brock Lesnar. Iyo Sky versus Stephanie Vaquer for the vacant WWE Women’s World Championship was announced on the latest episode of WWE Monday Night Raw.
WWE has continued to close the walls around AEW. The promotion has placed its content on several different platforms, limiting AEW’s options for an increased rights deal with its current deal with WBD comes to a close. Still, AEW has seen a surge in positive reception online since the announcement of the new rights deal, and that has translated into a stronger presentation of the product.
A 3pm start time for AEW All Out should be seen as a positive announcement. One of the biggest complaints about AEW PPVs is that they run too long into the night. Giving fans a 6-8 hour show earlier on a Saturday will still be a “long” show, but the earlier start will avoid keeping fans up past midnight.
The last time WWE and AEW went against each other was the July 12th and 13th weekend. AEW had All In, which has turned out to be its 4th biggest PPV from a revenue standpoint yet. WWE had both Saturday Night’s Main Event and Evolution, two shows that did not perform well when it comes to ratings and views on Netflix.
Competition is great in business, and the same goes for professional wrestling. As WWE attempts to do all it can to force AEW out of business for its own gain, seeing AEW make the rights shifts at the right time should be praised and supported along the way.