There’s more than enough professional wrestling to go around this weekend. AEW Collision, WWE SmackDown, NXT Great American Bash, Saturday Night’s Main Event, AEW All-In 2025, and WWE Evolution 2025. Quite the slate with several events that fans will rush to see. But the only reason the weekend is this packed is because WWE’s incessant need to counterprogram All Elite Wrestling. Their action has not stopped AEW’s momentum heading into the weekend, and hopefully, it is the last time they put it into practice.
Counterprogramming is a tired practice and one that needs to go away. Imagine if Disney/Marvel countered the new Superman movie release date by dropping Fantastic Four on the same date. Or if a major video game company decided to go up against a big release like Grand Theft Auto VI. The same thing could be said about major shoe releases. Counterprogramming does not make sense in today’s landscape.
UFC, which is another branch of TKO Group Holdings, typically doesn’t counterprogram against major boxing events. More often than not, the cards will be staggered in a way that fans can watch the main card fights without missing much of the action from either show. WWE’s penchant for throwing shows against a competitor isn’t new, but it is just as annoying as it was back in the territory days of wrestling.
Counterprogramming does not work. AEW has sold more than 20 thousand tickets for All-In, making it perhaps the biggest non-WWE event in North American wrestling history. WWE’s shows are doing well for the smaller venues they’ve booked. Well, except for WWE Evolution 2025, which is projected to be one of the lowest-attended events in WWE history. There are many reasons to point to that being an issue, especially when looking at how the event was booked and promoted across the promotion’s three shows.
WWE and AEW have similar, but different audiences. Fans who consume WWE will continue to consume WWE, and the inverse is true for AEW. By counter-programming, WWE is not taking away any of those who are intent on focusing on AEW. In many ways, they are perhaps intensifying their desire to watch the product. By the end of the weekend, it will be clear which promotion puts on the better professional wrestling product, and which has its eyes set firmly on sports entertainment.
All Elite Wrestling and WWE can both exist in the same space. WWE’s attempt to squash the competition will always be bad practice for business. Fans will get on social media to squabble about the situation, but the outcome of one company folding only hurts the fans, performers, and staff.