Tony Khan Responds To WWE Counterprogramming AEW

AEW CEO Tony Khan has responded to WWE counterprogamming AEW’s shows, which has been a consistent theme this past year.

A few times in 2025, WWE added shows to its calendar to counteract AEW shows, which even led to situations where AEW moved its shows to avoid clashing.

Tony Khan was asked on the Ariel Helwani Show about his thoughts on WWE doing this, and he replied:

“I do think it’s done on purpose, and I understand it. It’s part of wrestling 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.

“Jim Crocket Promotions – which was the forerunner to WCW – saw a lot of this, 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.

“It’s interesting because as a challenger wrestling promotion, you’ve got a great opportunity, but it’s really hard – it involves tons of investment to build up to be a true strong challenger, and that’s why we took the risk with AEW when we did.

“I do think that we’ve seen that kind of counterprogramming and those things, and I understand, and looking back at wrestling history, kind of expect that.

“I think it’s okay because for us, it’s always worked out and we’re in a great position. 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.

“It’s very interesting. I think it’s something that is a part of the wrestling business and I definitely don’t take it personally.

“I think it’s no more personal to me than it was towards Jim Crockett or even maybe less so than it was with Ted Turner, or similar amounts as with Ted Turner.

“Definitely, I think all of us have seen that kind of counterprogramming and could speak to that, and certainly with AEW, I’m very proud that we continue to really run strong and be that great challenger brand in pro-wrestling.

“AEW’s where the best wrestle, I really believe that and I think we have the best roster in wrestling today and the best wrestlers, and put on the best shows like this Saturday.”

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