WWE Isn’t Competing with AEW, They’re Trying to Camouflage Them

Let’s kill the myth right now: WWE isn’t competing with AEW. They’re not trying to “win over fans” with a better product. They’re not interested in a healthy rivalry. What they’re doing is far more subtle — they’re camouflaging AEW. Blurring them out. Pretending they don’t exist by making sure casual fans don’t see them.

And the latest move? A textbook case. Let’s dig in.

WWE recently announced it will run three separate live events on the same day as AEW’s All In: Texas — the biggest AEW event of the year, a cornerstone show meant to be the culmination of storylines, stakes, and the best pro wrestling in the world. WWE isn’t just running one competing show — they’re flooding the market with their branding. WWE: Evolution, NXT: Great American Bash, and Saturday Night’s Main Event. All announced for AEW All In Weekend. And you could get presale tickets with the code ‘ALLWWE’.

Coincidence? No. It’s whatever it takes to steal the oxygen out of the room. They’re salting the earth around All In:Texas and calling it business.

Is this best for business? Is this best for wrestling fans? Something tells me the vast portion of WWE internet fans will say ‘yes’.

It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last. WWE has a long, well-documented history of undermining competitors through means that have little to do with wrestling quality or fan service. They did it during the Monday Night Wars by leaking taped results of WCW’s shows to spoil outcomes. They signed away key talent not to push them, but to bench them. They launched NXT: TakeOver specials opposite AEW’s early pay-per-views. And they’ve pulled last-minute “premium live events” out of thin air whenever AEW dares to announce something with momentum.

This isn’t paranoia. It’s a pattern.

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What History Tells Us

“It’s pretty consistent. I’d say it’s the most consistent event head-to-head scheduling I’ve seen since Jim Crockett Promotions.” – Tony Khan on WWE’s consistent counter-programming of AEW.

WWE fans will claim, “It’s just business.” That’s a cop-out. Sure, it’s business, but it’s also a form of corporate gatekeeping. And whether or not you like WWE’s show quality (something this article isn’t about), they factually have a history of blanketing their competitors in hopes that nobody sees them.

In 1987, Vince McMahon created Survivor Series, to air on Thanksgiving, simply to push out NWA Starrcade, which also aired on that night. For Crockett’s next PPV, Bunkhouse Stampede, McMahon counter-programmed with the first-ever Royal Rumble event. McMahon had a history of going into towns holding JCP shows with the sole purpose of taking market share.

McMahon often booked arenas out from under Crockett, including venues in key cities like Chicago, Atlanta, and Philadelphia — preventing JCP from even running shows in traditional strongholds. He would even sometimes book them just to sit empty, a scorched-earth tactic. This extends even to the modern day where WWE will often have “exclusivity clauses” with venues around the country. This means AEW can’t run a certain number of weeks before or after a WWE show, and also that AEW and the arena can’t announce the show or sell tickets until after the WWE show has taken place.

Now, WWE defenders will shrug. “It’s just competition,” they’ll say. “AEW should be able to hold their own.” But here’s the problem with that argument: You can’t “hold your own” when you’re never given the same visibility.

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AEW Has Earned Their Spot

AEW fans will show up for All In: Texas. That’s not the issue. The “sickos” will watch. The loyal base will fill the building, chant the names, and light up social media. But what about the casual fan? The guy flipping channels? The woman who’s interested in wrestling again but doesn’t know where to start? The lapsed fan who grew up on Attitude Era chaos and is looking for something that feels new? Or maybe the Father with two kids who may want to check out All In: Texas, but has to now go with the kid-friendly WWE option because it’s simply cheaper and easier to access?

They won’t see All In: Texas — because WWE is running three shiny distractions in the same window. It’s not a “competition” — it’s a fog machine. And AEW’s biggest night gets buried under noise; at least in the eyes of potential new AEW fans.

What makes this especially galling is that AEW has genuinely earned its moment. The product has improved dramatically over the last year. Gone are the pacing issues and incoherent booking stretches. The talent pool is thriving and the roster is becoming cemented. Stars have been created, stories are clicking, and they truly have momentum right now. AEW isn’t perfect — no promotion is — but they’ve tightened the screws. They’ve improved. They’ve gotten sharper, leaner, more focused.

So when fans come back with “AEW should get better”

…well, they have. Objectively, they have. What else do you want?

From what I’ve seen and heard from around the net — WWE has largely cooled off. Netflix ratings are dipping, and some fans still haven’t gotten over a lackluster Wrestlemania 41.  They are still easily the #1 wrestling company, and a huge corporate conglomerate. They don’t need to fear AEW. But they do. Not because AEW is stealing their top stars — most aren’t leaving. Not because AEW is beating them in ratings or attendance — they’re not.

But because since late 2024, AEW is offering something authentic, and it’s growing. It feels different. And that’s a threat.

Because if fans find out they have a real choice, some might choose something else.

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What TKO is Really Doing

That’s what WWE/TKO is fighting against. Not AEW’s talent. Not their arenas. Not their booking. They’re fighting the idea that another company could be worth your time.

We like choice, right? Isn’t that what capitalism is all about? Fair and honest choice.

Which is why this move around All In: Texas feels so transparent. WWE knows what this show means for AEW — it’s their “WrestleMania”. It’s their centerpiece. It’s where long-running storylines pay off. Where stars are born. And rather than respect that moment and let it play out — hell, even try to outshine it with their own quality — they’re flooding the day with their logo, their lights, their endless conveyor belt of “content.”

And the fans become collateral damage.

Because this doesn’t hurt AEW loyalists. We’re watching anyway. We’re tweeting, streaming, buying, chanting. This tactic isn’t meant for us. It’s meant to shield the casual viewer from seeing something new. To protect WWE’s monopoly on the attention economy. If you never see All In: Texas, you can’t be impressed by it. If you’re busy with three other WWE events, you’re not even aware it’s happening. AEW doesn’t get a fair fight — they get hidden behind the curtain while WWE waves their arms on stage, screaming for attention.

WWE is too big to fail, too powerful to lose… and yet, they behave like a company that’s scared of shadows. They refuse to let AEW exist in the same room without trying to paint over them.

And make no mistake — this hurts the entire wrestling business.

When AEW grows, it pushes WWE to do better. When there’s real competition, we get magic. We get talent developing freely. We get creative risks. We get that spark that made us fall in love with wrestling in the first place. But when one company stomps out any spark before it catches fire? The whole industry goes cold again.

So no — this isn’t competition. This is camouflage. It’s obfuscation. This is a mega-corporation terrified that casual fans might realize there’s more than one flavor in town; or at the least, an improved flavor from what they last remember about it.

AEW isn’t perfect, but it deserves to be seen. And if WWE really believed they were still the best in the game, they’d welcome the fight — not hide the other fighter behind three walls of distraction. If anything, it sacrifices NXT and what should be an all-important all-women’s PLE in Evolution simply to serve as that distraction without standing on their own. Anyone who is naive enough to believe WWE isn’t trying to drive AEW out of business needs their head checked. But hey, WWE is making desperate counter-programming moves for a reason…

Because the truth is, AEW isn’t failing.

WWE is just making damn sure you don’t see them succeed.

-TKW