Tag: WWE Vs. AEW

June 8, 2026 Observer Newsletter: Wrestling war escalations, AAA’s mask vs. mask classic, WWE Clash in Italy ratings

Posted on by F4W Staff

Dave Meltzer has returned with a new and packed Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

He leads off with the latest escalations in the various wrestling wars including WWE NXT, AEW and TNA going head-to-head later this month while WWE owned AAA is also making moves against rivals CMLL.

Dave recaps last weekend’s incredible match and atmosphere for the battle of the El Grande Americanos in their mask vs. mask match including his ratings for the event.

He also looks at the latest in the WWE shareholder lawsuit, his WWE Clash in Italy review and ratings, and news from all around the wrestling and MMA/UFC world.

Click here to read (sub needed)

January 19, 2026 Observer Newsletter: WrestleMania 42 card changes, WWE & AEW roster movement, CMLL vs. AAA weekend

Posted on by F4W Staff

Image: WWE

The new Wrestling Observer Newsletter has arrived with news on impending changes to this year’s WWE WrestleMania 42 card and how the Drew McIntyre World title win kicked that into motion.

Dave Meltzer also writes about all the various roster moves with both AEW and WWE this week which saw The Rascalz and Powerhouse Hobbs change employers in addition to some new CMLL talents signing dual deals with AEW.

CMLL and AAA have a big weekend with both WWE and AEW helping with their own talent.

He also recaps Thursday’s TNA on AMC debut and the mixed reaction it got.

Dave also writes about big changes to the UFC debut on Paramount, statistics from 2025’s in-ring action, plus plenty of interesting news from WWE, AEW, CMLL, AAA, and more.

Click here to read (sub needed)

ESPN addresses WWE Wrestlepalooza running against AEW All Out

Posted on by Josh Nason

With regard to WWE Wrestlepalooza running this Saturday against AEW All Out, wrestling competition had nothing to do with it, according to ESPN executives.

During a media call Wednesday to promote Saturday’s launch on the ESPN networks and specifically their new streaming platform, ESPN VP of programming and acquisitions Matt Kenny was asked about WWE choosing to run against a competitor and if that was a strategy for the future.

Kenny said they will work collaboratively with WWE on the schedule and in this case, many of WWE’s events had already been scheduled for the year. He said traditionally, ESPN would work with a partner as part of a lengthy process in scheduling dates (using UFC as an example), working together on a calendar.

ESPN’s PLE deal with WWE wasn’t supposed to start until April 2026 and it wasn’t until WWE negotiated with NBCU/Peacock (revealed in August) to get out early that ESPN was able to move the timetable up.

Kenny said ESPN wanted a marquee WWE event in September to help with the launch of the new streaming platform.

He mentioned during the call that they had no dialogue with Peacock and “we were excited when presented the option to start that relationship early.”

“Really, it had less to do with any particular wrestling competition. In fact, we take a holistic view. We know there is competition everywhere. Certainly in the fall on Saturdays…there’s no shortage of college football competition throughout the day. We welcome competition and do take a ‘game on’ approach. We are focused in this particular case to super-serve WWE and wrestling fans on our platforms,” he said.

WWE 2025 schedule update: Post-Christmas MSG event, AEW head-to-head

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

There are two new updates for the WWE schedule the rest of 2025 according to Thursday’s WrestleVotes Radio.

WWE not running MSG after Christmas

The annual tradition of WWE running Madison Square Garden for a live event right after Christmas appears to be done, for this year anyway, as the outlet report it’s not happening in 2025.

The reason is likely because WWE is running the famed arena on Monday, November 17 instead for a live edition of Raw that will also serve as John Cena’s final appearance in the building as an active wrestler.

WWE PLEs vs. AEW PPVs taking a pause for now

WrestleVotes also reported that as of now, there are no more planned head-to-head battles between WWE/NXT PLEs and AEW pay-per-views for the duration of 2025. That, of course, would begin after next Saturday’s Wrestlepalooza which will see AEW run All Out at 3 PM Eastern with Wrestlepalooza starting several hours later.

AEW has three PPVs remaining after next weekend (WrestleDream, Full Gear, and Worlds End) and there are no WWE or NXT PLEs announced for those same dates as of now.

WOL: I guess there’s a wrestling war after all

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the second straight week, there’s an extended Sunday version of Wrestling Observer Live with Josh Nason, available below or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Josh leads off with an admission that he was wrong (I know!) about there not being a wrestling war between WWE and AEW. Given the past week of the news that WWE is planning a head-to-head PLE with All Out and John Cena’s final match opposite Worlds End in addition to TNA’s possible TV home and night, it’s more clear than ever. But why should WWE care? I discuss.

He also gives his thoughts on the UFC’s deal with Paramount and why AEW is a (temporary) winner.

He also looks ahead to next weekend’s AEW Forbidden Door card and why he is looking forward to it more than week vs. last week.

Josh also goes over some things he thinks he knows he thinks including why Ring of Honor needs a direction, Nick Khan’s hatred of out-of-office messages, Big E’s wrestling future, Karrion Kross, and how Vince McMahon will be remembered.

Click here to listen for free or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

WOL: WWE vs. AEW, Cena’s last match Dynamite, G-1!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez is back with a solo show talking all the news including more WWE vs. AEW head-to-head notes, Cena’s last match, the G-1 update, all the shows coming up this weekend, the AEW Dynamite TV report, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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WOR: UFC deal, Hogan, Kross, WWE vs. AEW, RAW

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about as we discuss the new UFC deal, ESPN and FOX also doing a bundle merger, updates on Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan and Karrion Kross, more WWE vs. AEW head-to-head battles, TripleMania, ratings, RAW report with some horrible finishes, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:
Start: TKO signs new Paramount deal for UFC
17:48: Hulk Hogan’s birthday, WWE’s version of history vs. reality
25:17: Bret Hart unhappy about SummerSlam incident, Karrion Kross update
30:04: WWE adding Cena vs. Lesnar PLE same day as AEW All Out, AEW going head-to-head with NXT in October
38:29: AAA Triplemania lineup
45:02: Ratings
46:16: Naomi not medically cleared to compete, Raw recap

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Report: WWE NXT returning to former ECW Arena ahead of AEW residency

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE NXT is returning to Philadelphia’s famed 2300 Arena with an interesting date.

First reported by WrestleVotes on Thursday, an episode of NXT TV will emanate from the former ECW Arena on Tuesday, August 19th — eight days before AEW’s previously announced residency that begins on Wednesday, August 27th through Thursday, September 11th.

WWE has yet to publicly announce the event.

NXT debuted at the 2300 Arena on Wednesday, November 6th, to avoid election coverage the night before.

AEW announced their seven-show residency in May that will see the venue host three episodes of Dynamite, three episodes of Collision, and Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor.

It’s the latest interesting scheduling issue with the two companies.

WWE formally announced that they will hold three shows over the July 12th weekend including NXT Great American Bash, Saturday Night’s Main Event, and Evolution. The Bash will run head-to-head with All In.

This past Sunday as AEW was holding their Double or Nothing pay-per-view, NXT Battleground went head-to-head with it — a trend with NXT premium live events and some AEW pay-per-views.

WWE VP on potential of co-promoted show with AEW: ‘No interest’

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE executive vice president of talent relations & head of communications Chris Legentil said on a podcast appearance that they have “no interest” in a WWE vs. AEW supercard or co-promoted show.

Legentil appeared on Richard Deitsch’s Sports Media Podcast on Thursday to promote this weekend’s WWE SummerSlam and was asked by Deitsch, a noted wrestling fan, about the possibility of a dual show with AEW.

“No interest,” he said.

He expanded slightly afterward, saying there’s a lot of great talent outside of WWE and there’s “no shot” being fired but they haven’t had a conversation about it.

Legentil wasn’t asked about the current partnerships with TNA, NOAH or Marigold.

Legentil also was asked about the following topics:

  • Legentil is part of a small team that includes Nick Khan, Paul “Triple H” Levesque and others that negotiate talent contracts. He said there are a variety of factors that go into signing and re-signing talent that includes “what the market bears,” social media numbers, viewership on TV in segments they are in, etc. Using all that, they come up with a number that is fair for both the talent and the company and it goes to legal once the details like compensation, contract years and outside interests) are agreed upon.
  • Legentil said CM Punk has been “fantastic” to work with in the eight months in which he has done so and “eager” to do more outside just his core responsibilities. He used it as an example of how you can’t judge someone from what you hear but you have to experience the person for yourself.
  • On Ronda Rousey’s recent comments about potentially being interested in returning to WWE, he said they “love Ronda” and that she’s been a good person to work with on a lot of levels. If someone wants to come back, they are happy to have that conversation.
  • He was asked about the Vince McMahon/Janel Grant lawsuit and said they are limited in what they can say, that they have been compliant, and that when they have the opportunity to answer questions, they do and when they can’t, they don’t.
  • He also talked about the differences between dealing with native/embedded wrestling media vs. mainstream outlets, saying they work with all kinds of press and media and structure their communication strategies accordingly. He said there are some occasions when they can’t reveal info on surprises when asked, and also went into detail about the process of getting talent ready for mainstream TV appearances which is much more work than one might expect.

Tony Khan: AEW & WWE’s mutual hate is a ‘natural resource’ that powers the industry

Posted on by Josh Nason

Regardless of what some critics might say, AEW head Tony Khan is not backing down from considering AEW as in competition with industry-leader WWE, telling a news outlet over the weekend that both companies “hate each other” and that the hate will make the industry keep running.

In an interview with IndieWire published Saturday but making the rounds today due to some of his quotes, Khan talked about how wrestling has become more notable in the mainstream as of late after the events of WrestleMania 40 and his decision to air the backstage CM Punk/Jack Perry fight footage from last August’s All In.

Khan then stated the following:

“There’s a number of big factors that would play into why wrestling has seen such a great renaissance in recent years. I think it comes from the great competition in wrestling right now, and the fact that there are so many great stars competing right now.

Everyone knows that the most real thing in wrestling is the competition between the companies. The companies hate each other, and it will be a natural resource that powers the industry. They want to beat each other and take everybody’s free agents, and that makes it interesting for everybody else.”

In a report from SI.com’s Justin Barrasso, WWE president Nick Khan reportedly is interesting in partnering with other wrestling organizations in the future.

Whether AEW could be one of those organizations would “depend on the circumstance” according to Tony Khan in a separate interview.