Dave Meltzer Ties WWE Running SNME Against AEW PPVs To History

While many fans don't believe there is a war going on between WWE and AEW, that sentiment couldn't be more different at the executive level. The latest chess move between the two companies was made by WWE when it was revealed on Peacock's list of upcoming major events that two Saturday Night's Main Event shows would be taking place on May 24 and July 12 respectively. May 24 is Memorial Day weekend, the same weekend AEW usually hosts their Double or Nothing pay-per-view, while July 12 is when AEW will present All In: Texas at Globe Life Field, their biggest event of the year.

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer detailed how it's not a coincidence for WWE to counter-program a major event from an opposing company, as Vince McMahon used to do the same thing to Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW in the '80s and '90s. He noted that Survivor Series was created as a way to go head-to-head with Starrcade 1987, a show that if the pay-per-view providers carried, McMahon purportedly wouldn't give them access to WrestleMania IV in 1988 (although the providers that carried Starrcade got access to WrestleMania IV regardless).

The Royal Rumble was also created to go head-to-head with the 1988 Bunkhouse Stampede, and despite Crockett still being able to function after the shows, there was a distinct loss in revenue for the company that was around $25 million per year towards the end of the '80s. McMahon tried to do the same with WrestleMania V in 1989, but cable companies pushed back and ultimately went to Ted Turner and asked him to run a pay-per-view against WrestleMania V, forcing McMahon to back down from playing hardball and WCW aired a free special instead.

Shifting to the present day, Meltzer was able to confirm two things from speaking to various sources. When it comes to May 24, AEW were not planning on running Double or Nothing on that day, preferring to run it on May 25 as it is outside of football season, and that the reaction to the Peacock listings was not received well by someone who Meltzer doesn't name, leading to the listings being removed two days later.

Meltzer noted that AEW are deliberately keeping major dates under wraps going forward, something they generally did previously, as the company revealed its entire pay-per-view line up for 2024 last spring, which led to WWE running a house show in the same city (Orlando, Florida) as AEW's Worlds End pay-per-view on December 28, a date that had been set in stone for eight months. The only exceptions to this have been All In: London 2024, All In: Texas, and the 2025 Forbidden Door event that has yet to confirm a venue. WWE did technically outdraw Worlds End in ticket sales, but considering that both shows were close to selling out, it wouldn't be considered a loss for either side.

In the past, Meltzer has confirmed that NBC, who airs Saturday Night's Main Event, has the final say on dates, as they need to fit the show into their schedule. However, WWE does have input on when things happen, so the idea of a coincidence being the reason for the date choices is very unlikely, especially given that WWE President Nick Khan's strategy is similar to McMahon's according to Meltzer, which is running free specials on the same day as big AEW events, let alone the biggest of the year.

When it comes to how much WWE counter-programming All In: Texas will hurt AEW, the short answer is not as much as one would think, at least from a financial point of view. Meltzer believes that considering things like lost tickets, merchandise, and pay-per-view buys, WWE running against All In: Texas could cost AEW around $900,000 to just over $1 Million. While that number is significant, considering the company gets just under $3.5 Million per week from their new media rights deal with Warner Brothers Discovery, the loss of revenue is more of a significant annoyance than anything truly devastating, something that couldn't be said for Jim Crockett, as losing that amount of money regularly would have crushed the entire company.

One thing AEW could do to counteract this is simply move days, but Meltzer isn't sure that will be able to happen, as the city of Arlington may have requested July 12 specifically due to expecting a lot of tourism over that weekend, and they are a big reason why AEW are running a stadium show in the first place. Moving days would be the short-term play in Meltzer's eyes, as that is common in live entertainment, especially months ahead of time, but long-term the company might not see it as that big of a loss and would rather please their partners rather than care about lost revenue.

Overall, the damage that WWE inflicts on AEW by airing a free special on NBC will be much more significant than a streaming special on Peacock, which has already impacted AEW shows multiple times over the years. However, it doesn't look like things will change in the AEW camp, and in this chess game, it's AEW CEO Tony Khan's move.