According to Post Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment will be announcing a premium live event to take place in Indianapolis, Indiana the same night as AEW All Out in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Saturday, September 20th, 2025.
This is of course not the first time WWE has tried to go head to head with AEW, as the first time WWE tried to go head to head with AEW they did it using EVOLVE before they purchased the company.
Back in 2019, All Elite Wrestling was only in their first year and had yet to even make their Warner Bros Discovery debut with Dynamite on TNT. After their first pay per view in Double or Nothing, AEW held two free events. The first event was Fyter Fest on June 29, 2019. The next would be Fight for the Fallen, a charity event aired live for free in North America. That took place on July 13, 2019 in benefit for victims of gun violence.
WWE didn’t want to look like they were trying to oppose the show, seeing as it was a charity, but still wanted to interfere in some way. They partnered with EVOLVE Wrestling, an alleged independent wrestling promotion owned by Gabe Sapolsky, to air their event EVOLVE 131 on the same day on the WWE Network.
After this, WWE attempted to go head to head with All Elite Wrestling on Wednesday nights using NXT going live on USA Network the same night. This started the Wednesday Night War, which would end in 2021.
WWE always tried to use NXT to run head to head with AEW, though in 2023, AEW’s Collision which aired on Saturday night ended up having to go head to head on the same night as WWE premium live events. This would end up usually disastrous for AEW, as WWE fans preferred to watch their actual WWE programming instead of the WWE lite programming headed up by CM Punk on Collision.
While WWE had other attempts, their most aggressive attempt at going at AEW came this year around AEW All In Texas. WWE booked a Saturday Night’s Main Event that featured the retirement match of Bill Goldberg. AEW moved their start time to be away from the Saturday Night’s Main Event, only for WWE to book NXT’s Great American Bash premium live event at the same time as AEW All In Texas, as well as a WWE Evolution show the next night. WWE essentially tried to book three events on the same weekend as All Elite Wrestling booking what would be their biggest show of 2025.
This feeble attempt to take the news cycle (which I’ll discuss more) included Seth Rollins faking a leg injury so he could surprise cash in at SummerSlam a few weeks later. Whatever attention they tried to take with Evolution failed as the event was quickly forgotten.
So now WWE is looking to book their September premium live event to go head to head with All Out Toronto, an event that will likely include John Cena versus Brock Lesnar. This is arguably even more aggressive than what WWE attempted during All In Texas, as it’s now an official WWE premium live event instead of an NXT event, an all women’s show, and an NBC production. While that was more quantity, this is arguably a quality shot. It’s a flagship WWE event going head to head with AEW in September.
I try not to discuss WWE too much on GrapPro but this directly affects All Elite Wrestling and it’s worth a bit of a discussion. Why does WWE do this? WWE is, afterall, the largest alleged pro wrestling company in the world. They have the best TV and premium event distribution deals in the world. What do they really care if All Elite Wrestling is running an event in Toronto?
The reason, of course, is that Paul Levesque and Nick Khan of WWE really care about optics and social media discussion. The reason for doing these events head to head against AEW is to try and steer the conversation. The less people are talking about AEW the better. If they can’t stop AEW fans from discussing the event they can certainly try to stop everyone else. Running multiple shows head to head applies pressure to media outlets who will be more likely to cover WWE over AEW during these events. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE specifically booked Logan Paul to face John Cena at the Clash in Paris on August 31 over Brock Lesnar so they could move the Brock Lesnar match to September.
(Oh, and for those keeping score, NXT’s next premium live event of Heatwave will take place August 24, 2025. What’s also happening that night? Forbidden Door from All Elite Wrestling.)
WWE is trying to ensure that their own fans always have a WWE event to discuss when AEW is happening, and will in the future likely utilize their partners in TNA Wrestling to help drown out All Elite Wrestling events. As WWE continues to swallow up Lucha Libre AAA, I’m sure they will also be used to either counter AEW events or AEW’s international partner in CMLL.
I don’t expect this to ever really let up unless there’s some financial issue that arises or WWE has a management shake up. WWE has more than enough resources and money to continue running head to head against All Elite Wrestling, and I expect those measures to increase. WWE has been trying to break into Japan for over a decade the way they purchased Lucha Libre AAA, and if they finally break through with a purchase, start their own promotion, or essentially puppet a promotion the way they do TNA Wrestling? I expect New Japan Pro Wrestling to start seeing their shows opposed the way AEW is.
I think in the future, WWE is going to try and counter program AEW at every potential opportunity. WWE has avoided Wednesday night for the most part due to the loss of NXT in the Wednesday Night War, a loss Paul Levesque has never taken lightly. Their only counters to them has been EVOLVE on Tubi, a free streaming show that less people talk about than AEW’s Ring of Honor, and WWE SPEED which was a Netflix show that got canceled in July. I could see a stronger counter in the near future. If AEW Collision ever moves nights I expect WWE to try and counter that as well in any way they can.
This is news now, but soon it’ll just be what’s to be expected from WWE. All Elite Wrestling fans have to react accordingly as well. Eventually it won’t be news. It’s just going to be the new normal. WWE is going to counter every AEW event they can, as well as target their partners. Even if they fail, even if the conversation stays loud for All Elite Wrestling? It won’t matter. WWE will take chipping a corner if they can’t knock down the entire building.
All Elite Wrestling has in the past tried to strategically announce events to try and stop WWE from countering them and it’s time they stop. They need to do what’s best for the fans. Run the best shows in the best markets. WWE will put limitations on where they can book based on the proximity and the amount of time a WWE event has been at an arena and that’s fine. AEW just needs to keep working around it. What will ensure AEW’s success in the long term future isn’t avoiding the fight. It also isn’t trying to fight head to head. The best fight is a strong television program. The best offence is a strong live event.
The best weapon in AEW’s arsenal is being the home of professional wrestling. Cater to your fans, make them happy, and that will create new fans and new people who want to discuss the show over whatever WWE tries to counter program.
WWE will continue to do whatever it takes to hurt their strongest competition, but the one thing they can never compare to them on is the in-ring product. So long as All Elite Wrestling can continue to keep that at the highest level? WWE can counter program all they want. They can never beat them head to head in professional wrestling.
