AEW president and founder Tony Khan addressed WWE's counterprogramming following 'Double or Nothing' on Sunday. Screen grab: AEW
By Ben Axelrod on

If you’re a fan of pro wrestling, you’ve had some recent choices to make. And AEW founder and president Tony Khan obviously isn’t oblivious to the recent trend of WWE scheduling shows on the same day as his promotion.

Look no further than Sunday, in which AEW held its annual Double or Nothing pay-per-view. But despite AEW having hosted the event during Memorial Day weekend every year since the company’s inception in 2019, WWE opted to hold its own holiday weekend shows, including the NXT: Battleground premium live event, which went head-to-head against Double or Nothing on Sunday night.

During his post-show press conference, Khan was asked about the idea of AEW being counterprogrammed on a consistent basis. And while the question didn’t directly reference WWE, the implication appeared clear, with the son of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan also alluding to the pro wrestling giant’s previous tactics toward its competitors.

“It’s pretty consistent,” Khan said. “I’d say it’s the most consistent event head-to-head scheduling I’ve seen since Jim Crockett Promotions. So a lot of scheduling that went that way.”

Tony Khan added: “I can tell you this will go a lot differently than that did.”

Khan’s comment regarding Jim Crockett Promotions served as a reference to the 1980s rivalry between WWE (then known as WWF) and the company that would ultimately be sold to Turner Broadcasting System and become World Championship Wrestling. Perhaps most famously, JCP’s 1987 Starrcade pay-per-view ran into unexpected competition on Thanksgiving from WWF’s inaugural Survivor Series show, with WWF reportedly threatening to withhold access to the following year’s WrestleMania from cable operators who carried Starrcade.

The WWE-AEW wrestling war hasn’t reached that level just yet, although it’s been impossible not to notice WWE’s recent willingness (or perhaps eagerness) to schedule shows head-to-head against its competition. While it was previously revealed that WWE would host a Saturday Night’s Main Event show on the same day as AEW’s All In pay-per-view on July 12, the TKO-owned promotion has since added an NXT Great American Bash and women’s-only Evolution show to the same weekend slate.

In fact, WWE’s recent approach to scheduling has resulted in AEW reportedly keeping its pay-perv-view dates “top secret” in an apparent attempt to avoid being counterprogrammed. But while those efforts have proven unsuccessful to this point, Khan remains confident that AEW won’t be resigned to the same fate that all of WWE’s previous competitors have suffered.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

View all posts by Ben Axelrod