There has been plenty of focus on potential conflicts of interest at ESPN in recent days and the ongoing battle between AEW and WWE is now in the crosshairs.
While most of that conversation of potential ESPN conflicts has centered on the Worldwide Leader in Sports’ equity deal with the NFL, it might also be time to consider the state of the network’s pro wrestling coverage.
On Wednesday, WWE announced that its previously announced deal for ESPN to become the home of its monthly Premium Live Events will go into effect with the Wrestlepalooza show on Sept. 20. And with the start of the ESPN-WWE partnership now in sight, it didn’t take long for several eagle-eyed viewers to notice that the AEW page on ESPN.com no longer works.
While a link to the previous AEW coverage on the website’s pro wrestling landing page is still present, it now directs to an empty destination that reads “page error.” Awful Announcing reached out to ESPN to see if this was an intentional change or a legitimate error that will be fixed in the future, but has yet to hear back from the network.
ESPN has now removed the AEW tab from their professional wrestling section on their official website. pic.twitter.com/zZL9hbic1P
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) August 20, 2025
Regardless of the actual reasoning, many pro wrestling fans and reporters were quick to connect the dots between ESPN’s new deal with WWE and the disappearance of its AEW coverage. It’s also worth noting that WWE has taken a far more aggressive approach in counter-programming AEW shows in recent months, with next month’s ESPN debut slated to go head-to-head against AEW’s All Out pay-per-view, which was first announced in May.
Ultimately, the material consequences here are minimal; it’s not as if ESPN was providing regular AEW content before the WWE deal was announced earlier this month. Still, the timing of the disappearance of AEW under the ESPN umbrella has understandably raised several eyebrows, especially with regard to how the network’s media rights deals can potentially impact its editorial decisions.
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.