Tony Khan Addresses WWE Purposefully Counter Programming Against Big AEW Shows

AEW has done a lot of things to get attention since they opened their doors. That being said, efforts have been made to divert attention from Tony Khan’s company. This is something that he certainly notices.

There have been several AEW events throughout the history of the company where fans had an option to watch WWE instead. WWE is not shy about booking events on the same night that AEW has something going on, and that’s not likely to stop.

While speaking to the Ariel Helwani Show, Tony Khan was asked about WWE counter programming AEW. Khan replied that he believes this is always intentional, but the fact is that this is part of the pro wrestling business.

“I do think it’s done on purpose, and I understand it. It’s part of wrestling, and I think we’ve seen a lot of it. I think that a lot of wrestling promotions that have been the challenging promotion in our lifetime have seen a lot of it. Jim Crockett Promotions, which was the forerunner to WCW, saw a lot of it.”

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“Jim Crockett Promotions had to sell to Ted Turner, who had a great run, took a while, and really, if you really look at Ted Turner took over at the start of 1989 and the strongest run came almost 6-7 years later when business peaked, it took off in their peak years. It’s interesting, because as a challenger wrestling promotion, you’ve got a great opportunity. It’s really hard, it takes tons of investment to build up to be a good, strong challenger, that’s why we took the risk with AEW when we did.”

“I do think we’ve seen counter programming in those things. I understand it. Looking back at pro wrestling history, we kind of expect that.”

Tony Khan went on to say that it has “always worked out” and never “cost us anything” when WWE counter programs them. Even with AEW All In Texas, where they had the show in the afternoon, Tony Khan said that it all worked out.

In the end, Tony Khan said that he doesn’t take it personally. WWE has counter programmed, but AEW has come to expect that. We will have to see how things pan out in the future, but this is certainly an ongoing thing that AEW will have to deal with. It seems that they’re also okay with the dilemma.

What’s your take on WWE counter programming AEW like they do? Do you think that AEW will see a huge spike in interest soon? Let us know what you think in the comments section!