WWE may be throwing two shows in AEW’s path, but Dave Meltzer doesn’t believe either one will put a serious dent in All In 2026. In fact, he thinks WWE is protecting its main-roster stars while sending NXT and AAA talent straight into the firing line.
WWE scheduled NXT and AAA programming on the same day as AEW’s massive Wembley Stadium pay-per-view. The timing immediately raised questions about whether WWE was attempting to cut into All In’s audience, but Meltzer brushed off the idea that the move would cause any real damage.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer estimated that the competing shows might cost AEW only a few thousand pay-per-view purchases. He even suggested the actual difference could be as low as 1,000 buys.
“Whatever the mentality is, I don’t think it’s going to hurt. I don’t think it’s going to make a 5,000-buy difference, and 5,000 may even be liberal. It might be 1,000. It’s going to make no difference whatsoever to the live crowd. It’s not going to make any difference to the pay-per-view, and they’re not going to have a better show.”
Meltzer then took the gloves off. He argued that WWE deliberately avoided putting its main roster against All In because the company didn’t want its biggest names getting beaten in a direct comparison. According to Meltzer, that left the NXT and AAA wrestlers to take the hit instead.
“It’s a bad look in so many ways. I mean, it’s smart that they don’t put their main roster against it because you don’t want your main roster looking bad. The AAA guys are the sacrificial lambs, and the NXT guys are the sacrificial lambs. I get the mentality for what they’re doing, but they’re going out there and being sacrificed.”
The scheduling also puts the NXT roster in a rough television slot. Meltzer argued that a Sunday afternoon episode on The CW would struggle even without direct competition from AEW’s biggest event of the year.
“They’re putting that on at three in the afternoon. Even if there was no All In at all and they did that show on The CW from three to six on a Sunday afternoon, that rating would be terrible without AEW competition.”
Meltzer expects the later NXT replay to perform better, but his point remains the same: WWE’s strategy is unlikely to stop fans from attending Wembley Stadium or purchasing All In. Instead, it could leave NXT and AAA talent carrying the embarrassment if their audience numbers come in weak.
WWE may have planted two shows opposite AEW All In, but Meltzer believes Tony Khan’s biggest event will barely feel the impact. The real damage could land on the wrestlers WWE chose to put in the crossfire.
Do you agree that WWE is using NXT and AAA stars as “sacrificial lambs,” or could the counterprogramming still hurt AEW All In? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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