WWE and AAA putting Worlds Collide directly against AEW All Out on September 26 may be about much more than winning one night in Chicago. The strategy is about building AAA into a valuable television property while also proving that it can take business away from AEW when the two are placed head-to-head.
While speaking during a Self Made Session, Self Made Pro broke down the unusual situation surrounding All Out. AEW has already distributed around 8,400 tickets with roughly three weeks remaining and only about another 1,000 left, despite WWE and AAA counterprogramming the event in the same market with Worlds Collide and putting CM Punk on the card.
According to Self Made Pro, that’s where the bigger purpose behind WWE’s AAA push comes into play. WWE doesn’t just want AAA to succeed on its own. The company wants it to perform well at AEW’s expense because that could become part of the pitch for eventually securing AAA its own television deal.
“The AAA show is doing well, but it’s not doing well at the expense of AEW, which is the point of it existing. Like, the AAA thing is, this AAA push is for two reasons. They want to secure a TV deal for the property, but they also want to be able to do it at the expense of AEW because that’s part of the strategy.”
That would give WWE something potentially useful when sitting down with networks. The idea would be to point toward AAA going head-to-head with one of the biggest competing wrestling products and show that it can draw crowds while also limiting what AEW is able to do.
“They want to be able to show networks like, ‘Yo, this money that you may be sitting on, look, look at what Triple A does against the top competition in wrestling. We can outdraw them. We can limit them. We can hurt them. We can do bigger crowds,’ blah, blah, blah.”
Self Made Pro compared that strategy to what WWE previously did with NXT and AEW. The company was able to put NXT opposite AEW and then use its performance as another selling point when taking the brand to potential television partners.
“That’s what they did with NXT in 2023. That’s how they got the CW deal. They were able to go to CW and say, ‘Look at what we do against AEW.’”
So far, though, All Out appears to be holding up well despite the counterprogramming. With around 8,400 tickets already distributed and only roughly another 1,000 remaining, AEW is still moving toward a strong crowd even with Worlds Collide and CM Punk competing for wrestling fans in Chicago.
That puts a little more on the line than simply which show has the better night. If WWE wants AAA to become more attractive to television networks by showing it can take business away from AEW, Worlds Collide going against All Out gives them a chance to see whether that strategy actually works.
Do you think Worlds Collide will take meaningful business away from AEW All Out, or can both shows succeed in Chicago? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
