WWE In Full Court Press To Ruin AEW’s Next TV Deal
WWE and AEW are going head-to-head again very soon, but it seems the sports entertainment giant has even greater ambitions when it comes to Tony Khan’s company.
WWE tried to crush AEW’s first-ever US stadium show when it aired three shows of its own over All In Texas weekend. Saturday Night’s Main Event, featuring Goldberg’s last match, forced AEW to move All In to the afternoon, where it was counter-programmed by an NXT PLE.
WWE also added the second-ever Evolution PLE to the following day to prevent Khan from moving his show from Saturday to Sunday as well. Brock Lesnar’s return match in WWE is set to go head-to-head with AEW All Out, and it seems plans are being made for John Cena’s last-ever WWE match to compete with Worlds End in December.
But what is the point of the relentless counter-programming, and what is WWE’s real endgame?
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained what WWE’s long-term ambitions are when it comes to AEW, and it involves making sure Tony Khan does not get another TV deal that makes them even more money:
They really want TNA to become the other promotion because they can control TNA. This is a major full court press. One of the things they realise is that they just want this guy out of the box.
They know if the number stays good, they’ll get a renewal at a much bigger number, just like they did, and a number that will make them – they’re already profitable, the number will make them incredibly profitable, and they’ll never get away from him. So they need to make sure this is the last contract.
WWE Dealing With Contract Issues Of Its Own
Headlines have been dominated in recent weeks by the ongoing saga of Karrion Kross and Scarlett, and whether or not they’ve actually left WWE.
Kross claimed he was not allowed to talk to Triple H about his deal and says a prospective offer from the company was pulled when he asked too many questions about it. Despite this, some reports suggest Karrion Kross and Scarlett will end up back in WWE despite all of the noise surrounding their exit.
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