"I’m done with it" - Fans might stop watching WWE and choose AEW if TKO commits one big mistake, says Dutch Mantell

The wrestling "war" between WWE and AEW continues as the two companies compete for dominance as the leading North American wrestling promotion. Veteran Dutch Mantell has now shared his view that Tony Khan's brand might end up winning that war if the sports entertainment juggernaut is ever sold to the Saudi Arabian government.

Last Saturday in Canada, All Elite Wrestling hosted its latest pay-per-view, All Out: Toronto. The event was initially set to go head-to-head with WWE Wrestlepalooza, a PLE announced for the same day as AEW's PPV, in a move that was speculated to be a deliberate counterprogramming strategy by the Stamford-based company. However, the Jacksonville-based promotion shifted its show to an earlier afternoon start time.

WWE has recently courted controversy over its decision to make a deal with the Saudi Arabian government to host the 2027 edition of WrestleMania in Riyadh. The promotion's ongoing working partnership with the country has led to speculation that General Entertainment Authority Chairman Turki Alalshikh may potentially purchase WWE from TKO Group Holdings at some point.

Such an outcome would be a positive for AEW, according to Dutch Mantell, who claimed on the latest edition of his Story Time podcast that WWE would lose viewership and audience loyalty if Saudi Arabia took over the company.

"Well, I think is I’m gonna forecast this. If it’s taken over by the Saudi Arabians, I think that really, more than anything else, helps AEW. Just because of people getting mad. I’m not supporting them because wrestling, hey, let’s face it, it’s an American invention. And they have taken it through and through the days of Vince McMahon and all this. But now to have a bunch of Saudi Arabians conducting the business, I think a lot of people just say, ‘No, I’m done with it. Completely done.’ That will help AEW more than anything," said Mantell. [H/T - TJR Wrestling]

WWE merged with the UFC's parent company, Endeavour, to launch a new entity, TKO Group Holdings, around two years ago.

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Match results for AEW All Out

All Elite Wrestling hosted this year's edition of its annual pay-per-view, All Out, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, this past weekend. The main card of the show featured ten star-studded matches, the results of which have been listed below:

• Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defeated FTR
• Eddie Kingston defeated Big Bill
• Mark Briscoe defeated MJF [Tables N' Thumbtacks Match]
• Ricochet and The Gates of Agony defeated The Hurt Syndicate
• Mercedes Mone (c) defeated Riho [TBS Championship Match]
• Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita and Mascara Dorada [Unified Championship Match]
• Jon Moxley defeated Darby Allin [Coffin Match]
• Kris Statlander defeated Jamie Hayter, Thekla, and Toni Storm (c) [Women's World Championship Match]
• Brodido (c) defeated JetSpeed, The Young Bucks, and Hechicero/Josh Alexander [World Tag Team Championship Four-Way Ladder Match]
• Hangman Adam Page (c) defeated Kyle Fletcher [Men's World Championship Match]

Match card for All Out 2025 [Image Credits: AEW on X/Twitter]

Tony Khan and company are currently laying the groundwork for the promotion's upcoming PPV, WrestleDream 2025.