WWE accused of ''insult'' against AEW by veteran

WWE has made no secret of its efforts to counterprogram AEW. Last weekend was a clear example of how the Stamford-based promotion strategically booked a packed weekend to go against AEW's All In Texas pay-per-view.

Initially, Tony Khan had the PPV scheduled for Saturday night, but the Stamford-based company, creatively led by Triple H, countered it by announcing Saturday Night's Main Event for the same date. Khan then moved All In to an afternoon slot, only for the global juggernaut to put NXT's Great American Bash PLE in the same time slot.

While the battle looks set to continue in the near future, former WWE star Stevie Richards thinks the Sports Entertainment juggernaut putting its developmental show against AEW's showpiece event was an insult to the Jacksonville-based company.

In the latest edition of The Stevie Richards Show, he said:

"It's a kind of war, but at the same time a little bit of insult thrown at AEW that we're sending our developmental show to counter you. Like The Great American Bash on Saturday instead of Saturday Night's Main Event. They're trying to say the secondary brand or the developmental brand is still better than their full-time roster and everything they offer." [1:40-2:00]

AEW and WWE were involved in the "Wednesday Night Wars," which saw Dynamite and NXT compete for ratings supremacy from 2019 to 2021. It ended with NXT eventually moving to Tuesdays.

Tony Khan responded to WWE's counterprogramming of AEW All In

Ahead of the All In PPV, Tony Khan, during an interaction with WFAA, was asked about WWE's efforts to counterprogram the company's showpiece event by scheduling two events on the same day as All In.

Khan said that the company was focused on putting on the best possible show for fans.

"Well, I think we're going to put on a great event, and we have to focus on putting on the best event we can with the best wrestlers in the world. So that's a lot of fun. So we're going to have a great show next Saturday afternoon, and we're very focused on what AEW is doing and AEW fans, and I think that's served us really well," Khan said. [H/T: Fightful]

With the global juggernaut, creatively led by The Game, not slowing down its counterprogramming of AEW shows, the Tony Khan-led promotion will need to put on its best displays regularly.

Please credit The Stevie Richards Show and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you take quotes from the first half of this article.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Yash Mittal