Is WWE’s Counter Programming Detrimental To Their Own Product?

This coming up weekend is a big one for professional wrestling. If you’re a fan, be prepared for it to be a long two days because there are going to be FOUR major shows happening over Saturday and Sunday. The biggest show of the weekend arguably belongs to AEW with their All In pay-per-view. Being held in Globe Life Field, the home of baseball’s Texas Rangers, and with a much-anticipated main event between Jon Moxley and “Hangman” Adam Page, All In has truly become AEW’s version of WrestleMania.

Despite AEW’s recent comeback, WWE is still the king of wrestling, but rather than being satisfied with its number one spot, they are out to crush AEW. As proof, they are counter programming with three shows over the weekend. Saturday afternoon has NXT Great American Bash, Saturday Night’s Main Event will see Goldberg have his final match, and the second Evolution, WWE’s all-women PLE, airs on Sunday night. It’s done as a way to damage AEW and hurt their PPV buys, but the damage is instead being done to WWE, as horrible ticket sales for Evolution have shown. The company’s obsession with AEW is only hurting itself.

WWE Evolution Is Struggling To Sell Tickets

WWE Has Scheduled Three Shows Over Two Days In Atlanta

• AEW All In is selling rather well in Arlington, Texas.
• Fans aren’t showing much interest in WWE Evolution and NXT Great American Bash.
• WWE has an image problem thanks to issues like bad creative and letting R-Truth go.

According to WrestleTix, as of this writing, AEW All In has sold nearly 21,000 tickets. Although that’s a steep fall off from the last two times in Wembley Stadium, the show is still setting up to be the biggest AEW event they’ve ever had in the United States. All In starts at 2 pm on Saturday, July 12, but just thirty minutes later, WWE will challenge with NXT Great American Bash. NXT’s roster is thriving right now, but ticket sales for Great American Bash aren’t. WrestleTix shows that, as of July 5, just 593 of the available 772 tickets have been sold.

Saturday Night’s Main Event, held at the State Farm Arena, is doing very well, with nearly 11,000 tickets sold as of July 4, but Evolution is looking very embarrassing for WWE. Held in the same arena, which can hold 15,800 fans, Evolution has only sold 4,800 tickets. This is humiliating for the women’s roster, who will be competing in an arena that will be two-thirds empty.

When Triple H took over creative control of WWE a few years ago, the move led to a creative boom for the company. They quickly started doing their best business ever, but after the mammoth Netflix deal, it feels like WWE is phoning it in. WWE has lost its excitement, John Cena’s heel run has been lackluster, and controversies like how R-Truth was let go, has made WWE look like a corporation that only cares about money, and not a wrestling company. As more proof, just look at what they’re trying to do to AEW.

WWE Needs To Stop Trying To Sabotage AEW

• WWE is trying to hurt AEW again by beating them to the ECW Arena.
• AEW Double or Nothing had a good buy rate despite WWE booking shows the same weekend.
• Fans don’t want to go to three expensive WWE shows in a two-day span.

WWE wants to destroy AEW. While AEW President Tony Khan got himself in trouble several times with social media comments bashing a perceived slight against him by WWE (something he has thankfully stopped doing), WWE has taken shots at AEW several times with belittling comments made by the likes of Triple H and Nick Khan. However, it’s not enough to simply mock them. They want to crush AEW. WWE has counter-programmed AEW several times, or beat AEW to markets like the ECW Arena, all in an attempt to hurt the competition.

It’s bad enough that the powerful WWE would want to try to crush the smaller guy who is not a threat to them, but it also doesn’t work. WWE attempted the same strategy in May, countering Double or Nothing with Saturday Night’s Main Event and NXT Battleground, but Double or Nothing still did a healthy 130,000 buys, which is on par with their usual buy rate. WWE didn’t hurt AEW one bit. All they accomplished was making themselves look like a petty bully. It also shows a weakness in WWE. They think they can do no wrong, but oversaturating a market is too much. Did WWE expect fans to pay the company’s absurd ticket prices to go to three shows in one weekend? The resounding answer from fans was no thank you.

WWE Must Focus On Growing By Bringing Back House Shows

• AEW is doing better after struggling for two years.
• WWE needs to worry about having better storylines and matches.
• House shows will help build new stars while also expanding to forgotten markets.

AEW is rising after a flat last two years, while WWE is having some struggles. Now, WWE is still doing pretty great and AEW is nowhere near their level when it comes to ratings and attendance, but WWE is hurting, and they’ve brought it all on themselves. Obsessing over another company doesn’t make you look good. TKO needs to worry about itself and not what Tony Khan is doing. If WWE wants to hurt AEW, do it through the creative direction of your show. Have more compelling storylines, like they did with the Bloodine saga, rather than paint-by-numbers feuds and constant run-ins during matches.

WWE also needs to get back to what worked in the past. Under TKO, house shows have become a thing of the past. This is good for the big wrestling stars, who now have more time at home to recover and spend with their families, but midcarders and lower who don’t get much TV time are suffering. Those who need to improve their skills by wrestling in front of fans aren’t getting the opportunity. So what happens when WWE’s older roster starts to retire? Does WWE just depend on NXT talent to replace them? WWE needs to give their greener talent a chance at more reps. This also allows the company to originally be in more markets and grow like in the old days. Today, if you’re not in a major American city, you don’t get to see WWE in person anymore. AEW isn’t going anywhere. If only WWE realized that competition is a good thing and sabotage wasn’t the answer, just imagine how much better they could be?