Tony Khan reacts to WWE counterprogramming AEW All Out
Tony Khan isn’t all that surprised that September’s AEW All Out pay-per-view has competition from WWE.
September 26 will have both AEW and WWE in the Chicago area, with AEW presenting All Out 2026 from Hoffman Estates and WWE/AAA running a Worlds Collide event in Rosemont. While being interviewed on the Battleground Podcast, Khan was asked if he views WWE’s counterprogramming attempt as healthy competition, a compliment, or just the reality of today’s wrestling business.
“It’s probably all of the above. I think it’s all of the above,” Khan responded. “It’s the reality of current wrestling. It’s the, frankly, predatory nature of scheduling of events. But also the compliment that says that AEW is doing very well
“And Chicago is a great city for wrestling. I’m very excited about AEW All Out, and it’s not something unexpected to have competition, and I do welcome it. And I also really am excited about the run of shows coming up. Tonight, just a stacked Dynamite, a major redemption pay-per-view this weekend, and I think it’s going to put us on the course to All In and then All Out.”
The AEW and WWE events on September 26 are set to go directly against each other with both scheduled for p.m. start times that Saturday night.
More WWE-AAA competition —
AEW’s next two PPVs are Redemption in Montreal this Sunday (July 26) and All In London on August 30. On that August 30 date, WWE is presenting a doubleheader with AAA-NXT events from Texas. WWE does not have any televised events going against Redemption.
It’s speculated that WWE having a big presence in New York City and holding watch parties around the country for WrestleMania 43 next April is, in part, WWE’s way of making sure AEW has a more difficult time staging its own WrestleMania weekend event. WrestleMania 43 is being held in Saudi Arabia, which leaves room for other promotions to potentially capitalize on the large amount of fans who usually go to Mania every year but won’t be making the trip to Saudi.
WWE will have NXT and AAA PLEs in NYC after each night of WrestleMania 43. The exact date of the event has not been announced yet.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.