ESPN addresses WWE Wrestlepalooza running against AEW All Out
With regard to WWE Wrestlepalooza running this Saturday against AEW All Out, wrestling competition had nothing to do with it, according to ESPN executives.
During a media call Wednesday to promote Saturday’s launch on the ESPN networks and specifically their new streaming platform, ESPN VP of programming and acquisitions Matt Kenny was asked about WWE choosing to run against a competitor and if that was a strategy for the future.
Kenny said they will work collaboratively with WWE on the schedule and in this case, many of WWE’s events had already been scheduled for the year. He said traditionally, ESPN would work with a partner as part of a lengthy process in scheduling dates (using UFC as an example), working together on a calendar.
ESPN’s PLE deal with WWE wasn’t supposed to start until April 2026 and it wasn’t until WWE negotiated with NBCU/Peacock (revealed in August) to get out early that ESPN was able to move the timetable up.
Kenny said ESPN wanted a marquee WWE event in September to help with the launch of the new streaming platform.
He mentioned during the call that they had no dialogue with Peacock and “we were excited when presented the option to start that relationship early.”
“Really, it had less to do with any particular wrestling competition. In fact, we take a holistic view. We know there is competition everywhere. Certainly in the fall on Saturdays…there’s no shortage of college football competition throughout the day. We welcome competition and do take a ‘game on’ approach. We are focused in this particular case to super-serve WWE and wrestling fans on our platforms,” he said.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.