WWE’s constant counterprogramming of AEW has a much bigger goal behind it than one night’s bragging rights: weakening AEW ahead of its next television rights negotiations. Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez laid out why WWE is expected to keep going after AEW whenever the opportunity comes up.
WWE vs AEW counterprogramming battle (Credits: Ringside News)
AEW will eventually be heading into another contract year, and the changing media landscape means those negotiations could become incredibly important. Alvarez noted that there has already been a major sale in the media business, creating uncertainty about what things will look like by the time AEW needs another television deal. “AEW is soon to be into a contract year, and there has just been a sale. And so, fact of the matter is, no matter what anybody says, nobody knows the future,” he said.
WWE’s counterprogramming goal: chipping away at AEW’s numbers
That uncertainty is exactly why WWE is expected to keep counterprogramming AEW whenever it gets the chance. WWE doesn’t necessarily need to completely crush AEW’s audience, either — because even taking away 5% or 10% of its viewers would still accomplish part of what the company is trying to do.
“As long as there is that chance, WWE is going to want to make that happen. And so they are going to counterprogram all these events. And if they can even take away 5% of viewership, 10% of viewership, they want to chip away as much as they can because that’s just what they do,” Alvarez explained.
Basically, WWE wants to keep chipping away at AEW’s numbers before the company eventually heads back to the negotiating table. If putting NXT or another WWE show against AEW can pull even a small percentage of viewers away, WWE is apparently willing to keep doing it. That doesn’t necessarily mean AEW is in danger of suddenly losing its television deal — Alvarez expects the company will probably end up with something similar to its current arrangement and remain on TBS and TNT — but WWE isn’t going to make that process any easier.
November 4: NXT vs Blood & Guts is the next battle
This all comes right before another WWE vs. AEW fight: NXT will go head-to-head with AEW’s Blood & Guts on November 4, and WWE is already planning to load up its show after getting a big confidence boost from beating AEW the last time around.
WWE wasn’t nearly as confident heading into that previous head-to-head battle, which is why NXT largely ran a normal show instead of loading up the card. But after NXT still managed to come out ahead, that attitude changed — and WWE is now ready to come back much harder against Blood & Guts.
So the November 4 battle, and even beyond it, is about more than simply which show gets the better number that night. WWE is looking to keep taking bites out of AEW’s audience wherever possible, with AEW’s eventual television negotiations looming in the background.
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Source: Ringside News — read the full story there.
