Tony Khan Comments On WWE Counter-Programming AEW Events In 2025

Tony Khan comments on being counter-programmed by WWE events in recent months.

Recently, WWE NXT events have often coincided with major AEW shows. The WWE NXT Great American Bash occurred on the same day as AEW All In, and WWE NXT Battleground happened concurrently with AEW Double or Nothing. The upcoming WWE NXT Heatwave is also scheduled to counter-program against AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

Tony Khan was recently asked about being counter-programmed on a media call ahead of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. As he has in the recent past, he really emphasized the joy of AEW’s growth in 2025, attributing it to his full focus on making his promotion the best it can be.

“We’ve had a great 2025 in AEW and I believe that, in large part, that’s because everyone in AEW is really focused on making AEW a tremendous promotion and continuing this excellent year we’re having.”

He also praised the new media rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery and the extra platform of AEW Dynamite and Saturday Collision on HBO Max.

“All these things have come together to build a lot of excitement inside AEW and outside AEW, and all around the company. I want to be able to continue that, and the most important thing for us is to talk about AEW and work really hard on AEW every week. It means not necessarily focusing on what every wrestling promotion is doing, but I do like watching wrestling and keeping up with what other wrestling promotions are doing. We’ve been in business since 2019 and in every one of those years, there have been other wrestling promotions at times doing very cool things. At the very best of AEW, we’ve been super focused on what we’re doing. Not being the only wrestling company in the world, but trying our best to be the best. I know we have the best wrestlers, and this year I think we’re doing the best TV shows and pay-per-views. I know we have the best fans.”

WWE Wrestlepalooza will counterprogram AEW All Out 2025 on September 20. This will launch WWE PLEs being broadcast on ESPN’s direct-to-consumer platforms moving forward. Learn more here.

Check out the full card for the upcoming AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event here.

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