This past Friday saw WWE and AEW essentially go head-to-head for the first time on somewhat equal footing. SmackDown was broadcast on FS1 and AEW Rampage was on TNT in their usual 10pm timeslot.
Only a half-hour of actual programming ‘crossed the streams’ though, with the additional 30 minutes of SmackDown going up against the start of Rampage.
WWE ‘won,’ but not by a huge margin, with the company reportedly getting around 200,000 more viewers than AEW for the night.
Why is this great though? Because WWE had all of the big guns on the show this Friday, with Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks and Brock Lesnar all present on the programme.
There needs to be more of this, having competition the level of AEW is legitimately the first that WWE has had since the WCW glory days of 1996-1999.
AEW vs WWE
AEW Dynamite is on every Wednesday night on TNT and FITE; fans in the UK can sign up to watch the show via AEW+ on FITE.
AEW Rampage is on every Friday night on TNT and FITE, fans in the UK can sign up to watch the show via AEW+ on FITE.
All Elite Wrestling also hosts four PPV events per year, available via traditional PPV routes in the United States and again on FITE TV elsewhere. The PPVs are named Double or Nothing, Full Gear, All Out and Revolution.
AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation are available to watch every Monday and Tuesday night on AEW’s official YouTube channel.