WWE has made a habit of booking major events to run head-to-head with rival All Elite Wrestling, and the company does not appear to be halting that practice any time soon.
Weeks after the annual AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view was announced for June 28, head of creative for NXT, Shawn Michaels, took to social media to announce thatThe Great American Bash would be running on that same night.
The main cards for both shows began just an hour apart from one another, and during Sunday night’s broadcast on The CW Network, WWE announced that Lucha Libre AAA and NXT would be holding events on Sunday, August 30, in Edinburg, Texas — the same day as AEW All In: London.
Tickets for the AAA/NXT Heatwave doubleheader will go on sale next Wednesday, July 8, with the broadcast set to start at noon ET on August 30. An official start time for All In: London has not been announced, but at least some overlap is expected due to the time zone difference.
AEW President Tony Khan hosted a media scrum after Forbidden Door early Monday morning, and he was asked by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer if he had heard the news about WWE’s latest counterprogramming maneuver. When Khan confirmed he had, Meltzer followed up by asking if he takes the effort as a compliment.
“It’s double the compliment Jimmy Crockett got,” Khan said with a laugh. “That’s good, twice as nice as they were to Jimmy. That’s great. I’ll be sure to take it that way. I think we’re going to have a great AEW All In and really looking forward to going back to Wembley Stadium. It’s going to be the biggest night in AEW wrestling.”
Early in his tenure as AEW’s President, Khan likely would have had a more emotional response to the announcement. He’s either evolved his mindset regarding direct competition from WWE, or he’s grown more adept at hiding his true feelings on the matter.
“I can’t speak to what the other promotions are doing but I did see that announcement… Not a lot I can do other than just hope we have a really good show and plan and prepare that we will have a very good show for AEW All In.”
As of this writing, only two matches have been announced for All In: London. We know that Will Ospreay will challenge for the AEW Men’s World Championship after emerging victorious in the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament. MJF is the current titleholder, but he’ll be defending his triple-B this Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite agaisnt Mark Briscoe.
Mercedes Moné, meanwhile, has earned a shot at AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla via her victory in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament final Sunday night at Forbidden Door.
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