AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
Reminder again this week....for those reading this blog on
Monday, remember that RAW airs live on Netflix today at 4:00
pm ET/1 pm PT with replays available afterwards, due to the
show originating in Glasgow, Scotland. This will also take
place with RAW next Monday, and for Smackdown viewers
internationally this Friday (or watching with a VPN), while
in the US, Smackdown will air at its regular time of 8:00 ET
on USA Network.
In the unending story of WWE and predatory business
practices, Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp reported last Monday
that an WWE staff/roster e-mail was sent out indicating that
the WWE Smackdown originally scheduled for San Antonio,
Texas in June has now been moved to July 18, six days after
AEW's ALL IN Texas in Arlington, TX (since confirmed as
tickets have officially gone on sale on WWE.com).
It's also reported WWE are planning on hosting a Saturday
Night's Main Event show on July 12.... which would be head-
to-head with ALL IN. This event was listed on Peacock's WWE
schedule, before word got out and the event schedule was
pulled down.
This is one of a series of WWE scheduling shows this
spring/summer around AEW's biggest events as WWE is first
doing this on Memorial Day weekend as the next Saturday
Night’s Main Event is scheduled for May 24, and WWE plans to
hold NXT Battleground on May 25, both in Tampa, FL...the
very same weekend AEW is holding the Double or Nothing PPV
in Glendale, AZ.
But wait...there's more: last Wednesday morning....another
European tour was announced with shows in England, Scotland,
Wales, and Ireland. Guess when? The same weekend that AEW
has Forbidden Door taking place (not yet official, but
understood to be) at the O2 Arena in London, England.
To summarize: THREE instances of WWE shows or series of
shows that just HAPPEN to be run head-to-head with AEW
events:
1) The go-home Collision prior to Double Or Nothing; and a
NXT Battleground PLE just HAPPENS to be run head-to-head
with Double or Nothing PPV.
2) A Saturday Night's Main Event show on July 12, head-to-
head with ALL IN Texas
3) An entire SERIES of UK shows around the time of Forbidden
Door in London
Is it new?
No. Not even close.
WWE played the same game as far back as the days of
competing with Jim Crockett Promotions; when on.January 24,
1988, WWF's held the Royal Rumble special on USA Network in
direct competition with Jim Crockett Promotions' Bunkhouse
Stampede PPV, featuring a steel cage Bunkhouse Stampede main
event.
Well, there are misguided AEW fans who've decided the way to
fight back is to keep Sting from inducting Lex Luger into
the WWE Hall of Fame during Wrestlemania weekend, and have
taken to social media.
I couldn't disagree more. This isn't about how WWE is
screwing with AEW (over and over and over again). This is
about Steve Borden honoring his friend Larry Pfohl. If he
wants to do so, Tony Khan needs to let him.
AEW's biggest deficit in the wrestling war isn't in
size...it's in perception. Preventing Sting from doing that
will only serve to make AEW look bad in the eyes of average
wrestling fans, hurt Sting's feelings and accomplish
nothing. WWE wouldn't lose one red cent. They wouldn't be
affected one bit. Meanwhile, AEW and Tony Khan would be
criticized endlessly for being petty. Let AEW agree to let
Borden do so.
But let them preface it online with the statement I saw on
BlueSky:
"AEW owes WWE no more than the same treatment that was given
to Sting at Revolution 2024. However, AEW is allowing Sting
to perform the induction of Lex Luger into the WWE Hall of
Fame out of respect for Luger and his many accomplishments
within the world of professional wrestling. Congratulations
to Lex Luger on this honor."
It was nice to see Warner Brothers Discovery advertising
Dynamite, Collision, and AEW all over NCAA March Madness
coverage this past weekend.
Meanwhile, right around midnight, Tony Khan tweeted
"Don’t miss Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite 289, Wednesday,
April 16 in Boston, AEW Spring BreakThru! We’ll celebrate
AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite becoming the longest running
prime time weekly pro wrestling program in Turner Sports
history!" In short, Dynamite will surpass Monday Night
Nitro as the longest running prime time weekly wrestling
program on TBS/TNT, when they run Dynamite episode 289,
surpassing the 288 episodes of Nitro.
Also....keep an eye out for some sort of spring/summer
special on either TBS or TNT; in what sounds like what the
Battle of the Belts shows should have been (and what the
original ones were in Florida).
Andrew Zarian brought it up on his Beyond the Bell podcast
last Tuesday morning. For those who read this blog, he has
folks he knows in Warner Brothers Discovery...and provided a
lot of information in the lead up to the Warner Brothers
Discovery-AEW TV deal. So keep an eye out on his Beyond The
Bell and Mat Men podcasts.
If you'd like to contact me, you can do so at my
bobmagee1@hotmail.com account or to through Facebook
Messenger at https://www.facebook.com/bob.magee.180, direct
message me at https://twitter.com/BobMage70323520, or
contact me at BlueSky at
https://bsky.app/profile/bobmagee940.bsky.social
