WWE apparently has something in store for AEW for 2026.
This September 20th, WWE and AEW will have two separate premium live events on the same day, which is a rare occurrence. The Stamford-based promotion will have Wrestlepalooza in Indianapolis, while the Stamford-based promotion will have All Out in Toronto.
The PLEs were originally set to go head-to-head at 7 PM Eastern Time, but AEW decided to move their pay-per-view to an earlier time of 3 PM to avoid a direct clash with WWE’s PLE. This could’ve been the first time a WWE and AEW live event will take place at the same time, competing against one another.
As a result, WWE, creatively led by Triple H, will no longer counter-program AEW for this year, but this could change as they might have something in store for the latter.
According to the latest report from Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live, there are ramblings within the company about how to successfully compete directly with Tony Khan’s promotion for next year.
After Tony Khan and AEW moved All Out to an earlier time, WWE tried to do the same, but to no avail, as it was too late. One of the ideas presented is to run extra shows before a certain premium live event so that AEW won’t have a room to move its’ pay-per-view to an unopposed start time. This idea will likely be put into place in 2026.
They’re gonna be moving shows, they’re gonna be doing extra shows to make sure he can’t move it to an unopposed time.I knew it would happen and they pretty much have talked about it internally, so that’s what’s coming up next for those battles,” Alvarez said. [H/T WrestleTalk]
"There are a lot of discussions" within WWE about how to counter-programme AEW in 2026.
One of the ideas is to run extra shows to prevent Tony Khan from being able to move an AEW pay-per-view to an unopposed start time.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Live) pic.twitter.com/IFq5loz0KE
— Cultaholic Wrestling (@Cultaholic) September 12, 2025
TKO Officials on WWE WrestlePalooza Being Another SummerSlam or WrestleMania
According to TKO President Mark Shapiro, the goal for them is to make the newly revived WrestlePalooza PLE as big as either “SummerSlam” or “WrestleMania” for next year.
The September 20th premium live event will be streamed on ESPN in the United States, the first for the sports media giant as part of their deal with WWE.
Cena vs Brock will be main eventing Wrestlepalooza. pic.twitter.com/fEMAG4BN8h
— FINAL BOSS SZN 💥 (@FINAL_LEGEND) September 12, 2025
The main event of WrestlePalooza will see John Cena and Brock Lesnar, who will slug it out for the final time. Other matches include The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs The Vision (Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker), and a Women’s World Championship match between Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky.
Also, a mixed tag team match will feature AJ Lee and CM Punk versus Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.