Tony Khan On WWE Counter-Programming AEW: "This Will Go A Lot Differently Than JCP" (AEW News)

Tony Khan believes that WWE counter-programming AEW events is the most consistently tactic the Endeavor-helmed promotion has gone head-to-head with another company since Jim Crockett Promotions, promising the situation will play out differently to WWE vs. JCP.

The AEW founder and CEO was asked about WWE's counter-promotion during the post-Double or Nothing 2025 media scrum on Sunday.

“It’s pretty consistent," said Khan. "I’d say it’s the most consistent event head-to-head scheduling since Jim Crockett Promotions. Saw a lot of scheduling that went that way. And I can tell you that this will go a lot differently than that did.”

JCP, like many American wrestling territories in the 1980s, was ultimately forced out of business as the then-WWF expanded across the United States. The group's own rapid expansion created immense financial strain, leading to the Crockett family selling to Turner Broadcasting System in 1988.

WWE counter-programmed JCP on multiple occasions, notably in November 1987, when Vince McMahon's group scheduled Survivor Series to go head-to-head with Starrcade in Starrcade's traditional Thanksgiving slot.

WWE's next Saturday Night's Main Event show will air on the same day as AEW's biggest show of the year, All In Texas, which was announced many months in advance of SNME. Additionally, WWE is running a European tour at the same time as AEW's Forbidden Door event in London on 24 August. This Sunday (25 May), WWE ran NXT Battleground opposite AEW Double or Nothing.

Even 38 years after Crockett went out of business, counter-promotion remains a go-to tactic for WWE, which hasn't faced this level of direction competition since buying WCW out in 2001.