Vince Russo has defended WWE’s decision to keep Worlds Collide scheduled opposite AEW’s tribute to PAC, arguing that the criticism is being driven by rivalry between wrestling fans.

Speaking on The Coach and Bro Show, the former WWE writer rejected suggestions that keeping the original broadcast slot was disrespectful.

“This is just the tribalism. This is just the AEW tribe wanting to have something to say about the WWE.”

Russo pointed to public tributes from Triple H and The Rock, saying WWE had already acknowledged PAC’s passing and paid its respects.

“Listen, man, the WWE did their due diligence. In the honor and memory of PAC, they recognized it. Triple H and The Rock said something about it.”

For Russo, continuing with a planned event did not take away from those tributes. He argued that WWE’s scheduling decision reflected its business plans.

“Bro, at the end of the day, business is business. Nobody’s disrespecting anybody. They got a business strategy, they acknowledged the death and paid their respects, but now it’s business. Again, bro, this is just the tribal situation we are in. If I’m an AEW mark and if I can say something about WWE, this is just something I can say about it.”

His comments followed a report from Bryan Alvarez that people within WWE were also unhappy about Worlds Collide airing against the tribute episode.

Worlds Collide remained scheduled to premiere on YouTube at 7 p.m. ET on September 30, overlapping with the first hour of AEW’s broadcast honouring PAC.

Russo believes WWE had fulfilled its responsibility by publicly recognising PAC, although the reported internal concerns suggest the scheduling debate extended beyond fans.