WWE appears to be taking a far more aggressive approach toward AEW, with recent moves suggesting a deliberate effort to run main roster premium live events directly against AEW pay-per-views.

Reports this week revealed that WWE plans to run an as-yet-unnamed premium live event on September 20, set to go head-to-head with AEW All Out. There is also talk of shifting the date of John Cena’s retirement match so it would coincide with AEW Worlds End.

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that this is part of a broader push by WWE to put pressure on AEW, with TNA also being positioned to help weaken AEW’s standing.

“They (WWE) really want TNA to become the other promotion because they can control TNA,” Meltzer said. “And it’s a, this is a major full court press, , They just want this guy (Tony Khan) out of the box. And they know that if the numbers stay good, that he’s going to get a renewal at a much bigger number, just like they did, and a number that will make him increase.

“It’s already very profitable. The number will make him incredibly profitable, and they’ll never get away with him, you know, away from him or anything like that. So they feel that they need to make sure this is the last contract.”

As for the September 20 show, Meltzer confirmed the likely main event will be John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, a move that could have implications for AEW’s All Out in Toronto.

“It is [John] Cena and Brock Lesnar on September 20th,” Meltzer said. “I think that’s very clear now. And that’s going to go head-to-head with All Out in Toronto. And you know what the effects of there are, we don’t know. The one thing we do know is that for All In: Texas, it didn’t hurt at all, and it probably hurt NXT a lot worse.

“Now, when it’s main roster pay-per-view with Brock Lesnar against John Cena head to head with AEW, or will AEW go to the afternoon, or what? I don’t know what Tony Khan’s response is going to be. Obviously, the last time he moved to the afternoon, he can easily do that again. Wouldn’t be that difficult to move Toronto to the afternoon. It’s probably beneficial to do that. But we’ll see.”

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