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WWE has yet to announce, but is reportedly planning, to run an special PLE event on Sept. 20 that would air on the same day as AEW All Out. The rumored main event is John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar. WWE is running an event in Indianapolis, Ind. that day. PostWrestling first reported on the plans.
WWE and ESPN struck a deal to move the WWE main roster PLEs from Peacock to ESPN in the United States starting in 2026. There are reports, unconfirmed by PWTorch, that the PLEs could move to ESPN sooner than that starting with the Cena-Lesnar special.
WWE has been aggressive in counter-programming AEW PPVs with NXT, Evolution, and Saturday Night’s Main Event shows. on the same day or same weekend as AEW PPVs, in effect offering free streaming alternatives to AEW’s pricey live premium pay-per-view specials.
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Vince McMahon first did this in 1987 when he created the Survivor Series PPV to try to damage Jim Crockett Promotions’ (the NWA) attempt to get rolling on PPV with Starrcade. Many cable companies at the time only had the option to carry one PPV live event at a time, and McMahon conditioned access to the following year’s WrestleMania on cable companies choosing to offer Survivor Series also.
The WWF then created the Royal Rumble as a free special on USA Network the next January to go head-to-head with Crockett’s second attempt at a PPV, The Bunkhouse Stampede.
Crockett countered with a live free Clash of Champions special headlined with Ric Flair vs. Sting on TBS head-to-head with WrestleMania IV.
In 1985, the WWF ran a house show head-to-head with the AWA on Nov. 28, 1985 during a heated battle in the AWA’s home base market of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The WWF headlined with former AWA headliner Hulk Hogan, who wrestled Randy Savage. The AWA headlined with The Road Warriors vs. The Freebirds along with their traditional Thanksgiving night battle royal. Both events drew around 15,000 fans.
Years later, Vince McMahon complained about Ted Turner’s WCW launching the WCW Nitro series head-to-head with WWF Raw on Mondays, lamenting that they could have chosen any night of the week, but was trying to use his vast resources to drive him out of business.
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