"We eventually won that war" – Tony Khan is confident AEW can take on WWE Smackdown after beating NXT
Next week promises to be interesting for both AEW and WWE, and Tony Khan is fired up for it.
The AEW boss, buoyant after his company beat NXT on most weeks, is confident AEW can take on WWE SmackDown.
WWE SmackDown will be doing a 30 minute overrun on Friday this week. The final half-hour will clash with the first half-hour of AEW Rampage. WWE's blue brand will be on FS1 this week, meaning viewership will be significantly lesser.
.@BeckyLynchWWE will battle @SashaBanksWWE next Friday on a SUPERSIZED #SmackDown on @FS1! https://t.co/gy08DSOKvC
Tony Khan sat down with Barstool Sports to discuss the upcoming Rampage vs. Smackdown clash on Friday:
"This is the second time they have decided to go head-to-head against us. I want the fans to be able to watch all the wrestling, I'll coin a phrase right now, WYW, watch your wrestling. I want people to watch their wrestling, whatever you wanna watch, watch it. A lot of people have chosen AEW because it's the best show. I want people to be able to watch everything. This is the second time they've chosen to put their wrestling head-to-head with mine. The last time they did it, it didn't happen overnight, but AEW, from the start, consistently did better numbers than NXT. And we eventually won that war, and AEW is now the Wednesday night show. Wednesday night Dynamite has had a great run, and we'll be back on Wednesday in two weeks. On Friday, they are doing a half hour head-to-head with Rampage, which is new," Tony Khan said.
Tony Khan says he has allowed AEW Rampage and WWE Smackdown to co-exist
LFG wrestling fans! See you Friday night for #AEWRampage and then Saturday too for a special Saturday Night #AEWDynamite on @AEWonTNT! twitter.com/tonykhan/statu…
Wrestling fans are treated to three hours of action on Friday nights. Immediately after WWE SmackDown ends, AEW Rampage begins.
Tony Khan stated he has allowed these shows to co-exist by putting on AEW Rampage after WWE SmackDown as over 2 million people tune in for WWE SmackDown almost every week.
“We [AEW] have really allowed the shows to co-exist. I put my show on consciously after SmackDown, knowing that there’s a huge audience that watches that show and many of those people are going to watch Rampage. It’s been a huge hit for TNT. We’ve had nights where we were number one. We’ve been in the top 10, top 20 consistently," Tony Khan said.
Tony Khan has been bullish about AEW's chances of beating WWE Smackdown this week. It remains to be seen how much merit there is to that confidence.
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