4 times WWE made reference to AEW
AEW is currently going head-to-head against WWE in ratings, roster, and audience.
All Elite Wrestling have already beaten the company's brand NXT several times on Wednesday nights in terms of rating. Many former WWE Superstars, including CM Punk, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, and Keith Lee, have joined the promotion due to its growing vogue.
Both these companies often take digs at one another during their programming or in interviews. While AEW does it more times than their rivals, World Wrestling Entertainment have never shied away from expressing their views on their newest rivals.
Despite being careful, WWE Superstars, intentionally or unintentionally, have broached the product and pro-wrestler names of Tony Khan's company quite frequently.
Here's a list of times WWE made reference to AEW on mainstream TV.
#4 In our list of times WWE made reference to AEW: D-Generation-X roast Billy Gunn on Hall of Fame
Triple H calls AEW a ‘piss ant company’ at WWE Hall of Fame ceremony (in the name of comedy, of course) cagesideseats.com/wwe/2019/4/6/1… https://t.co/t7RHBIlrG8
D-Generation X closed out the Hall of Fame Class of 2019 induction ceremony on Saturday night. The five Triple H, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Shawn Michaels, and X-Pac were together during their speech. Triple H took a shot at AEW, saying:
"Billy, le'ts be honest. He will buy that pissant company just to fire you again."
The line was clearly a joke as all five men broke out laughing.
Later Michaels thanked Billy for being there and said "All In," making yet another AEW reference. This funny Hall of Fame segment had many AEW references, and Billy Gun was totally okay with it.
#3 Sami Zayn mentions AEW on WWE TV
Sami Zayn mentioning AEW was cut from his promo on WWE’s YouTube page. https://t.co/BkKYa8wrJC
On the May 27th of 2019 edition of RAW, Sami Zayn was programmed for a segment called 'Electric Chair.' This segment was based on Sami Zayn answering the questions asked by the audience.
After a couple of boring questions, Sami Zayn felt that the segment lacked intriguing questions. He then decided to spice things up and told the attendees that they could ask him about anything, including 'AEW.'
Fans worldwide were stunned after hearing the name of a rival company in WWE. He later revealed that he received a lot of backstage heat for mentioning AEW and that officials had an unfavorable reaction.