AEW: Have They Turned A Corner? - ALL YOUR WRESTLING

Over the past few months, something’s been happening in the world of professional wrestling. While WWE remains the company to beat, AEW has been quietly regaining momentum.

After a rocky 2023 and a very rocky 2024, people were questioning AEW’s long-term plan. But as we head into the summer of 2025, AEW looks like a promotion that has finally turned a corner.

And WWE? Well, they’re certainly paying attention.

AEW’s Rocky Road to Recovery

Let’s be honest — AEW has taken its share of punches recently. From backstage drama and key injuries to inconsistent storytelling and declining ratings, it felt like the promotion was losing the spark that made it must-watch in 2019/2020. The CM Punk saga happened, and then Tony went crazy with the chequebook and signed everyone under the sun.

Should AEW have released the CM Punk footage from All In London? Probably not. They felt like their backs were against the wall and wanted to try and reverse the negativity (as well as score a ratings boost) but it didn’t quite hit the spot.

But over the past few months, AEW has looked more focused. The signings of Will Ospreay and Mercedes Mone were huge. Granted, Mercedes has taken some time to really get going, but now she is putting on banger matches. As for Ospreay, do I need to say anything? Long-term feuds are starting to click. And for the first time in a while, it feels like AEW has a clear vision again.

WWE vs AEW: The War Gets a Little More Real

Recently, WWE has made some bold moves that suggest they’re not taking AEW’s resurgence lightly. Or in other words, they are putting two fingers up towards AEW.

WWE’s strategy seems clear: they want to siphon attention away from what could be AEW’s biggest night of the year. All In 2023 broke records. AEW now has ALL IN as it’s WrestleMania. By placing a ton of live events on the same day, WWE is sticking it to AEW.

But…what if people catch wind of this tactic and think ‘hmmm I might check this AEW out?’

WWE’s Counterprogramming: A Strategic Move

WWE has scheduled multiple events on the same weekend as AEW’s All In:

NXT Great American Bash: Set to take place on the afternoon of July 12, 2025, at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia, this event will directly overlap with AEW’s All In.
Saturday Night’s Main Event: Later that evening, WWE will host this event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Evolution 2: On July 13, 2025, WWE will present the second installment of its all-women’s pay-per-view event, Evolution, also at State Farm Arena.

Tony Khan’s Response: A Defiant Stance

AEW President Tony Khan has openly criticized WWE’s scheduling tactics, drawing parallels to historical wrestling rivalries. During the post-Double or Nothing media scrum, Khan stated, “This will go a lot differently than JCP,” referencing the downfall of Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s due to similar competitive pressures from WWE.

AEW Still Needs To Sort These

So, like I said earlier, AEW still has a few things to iron out. The roster is huge! I was thinking about Darby Allin returning and then my mind travelled to others who are due a return and suddenly thought about Jack Perry. Wardlow. Juice Robinson. Jay White. Austin and Colten Gunn. Bryan Danielson. Chris Jericho (boo). Cope. Eddie Kingston. Keith Lee. Killswitch. Pac. Orange Cassidy. Scorpio Sky.

So much talent missing at the moment – how does AEW bring them back but keep the momentum going? I hope they can find a way.

Incredible (But Long) PPV’s

I love AEW PPV’s but by god they are long! One way to fix this? Well make them shorter of course! Just by say half hour would be fine with me. A nice round 4 hours. In fact, can you imagine a 3-hour AEW PPV? I would love to see what that would look like as the quality of the matches is exceptionally high. Book it Tony!

Double Or Nothing 2025

Bringing me nicely into DON. This PPV was insanely good! Could each match have had about 5/10 minutes cut from it? Probably. But that doesn’t take away from the quality. I say that purely as someone who struggles to sit for 5 hours watching wrestling. But the quality was incredible. The Anarchy in the Arena match was unlike anything I have ever seen.

When the music started blaring, and the crowd started going nuts and then Swerve dived over the top rope, I don’t think I have ever been as hyped up watching wrestling. You have to see it if you haven’t already. Ok, I’ll link it! The magic happens at around 7 minutes in.

The Future

AEW heads full throttle towards it’s biggest event of the year – All In Texas on July 12th. Let’s see if the momentum can be maintained towards the big event and moving forward post-All In. It is great to have competition out there in the wrestling world as it not only gives the wrestlers more opportunities, but it drives all companies on.

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