TNA and AEW to Battle It Out On Wednesday Nights

Recently, Dave Meltzer speculated that WWE is countering AEW’s programming so aggressively because they want AEW to lose their next media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. Now, less competition is always better for a company like WWE, which has established a monopoly over the pro wrestling business.

However, another thing that WWE wants is for TNA to become the second-largest promotion in the United States. Both promotions have had a working relationship since 2025, and while fans have often said this is more of a one-sided relationship, it seems like WWE has some genuine vested interest in TNA’s success. Wednesday nights are at stake, with TNA and AEW rumored to potentially have Impact pitted against Dynamite.

TNA and AEW Could Start Another Wednesday Night War

A new report from Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated says that TNA Impact is open to moving its programming to Wednesday nights to directly compete with AEW Dynamite. Although TNA President Carlos Silva said that if this does happen, it won’t be because of AEW.

And for their next media rights deal, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently reported TNA is having discussions with A&E and The CW Network for Impact (both networks have a working relationship with WWE).

“Regarding the new (TNA)  TV deal, both A&E and CW have been rumored, and in both these cases, obviously, WWE would have been involved.”

Should this even be surprising anymore? Considering WWE is trying really hard to hurt AEW’s business by doing things like asking NBC to change Saturday Night Main Event’s date from December 13 to December 27 to compete with AEW Worlds End, and even doing a PLE on the same night as AEW All Out.

WWE Reportedly Has An Option To Buy TNA

There’s even a chance that WWE might end up buying the whole promotion. Dave Meltzer reported that as part of WWE’s working relationship with TNA, they also have an option to buy the whole thing. If another company offers TNA a better deal, WWE also has the right of first refusal.

“The working deal with TNA is similar to the deals WWE had offered various European groups (wXw, OTT, RevPro, Progress) years ago when they offered to allow some European talent on the shows. The deal offered, that every company at the time accepted but RevPro, was that they would also supply tapes of their shows for the WWE Network and that there was a time frame where WWE had the option to purchase the promotion.” (H/T WrestlingInc)

This doesn’t mean that WWE will eventually buy TNA, but it does give us an idea as to why they reportedly want TNA to become a major promotion again. While WWE is still the biggest promotion in the world, AEW still poses them a threat. Tony Khan’s promotion has become a profitable business this year, and profits are expected to remain consistent in the following years as well. If things stay stable, AEW will make even more money with their next television deal, and WWE doesn’t want that.

Well, since these are just rumors, fans should probably take everything with a grain of salt, but if there’s one thing to know about WWE, it’s that they don’t like competition and that they’d go to any lengths to ensure they have a monopoly over wrestling.

Image: TNA Wrestling