WWE and AEW typically keep their distance from one another, but both companies have been known to step on each other’s toes from time to time. This began in Summer 2019, just months after AEW’s inception, when WWE brought Evolve 131 to the WWE Network on the same day as AEW Fight for the Fallen. This marked the first time that WWE streamed non-WWE live wrestling content on the WWE Network , and many interpreted it as a way to draw viewers away from AEW’s show. The odd overlaps have continued to this day, with the most recent example being NXT Battleground taking place on the same night as AEW Double or Nothing.
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WWE and AEW’s Simultaneous Chicago Week
Chi-Town’s wrestling market will be extra crowded this Thanksgiving. According to Fightful Select, AEW is planning on returning to Chicago for AEW Dynamite on November 22nd, the third-consecutive year that AEW will hit the Second City during Thanksgiving week. Later that week, WWE is scheduled to bring both WWE SmackDown and WWE Survivor Series to Chicago’s Allstate Arena.
Where Will CM Punk Fit In?
Beyond AEW Dynamite, how AEW handles that television week will be notable. AEW also has its weekly Saturday show, AEW Collision, to factor in. As of this writing, AEW has yet to pivot AEW Collision away from Saturdays but has pre-taped the show on one occasion before.
In its first month, AEW Collision has run relatively unopposed. July 1st saw WWE Money in the Bank air on the same day, but its UK-based broadcast had it run in the afternoon while AEW Collision held the evening time slot on its own. Future domestic WWE premium live events will run on the same time as AEW Collision, including WWE Survivor Series.
This then brings in the CM Punk variable. Since returning to AEW programming, Punk has been essentially exclusive to AEW Collision, making a lone appearance on AEW Dynamite when the show was in Chicago in June. Punk’s backstage bad blood with The Elite, a faction commonly utilized on AEW Dynamite, has prevented the two from being in the same venue at the same time. The AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door locker room was reportedly split in half to ensure Punk and The Elite would not cross paths while in the same arena. AEW could repeat its strategy from June and have The Elite not appear on the November AEW Dynamite so that Punk can show up for his hometown crowd.
AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts airs tonight at 8 PM ET on TBS.
