4 Lessons WWE Could Learn From AEW Right Now
WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, and while AEW has made a lot of strides, it's still nowhere near being as big as WWE despite being the No. 2 company in the United States.
However, that doesn't mean WWE is perfect and has nothing to learn from AEW. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
In many ways, AEW gives fans more for their money, especially when it comes to in-ring action.
Neither company should aspire to copy the other, but taking notes and applying certain things AEW does well might help WWE out of its current slump.
WWE PLEs and AEW PPVs
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Before we get into our first point, here is a quick look at how AEW and WWE events looked in 2025.
AEW
Across 10 pay-per-views, AEW put on a total of 125 matches, averaging 12.5 matches per show.
WWE
Across 12 PLEs, WWE put on 78 matches, averaging 6.5 matches per event. When you factor in 'Mania and SS being two-night events, it averages out to just over 5.5 matches per show.
WWE NXT, AAA and Saturday Night's Main Event
These 16 additional events totaled 89 matches, which comes to an average of just over 5.5 matches per show.
This means across 28 total WWE, NXT and AAA specials, 167 matches were produced.
Offer More Value for Big Events
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The Elimination Chamber PLE only had four matches, as did The Royal Rumble before it, and so did Survivor Series WarGames before that.
Granted, each of those shows featured stipulations that call for longer matches, but even when WWE doesn't hold a gimmick PLE, it usually only offers five or six bouts at the most.
Compare this to AEW Worlds End, which featured 13 matches, and you see a massive difference in the value offered for these shows.
AEW literally had more matches on their last PPV than the last three WWE PLEs combined. That is a ridiculous statistic when you really think about it.
With WWE ticket prices being higher than ever, it's more important for the company to offer a greater return on those purchases than ever before, and it's dropping the ball big time.
There is nothing stopping WWE from putting more action on the card. It's not under the same kind of time constraints as the weekly TV shows when it comes to PLEs, so the decision to make smaller cards was solely in the hands of the company.
We don't need every show to be WrestleMania-sized, but adding a couple of matches to each show would be easy, it would make fans happy, and it would give more Superstars the chance to stand out.
More Action Every Week
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We already talked about how AEW has a lot more matches on its PPV events, but this also applies to weekly shows.
The March 2 episode of Raw was roughly two-and-a-half hours and only featured four matches. The rest was one quick fight and talking segments. There were just under 43 minutes of wrestling.
The March 7 episode of AEW Collision was only two hours and featured six matches while still allowing for some non-wrestling segments. There were just over 70 minutes of wrestling.
WWE may employ a more story-driven method, but the fact remains that the bread and butter of any wrestling promotion is the in-ring action.
Simply put, WWE does not give fans enough wrestling every week, and it's a big reason why some fans have grown frustrated with the product.
Long promos do not need to take up the first 20 minutes of almost every show, and sometimes it's even more time than that. Wrestling should be exciting, but all of the talking segments have made it feel formulaic.
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Allow Wrestlers to Speak Their Mind
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Shortly following her exit from WWE, Simone Johnson, known to WWE fans as NXT General Manager Ava, posted about not being allowed to express her political beliefs while under contract to WWE. She then deleted her X/Twitter account tied to WWE.
If WWE is encouraging its own talent to keep their personal views quiet while simultaneously having Triple H tout his relationship with the White House, there is a problem.
In AEW, Brody King has been selling shirts saying "Abolish ICE" without an issue. Meanwhile, Chris Jericho has had guests on his podcast who are involved in politics. We've even seen AEW stars pose with fans holding up signs that say "Trans lives matter."
What we have to remember is that at the end of the day, AEW and WWE stars are all humans with their own unique viewpoints. They should be free to express their First Amendment right regardless of which promotion employs them.
If someone disagrees with something happening in the world and wants to express that, they should not fear reprisal from their employer.
Everything Under One Roof
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AEW's weekly TV shows air on sister networks TBS and TNT, and are also simulcast on HBO Max. Its PPV events are also available on HBO Max in addition to other outlets such as Prime and traditional cable providers.
Ring of Honor is available through its proprietary streaming site, with clips and matches uploaded to YouTube regularly.
With the exception of ROH, all of AEW's programming is available on one service. WWE, on the other hand, has its products spread out across multiple platforms.
This means if a WWE fan in the U.S. wants to watch all of the company's main content, they need to have cable and pay for three additional streaming services.
WWE produces a lot more content than AEW, but having it spread out across several different networks and services makes it harder for new and casual fans to want to get invested in it.
When you add in Evolve on Tubi, WWE LFG on A&E, and AAA on YouTube, it's even more spread out.
It might not be feasible to have everything in one place, but having as much as possible on fewer services would be much better for fans.
What do you think? What lessons can WWE learn from AEW right now?
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