• “I don’t watch them. I don’t care about them” – Mercedes Mone On WWE Counterprogramming AEW
WWE has been counterprogramming AEW PPVs a lot as of late. This Sunday will feature AEW’s Forbidden Door PPV and NXT’s Heatwave PLE. On September 20th, WWE will air a main roster PLE head-to-head against an AEW PPV for this first time ever, as it will be Wrestlepalooza vs. All Out.
During an interview with TV Insider, Mercedes Moné (fka Sasha Banks) was asked about her reaction to WWE’s counterprogramming measures. Here’s what the AEW TBS Women’s Champion said:
“I don’t watch them. I don’t care about them. I’m 8 Belts Moné. I’m a champion of so many different companies. So the more the merrier. If they want to put on wrestling shows while we have wrestling shows, I’m always going to be better. That’s why I call myself The CEO.
They can keep on doing whatever they want to do, but AEW is taking over. If you want to watch the best, good wrestling, watch AEW.”
On the Forbidden Door media call, Tony Khan was also asked about his reaction to WWE’s counterprogramming measures. Here’s what the AEW President said:
“We’ve had a great 2025 in AEW and I believe that, in large part, that’s because everyone in AEW is really focused on making AEW a tremendous promotion and continuing this excellent year we’re having.
The most important thing for us is to talk about AEW and work really hard on AEW every week. It means not necessarily focusing on what every wrestling promotion is doing, but I do like watching wrestling and keeping up with what other wrestling promotions are doing.”
Also Read: Return Announced For WWE Wrestlepalooza
• Major Update On Chris Jericho
On an episode of AEW Dynamite in April, Chris Jericho expressed his frustration after losing the ROH World Championship to Bandido at the Dynasty PPV. He smashed his TV with a Baseball Bat and told Big Bill & Bryan Keith that they have disappointed him too many times, and he is leaving and won’t be back until they get it together.
Multiple sources have reported that Jericho’s AEW contract is set to expire at the end of this year. An Instagram page made a post about it and they wrote that Jericho is “open to returning to WWE depending on the situation.” Jericho ended up liking this post, which has begun speculation about his future.
In March, Sean Ross Sapp noted that Jericho’s next AEW deal (if he re-signs) will likely come with a reduced salary:
“Jericho, by the end of the year when his deal is up, will probably be on an altered deal. This will be one of his first deals that goes down in money in quite a while.”
In an update from WrestleVotes, there’s a lot of interest within WWE about Chris Jericho returning to the company once his AEW contract ends. According to a source, a deal is expected to be finalized when the time comes.
At the Horror Rock and Wrestle Fest event earlier this year, Jericho revealed that he’s open to returning to WWE in the future.
Here’s what the first-ever AEW World Champion said:
“I would have considered a return to WWE before things changed. Once again, there are two teams you can play on, which is amazing, and it’s one of the reasons why I wanted to take a chance and go to AEW in the first place, it was a real gamble.
Of course I would consider going back [to WWE]. I would also consider not going back there too. It just depends on what the situation is and what’s going on with me at the time.”
Chris Jericho last appeared in WWE in 2018, at the Greatest Royal Rumble premium live event in Saudi Arabia, where he competed in the 50-man Royal Rumble match and lost.
