SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis Discusses WWE’s Approach to Addressing AEW

Posted at: June 21, 2024 - 5:25 PM

The professional wrestling landscape has been shaped by the presence of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) for over five years. Throughout its existence, AEW has occasionally taken jabs at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), creating a perceived rivalry between the two companies. However, the question remains: why doesn’t WWE acknowledge AEW on their programming?

In a recent interview with Gorilla Position, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis shed light on this matter. Aldis, who admitted to not being involved in high-level conversations, believes there is no malicious intent behind WWE’s decision to avoid mentioning AEW. Instead, he suggests that it is a response to AEW’s apparent efforts to position themselves as direct competitors to WWE. Aldis finds the notion of a “war” between the two companies unnecessary and somewhat absurd.

“I don’t know, and again, I’m certainly not involved in the conversation at that level. But I don’t think it’s necessary, and I don’t think it’s anything particularly nefarious. I think it’s more just a thing of, well, hey look, they’ve made it very clear that they’re coming at WWE on a number of occasions. I personally think the whole ‘war’ thing is just silly. I think it’s silly on their part,” Aldis stated.

Drawing a comparison to geopolitics, Aldis implied that when one party declares hostility, the other is unlikely to casually mention them. He pointed out that AEW has exhibited hostility towards WWE at times, and from WWE’s perspective, it is a matter of not wanting to provoke further conflict. Aldis suggested that WWE’s approach is to avoid unnecessary escalation rather than actively pursuing confrontation.

“If you liken it to geopolitics, for example, if someone’s declared war on you, you’re not going to just throw their name around willy-nilly. They’ve been hostile at times, and from the company’s point of view, it’s just kind of like, well, hey, we don’t want to poke the bear. We’re not looking for that,” Aldis explained.

As two of the top professional wrestling promotions in the world, WWE and AEW will continue to coexist. However, given the hostility between the two companies, it is unlikely that WWE will mention AEW on their programming in the near future.

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