AEW's TNT Announcement Forcing WWE To Make Roster Changes: Report

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) may be the newest entrant into the pro-wrestling scene in North America but they are making big waves since their first live event “Double or Nothing” in May. The new promotion’s second pay-per-view “Fight of the Fallen” was also a big success and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) – the world’s most popular pro-wrestling promotion – are certainly considering AEW a threat to their dominance in the United States.

WWE chairman Vince McMahon is not one to take threats to his company lying down and is reportedly already ensuring the new promotion does not snare any of the top talent from his company. They have already bagged John Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross.

McMahon has reportedly instructed the management to offer new deals to most athletes on the roster while also looking to sign up wrestlers who are inactive at the moment just to ensure they do not join AEW. WWE has two televised shows – "Monday Night Raw" and "SmackDown Live" on Tuesday – and the latter will be moving to the Fox Network in October after they agreed a five-year deal worth a reported $1 billion. The former will remain with the NBC Network.

AEW is also looking to host a weekly televised show and recently confirmed that they had reached an agreement with the Turner group. TNT is expected to host AEW’s weekly show either on Tuesday or Wednesday night, which could be in direct competition to SmackDown Live or WWE’s NXT show that airs on WWE Network on Wednesday nights.

McMahon has already ordered counter-programming ideas to take on AEW’s growing popularity and if as predicted AEW does decide to air their weekly televised show on Wednesday, the WWE already has plans in place to ensure NXT does not lose its viewership. According to EWrestlingNews, NXT, which usually features upcoming wrestlers yet to make it to the main WWE roster, will start using WWE stars to up their entertainment quotient.

The battle between WWE and AEW is unlikely to stop anytime soon as the new promotion is keen to get a foothold in the pro-wrestling market. They are backed by billionaire Shahid Khan and they are looking to provide a different product to the wrestling audience while also giving them an equally entertaining option to WWE, which has been the sole mainstream sports entertainment promotion since WCW folded almost two decades ago.