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AEW is currently going head-to-head against WWE in ratings, roster, and audience.
All Elite Wrestling have already beaten the company's brand NXT several times on Wednesday nights in terms of rating. Many former WWE Superstars, including CM Punk, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, and Keith Lee, have joined the promotion due to its growing vogue.
Both these companies often take digs at one another during their programming or in interviews. While AEW does it more times than their rivals, World Wrestling Entertainment have never shied away from expressing their views on their newest rivals.
Despite being careful, WWE Superstars, intentionally or unintentionally, have broached the product and pro-wrestler names of Tony Khan's company quite frequently.
Here's a list of times WWE made reference to AEW on mainstream TV.
#4 In our list of times WWE made reference to AEW: D-Generation-X roast Billy Gunn on Hall of Fame
D-Generation X closed out the Hall of Fame Class of 2019 induction ceremony on Saturday night. The five Triple H, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Shawn Michaels, and X-Pac were together during their speech. Triple H took a shot at AEW, saying:
"Billy, le'ts be honest. He will buy that pissant company just to fire you again."
The line was clearly a joke as all five men broke out laughing.
Later Michaels thanked Billy for being there and said "All In," making yet another AEW reference. This funny Hall of Fame segment had many AEW references, and Billy Gun was totally okay with it.
#3 Sami Zayn mentions AEW on WWE TV
On the May 27th of 2019 edition of RAW, Sami Zayn was programmed for a segment called 'Electric Chair.' This segment was based on Sami Zayn answering the questions asked by the audience.
After a couple of boring questions, Sami Zayn felt that the segment lacked intriguing questions. He then decided to spice things up and told the attendees that they could ask him about anything, including 'AEW.'
Fans worldwide were stunned after hearing the name of a rival company in WWE. He later revealed that he received a lot of backstage heat for mentioning AEW and that officials had an unfavorable reaction.
#2 Drew McIntyre makes fun of AEW's Explosion
AEW booked an Explosion Death match between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega at Revolution pay-per-view with the stipulation that the ring would explode after 30 minutes.
After Kenny's win, the ring was about to blow up. Instead, little sparkles sputtered from ring posts which sounded like weak firecrackers.
Following the pay-per-view, social media was flooded with fans making fun of the botch. Drew McIntyre also made fun of the botch by saying:
“That’s such a dangerous thing to do in this industry, because if you make a guarantee and don’t deliver, fans get upset and sparks fly”.
Later, Drew stated that he didn't take any shots towards AEW during the promo. The phrase 'sparks fly' came unintentionally out of his mouth.
#1 Edge references the CM Punk promo on the Miz
On November 24th, 2021's edition of AEW Dynamite, CM Punk, and MJF exchanged bitter words. It was a fiery promo where both wrestlers didn't back down, and MJF took various shots at CM Punk's failed WWE career.
He even mocked John Cena's shtick, saying 'Hustle Royalty Respect.' Punk also mentioned that MJF is nothing but a 'less famous Miz.' This got a huge reaction from the crowd.
Next week on RAW, The Miz returned to the company after a long hiatus. Edge interrupted Miz and cut a promo on him. During the promo, Edge referred to Punk's promo and said:
"You have people on other shows saying your name just to get a cheap reaction."
During an interview, MJF was asked about his reaction to Edge's reference, and he said, "They're just trying to make their show the best they possibly can. I'm not mad. I completely understand it."
What do you make of the AEW and WWE rivalry? Let us know in the comments below.
