WWE’s decision to delay the broadcast of Worlds Collide 2026 may have been about more than simply avoiding a direct scheduling conflict with AEW’s All Out pay-per-view event.

AEW presented its eighth annual All Out pay-per-view event from the NOW Arena in Chicago this past Saturday. Just 18 miles away, WWE held Worlds Collide at the Allstate Arena. Unlike All Out 2026, however, Worlds Collide was not broadcast live.

WWE instead announced on last week’s episode of SmackDown that Worlds Collide will premiere exclusively on YouTube on Wednesday, September 30 at 7 PM EST. The event will therefore begin one hour before AEW Dynamite goes on the air.

WWE made the decision roughly six months ago not to air Worlds Collide live, with the intention reportedly being to impact All Out’s ticket sales through the counterprogramming strategy. Despite the move, AEW ultimately sold out the event.

Speaking on the latest edition of “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Dave Meltzer claimed that WWE’s larger objective is to negatively impact AEW’s television ratings in hopes of making its future television deal more difficult to secure. He said,

“Ultimately, the goal is that they don’t get renewed, and the way to not get renewed is to hurt their TV ratings. I mean, will it hurt? Miniscule. But that’s why they’re doing it, in the idea of: ‘We’ll get the one-hour jump on them.’”

Meltzer added that he does not believe the move will have a major impact on AEW, although he suggested that Tony Khan could still be frustrated by WWE’s strategy.

NOTE: If you have any news tips or podcast recaps that you’d like to send in for us to post (full credit will be given to you), please email me at RClarkPWS@Yahoo.com.