WWE had been alone atop the North American pro wrestling industry since it purchased WCW in 2001, until AEW came along in 2019 and began touring in the same cities and venues as WWE with live shows.
Between weekly tapings of Dynamite (which included Rampage) and pay-per-views, AEW toured at least one day per week, but with Collision set to premiere on June 17, it will double the venues that the company runs per week — and with the occasional PPV, the number will sometimes reach three.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), as AEW plans to host more shows, WWE has taken measures to prevent venues from running both their and AEW’s shows, or at least restrict the promotion of AEW events at these arenas if they plan to use them.
There is an interesting note that in arenas that do rent to both AEW and WWE, WWE has put clauses in its deals that AEW can’t run a certain number of weeks before or after the WWE show, and also that AEW and the arena can’t announce the show or sell tickets until after the WWE show has taken place.
At the Double or Nothing media call, Tony Khan said he loves competition in pro wrestling, but it needs to be done ethically, which he said hasn’t always been done “from the other side.” Perhaps this has something to do with it, as this WWE-implemented clause hampers AEW from running similar venues or trying to sell them out.
WWE has also had the advantage of running some venues for decades and selling seats well in many of them. However, as AEW continues to gain traction in different cities and arenas, this could change, especially with the company’s increasing popularity and the successful sale of over 60,000 seats at Wembley Stadium for All In in August.