Backstage Report On WWE Expecting AEW To Hold An Event On WrestleMania 43 Weekend

With WWE WrestleMania 43 taking place in Saudi Arabia next year, many people have had one question on their minds: will AEW hold an event over WrestleMania weekend as a North American alternative? AEW President Tony Khan has been asked about the possibility of AEW hosting an event over WrestleMania weekend multiple times, and even though he is keeping his cards close to his chest, fans and even some people in the business see it as a huge opportunity for AEW to generate a lot of good will, as well potentially convert some disgruntled WWE fans into AEW "sickos."

All of this talk has naturally caught the attention of those in WWE, and in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that people in the company believe that AEW would try and run some sort of event in New York over WrestleMania 43 weekend. To combat this, WWE have since announced that the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden will host NXT Stand and Deliver, AAA Eternal Glory, a WrestleMania 43 watch party, and interactive fan experiences in conjunction with its Fanatics partner.

However, this might not work in WWE's favor according to Meltzer due to the time difference between Saudi Arabia and the United States. He pointed out that with WrestleMania 43 taking place in the afternoon for Americans, if AEW decides to host a stadium-sized show (in New York or elsewhere in the country), fans could potentially watch WrestleMania and still attend the AEW show in the evening.

To make the weekend feel like a traditional WrestleMania weekend, a number of independent companies would likely piggyback on an AEW show if it were to be held. Though with WWE having watch parties around the country, the company might implement a strategy where the smaller companies running shows would have to choose between getting the benefits of having WWE fans in town, or targeting the much more wrestling-centric AEW audience. With that said, Meltzer doesn't know if WWE would do this because he doesn't know if it would ever work.

A small victory that WWE have already taken from the recent announcements of NXT and AAA being held at the Infosys Theater is that, if AEW were to host an event in New York, Madison Square Garden is officially out of the running for potential venues.

With that said, there are a few factors to take into account regarding MSG and why that building being blocked off to AEW is only a small victory for WWE. Meltzer noted that those in charge of MSG have never really been interested in holding an AEW pay-per-view, despite the fact that it would likely sell out. Tony Khan has publicly mentioned that the first episode of "AEW Dynamite" was meant to be held at MSG back in 2019, but between the negotiations starting and "Dynamite" airing, the ownership of MSG changed hands and the new owners weren't interested in holding an AEW show.

Meltzer understands that the symbolism of MSG would be great for AEW to utilize given that it's one of only two venues to host three WrestleMania's including the first one in 1985. On top of that, a number of AEW wrestlers have mentioned that the building is still on a lot of their bucket lists and it would be a dream to wrestle there. However, Meltzer also noted that running MSG in 2026 simply isn't cost effective compared to other venues like the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, another venue AEW has not been to, and the Louis Armstrong Stadium which hosted AEW Double or Nothing 2026, which did sell out. Meltzer didn't make any mention of Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has held AEW's Grand Slam specials between 2021 and 2024 due to that building not being fully renovated by April 2027.

The other small victory that Meltzer commended WWE on is the fact that, through all of the counterprogramming that WWE has done to AEW over the past few years, announcing events in New York already means that if AEW announces a New York show for that weekend, AEW will look like its stepping on WWE turf rather than the other way around for once.