WWE HOFer JBL Celebrates AAA Success Amidst AEW Counterprogramming

For those near Chicago, you are in for a treat, as two of pro wrestling's titan promotions will go head-to-head again, this time on Saturday, September 26, with WWE x AAA Worlds Collide PLE and AEW's annual fall pay-per-view event, All Out. Though his loyalties lie with WWE and AAA, John "Bradshaw" Layfield finds this upcoming competition in the "Windy City" relishing.

"I absolutely love it. I didn't realize that AEW had a show at the same time...this is freaking fantastic," the WWE Hall of Famer said on "Something to Wrestle." "For the first time, you're starting to see lucha libre out of predominantly Hispanic regions...Of course, it's a wrestling hotbed. When business was bad, Chicago was always good. It's one of these towns that's just red hot with wrestling... They're putting AAA out there saying, 'go bat with the big boys, go have some fun.' I think this is going to be incredible."

 No strangers to one another, AEW and AAA were once on the same page, as the two promotions had a working alliance from February 2019 to December 2022. Years after its separation from AEW, the lucha promotion was acquired by WWE last year. Next year, AEW remains set on putting a spectacle together in the United States around the same time as when WWE heads to Saudi Arabia to host its 43rd edition of WrestleMania. Based on recent reports, WWE looks forward to the challenge.

WWE x AAA Worlds Collide will be held at the Allstate Arena, whereas AEW's All Out will be hosted at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, just 20 minutes away from the Allstate Arena.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.