In 2025, two professional companies are utilizing this same method of expansion to grow their wrestling footprint both domestically and internationally, as both AEW have made significant strides to expand their reach and visibility. While WWE has made strategic moves to corner the wrestling market, AEW has made its own moves to encroach on WWE's territory, setting the stage for another layer in their war for the wrestling world.

In an era where professional wrestling feels as big as it's ever been, with more opportunity and more avenues than ever before, the landscape is shifting in ways not seen since the old territorial systems of the 1970s. With both companies committed to expanding their global outreach, it's possible to compare their respective strategies and results. While WWE and AEW may not be competing for a hot TV slot like WWE and WCW did in the 1990s, there is still a more subtle war brewing, fought on a much bigger stage.

WWE’s Global Blueprint: Performance Centers & Partnerships

Triple H Is Looking to Corner the Independent Market For New Talent

As WWE settles firmly into the Triple H Era, the company is now looking to expand its footprint on a domestic level as well as internationally, and as new working agreements and acquisitions are announced. On the domestic front, WWE and TNA Wrestling announced a long-term working agreement in January that provided crossover opportunities for both WWE and TNA talent as well as additional collaborative opportunities to occur, followed by the announcement of the WWE ID program which is designed to locate and elevate independent talent and provide a road to NXT and, eventually, WWE's main roster.

As WWE has historically been positioned as its own entity, the multi-year partnership was a shocking development in its new business strategy. An even more shocking development was the news of the acquisition of AAA, the largest lucha libre promotion in Mexico, by WWE's corporate parent company, TKO. The acquisition of AAA follows the path that WWE has laid out, one that allows international promotions to utilize the WWE method in their promotion, but also to allow the best talent in the world to shine under a WWE banner, and both the domestic and international strategic positioning has seemingly put WWE ahead in the quest for global wrestling dominance.

In 2022, WWE also announced it was planning to establish more performance centers worldwide. While this still has to come to fruition, likely due to the momentous changes and shakeups that have happened in the company since, this is as good a time as ever, considering WWE's unprecedented financial success. This move could really be a game changer, if and when it comes to fruition.

AEW’s Worldwide Play: Streaming, Tours & Forbidden Doors

Tony Khan Looks to Build in Places WWE Can't or Won't

Although WWE has been making strides in its outward expansion to connect with the rest of the wrestling world, AEW has been the leader in this movement, beginning with its inaugural 2022 pay-per-view event Forbidden Door, the collaborative event held with New Japan Pro Wrestling. These events have also included participation by Stardom, NJPW's sister company, and CMLL, which also has its own collaborative AEW pay-per-view taking place this year with Grand Slam: Mexico, on June 18th, and continues to grow its relationship with the promotion that began in 2023.

Although WWE did previously have a brief working relationship with NJPW, AEW has set the bar for inter-promotional working relationships, as the AEW and NJPW shows have been received warmly by wrestling fans. With its new streaming deal with Max in place, which allows its weekly programming to be simulcast on the platform as well as on linear television, and its first residency in Philadelphia starting in September, AEW continues to expand its territorial reach by boxing out WWE in current major Mexican and Japanese markets, at least for the temporary.

The Verdict: Who’s Truly Ahead in the Global Expansion Race?

While AEW Has the Early Advantage, WWE Has the Financial Backing

The game of territorial expansion and market domination is, ultimately, a numbers game, and while AEW may have had the early advantage in the foundational groundwork for a united, large-scale wrestling network, WWE has the financial backing on a larger scale than AEW has, and with that comes an extra leg ahead. AEW's movement should not be discounted, as their relationships with both CMLL and NJPW allow them to have a larger global footprint at the moment, and a footprint that's been welcomed in ways WWE hasn't quite mastered yet, but it still currently lacks a domestic independent territory or the training and feeder system infrastructure that WWE has had in place for almost a decade with NXT.

Although TNA and AEW previously had a working relationship, their agreement with WWE now boxes AEW out of the equation, and the acquisition of AAA under the TKO corporate umbrella infuses permanent cash flow into the promotion and puts it in a better position to compete with CMLL and, by proxy, AEW. A recent cryptic Instagram post by TKO Board Member and WWE Superstar The Rock wearing an NJPW t-shirt and staring at a Rubik's Cube suggests that both WWE and TKO are looking to expand their horizons with a new working relationship in Japan, one that would jeopardize the AEW relationship that exists now.

One important point to mention regarding international prominence is streaming platforms. WWE's deal with Netflix gives them a monumental advantage in of visibility outside the United States. Another interesting strategy that the company used in the past was to push foreign talent to gain a foothold in their native markets (for example, Jinder Mahal for India - even if the former WWE champion is Canadian). This does not seem to be a prominent strategy anymore, but it's still an important tool both companies could utilize.

In this all-sum game, the numbers are what matter, and with a seemingly unlimited budget and surplus of new goodwill that is kicking down doors that were previously nailed shut, WWE is out to show its dominance in the global approach. AEW has the ability to build off its existing footprint, but with WWE in hot pursuit, this chessboard is moving, and it's possible checkmate comes sooner than later.