AEW

Major Name Says AEW Would Need Roman Reigns and John Cena to Overtake WWE

Dave Meltzer says AEW would need WWE-level star power to fully overtake the company.

Major Name Says AEW Would Need Roman Reigns and John Cena to Overtake WWE
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AEW remains WWE’s top competitor in the North American market, but in Dave Meltzer’s view, the gap between the two companies is still far too big to be closed with good matches or better storylines alone.

On a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer was asked what it would take for Tony Khan’s company to overtake WWE for good.

The journalist compared the situation to WCW in 1996 and 1997, the only modern example of a number-two company surpassing WWE in the United States.

“The only example we have of number two becoming number one was WCW in 96/97, and that happened because they had Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Hall, and Nash. They had the advantage in star power. For AEW to completely take over, they would have to sign Roman Reigns and John Cena… and that’s simply not going to happen.”

The comparison becomes even tougher when looking at where both companies currently stand. AEW has a strong deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, with Dynamite and Collision airing on TBS, TNT, and HBO Max in the United States. Even so, its weekly numbers remain well below WWE’s top products.

WWE, meanwhile, is in the middle of a major media expansion, with Monday Night RAW on Netflix, Friday Night SmackDown on USA Network, and NXT on The CW. Roman Reigns also remains the World Heavyweight Champion and the company’s top name on programming, while Cena, despite being retired from the ring since December 2025, is still institutionally tied to WWE.

In other words, for Meltzer, AEW does not just need to grow. It would need to take away from WWE the names that represent the core of its commercial strength, something that currently seems completely unrealistic.