AEW Star Boldly Claims Company's Pay-Per-Views Completely "Smash" WWE

Brian Cage Claims AEW Pay-Per-Views "Smash" WWE Events

AEW star Brian Cage believes All Elite Wrestling holds a clear edge over WWE when it comes to pay-per-view quality and in-ring execution.

Appearing as a guest on The Smooth Vega podcast, Cage evaluated the current momentum of both promotions, arguing that AEW’s focus on sports-based wrestling sets its major events apart from WWE’s entertainment-heavy presentation.

“Ours Smashes Theirs”: Cage Calls Out WWE Pay-Per-Views

During the interview, Cage offered a direct comparison between the two major promotions, insisting that AEW’s pay-per-view offerings consistently outperform WWE’s:

“Take any WWE pay-per-view, not even trying to throw shade at WWE, any pay-per-view of theirs and throw any pay-per-view ours against theirs, and ours smashes theirs.”

“There’s different flavors of ice cream in wrestling. I also pride myself in being more of a fan of the sports-based wrestling, if you will. Having that awesome match to me stands out more to me and is what I’m into as a wrestling fan more than the entertainment aspect, if you will.”

Overcoming “WWE Lifers” With All In

Cage also pointed to AEW’s recent trajectory, claiming the company has won over skeptical fans who traditionally only consume WWE content:

“I do feel like AEW is on more of an up, and WWE feels like it was more on a down, so to speak. And again, I’m not even trying to crap or whatever but like I think AEW’s in a good spot. And there’s so many people after All In that watched All In, just like you said, too. There’s so many WWE lifers that don’t like AEW, don’t watch AEW, that wanted to crap on AEW, and they watch All In like, ‘Damn. Yeah, that was a hell of a show.’”

🥀 Badrose Thorns 🥀

Brian Cage isn’t entirely wrong about AEW’s pay-per-view bell-to-bell quality, but claiming WWE is on a “down” phase is a wild stretch given their current business metrics. Claiming that AEW “smashes” WWE ignores a brutal economic reality: WWE brings in more revenue from a single major Premium Live Event like WrestleMania or a Saudi show than AEW generates in an entire calendar year. Making statements like that isn’t just inaccurate—it’s foolish.

Constantly taking shots at Stamford doesn’t make AEW look stronger; it makes them look insecure. Tony Khan doesn’t seem to discourage it, but Triple H clearly takes a different approach. You don’t hear WWE talent constantly bringing up AEW on television or in every interview. WWE simply lets its gate receipts, ratings, global expansion, and bottom line speak for themselves. At this point, taking weekly potshots at the competition doesn’t project confidence—it reads like desperation. If AEW wants to truly narrow the gap, they need to stop cheerleading by putting the other guy down and let their own in-ring product do the talking.