This past Saturday’s AEW All In: Texas pay-per-view (PPV) featured an exceptionally long run time of six hours, not including the Zero Hour pre-show. As a result, it became the longest-running wrestling PPV in history, surpassing WrestleMania 35’s run time of five hours and twenty minutes.
Dave Meltzer discussed on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that the extended duration was intentional, as AEW aimed for their show to compete directly with WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event. Meltzer also suggested that the event would have likely concluded earlier if it weren’t for the ongoing “wrestling war.” WWE scheduled NXT Great American Bash and Saturday Night’s Main Event for July 12th, the same day as All In, and also held Evolution the night after.
Additionally, Meltzer’s report indicated that AEW had decided not to be “bullied” by WWE’s recent counter-programming efforts, opting to go head-to-head with the NBC show. The company reportedly intended for their main event to coincide with the start of Saturday Night’s Main Event, which is precisely what occurred.
