Disappointing update on major AEW show after new deal with WBD gets confirmed - Reports
It was recently reported that AEW had finally finalized a new deal with WBD. However, new details have come to light about one of its major shows that is not all that pleasing.
AEW has grown leaps and bounds in the past five years. The company has expanded its roster by adding a plethora of stars from around the world. The company has also undergone a massive rebranding over the years. This year, the company was in talks with Warner Bros. Discovery over a new media rights deal. It was recently reported that the deal was finalized and is said to be a multi-year deal.
According to reports from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, the deal is said to be valued at $185M a year. As part of this new deal, both Dynamite and Collision will air on their usual days and time slots and will stream on Max. Replays for all three weekly shows, Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, will be added to the footage library on Max. The PPVs will also be added to Max at a discounted rate for subscribers in 2025.
Unfortunately, Rampage will reportedly not be a part of WBD in 2025. Meaning, that Tony Khan's promotion will get more money for less programming. WBD won't retain its exclusivity over content broadcast on TV.
Swerve Strickland accidentally confirmed details of another AEW deal
Another rumor doing the rounds is that All Elite Wrestling is in talks with Fox about a new show. It was even reported that the Tony Khan-led promotion even filed a trademark for AEW Shockwave. However, nothing was confirmed until Swerve Strickland was caught on video accidentally saying that AEW was moving to Fox. The video of this was posted to QueenzFlip's YouTube channel.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that this slipup wasn't intentional and the former AEW World Champion regretted it:
"He wishes he could take it back. That was not intentionally leaked. I'm told that he did not know that a phone was in the vicinity and you could tell. I would say maybe more ominously filmed. I'm not saying like from a sneaky perspective or anything like that. It's just he was a little oblivious to a phone being there. He was talking with a friend." [28:47-29:14]
It will be interesting to see when All Elite Wrestling will publicly announce its new deal with Fox.