Reason for AEW Dynamite's drastic format change revealed - Reports
AEW has introduced several major changes this year, but the format of its weekly shows has remained mostly static—until last week, that is. Now, the reason behind the company's four-hour television blocks has been revealed.
All Elite Wrestling's current TV contract with Warner Bros. Discovery, which took effect at the beginning of 2025, covers two weekly programs: Dynamite and Collision. While the flagship show airs every Wednesday night, Collision is a little more flexible. The Saturday show has been moved to different time slots and even different days to accommodate other programming and WWE's counter-booking tactics.
The biggest change was implemented last week for the Fyter Fest special. Collision was tacked onto Wednesday Night Dynamite to create a four-hour block of programming. AEW repeated the feat this week for its Summer Blockbuster special, hosting both shows back-to-back on Wednesday night.
According to Sean Ross Sapp, this was done at WBD's request. In a recent Fightful Select Q&A, Sapp confirmed that the network had asked for the format change, noting that it was experimenting with different ways to utilize AEW's programming as the promotion becomes a bigger part of Warner's lineup.
AEW Summer Blockbuster was packed with action
This year's AEW Fyter Fest and Summer Blockbuster were daunting for fans, many of whom have long been against the idea of Tony Khan following in WWE's footsteps and stretching Dynamite to three or more hours. However, both shows were filled with high-octane matches and dramatic promo segments.
All Elite Wrestling is digging deep ahead of All In: Texas, with several major storylines taking shape on weekly TV. Summer Blockbuster featured an acclaimed match between Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland, which ended in a draw but may have set up an alliance against The Young Bucks.
In addition to Tay Melo's in-ring return, Thekla's continued domination, and MJF's antics with The Hurt Syndicate, the show also set up several angles for next week's Grand Slam: Mexico event, which will take place in the historic Arena Mexico and feature several CMLL stars.
Perhaps most importantly, Summer Blockbuster featured the contract signing between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada for their highly anticipated match at All In: Texas. The segment ended with Omega being brutally attacked and bleeding from the mouth.