WarnerMedia and Discovery completed their merger on April 8 as Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
There was speculation that this could affect All Elite Wrestling programming as the company may not carry wrestling content as part of its repertoire.
This speculation stemmed from a recent announcement that TBS and TNT will no longer develop new scripted content to cut costs.
Earlier reports suggested that it all depends on how the company views AEW since it is going after major sports leagues. If the company sees the wrestling promotion as a sports property, chances are it will be unaffected.
A new report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter says that according to a key executive from WarnerMedia, “it would take someone who just hates wrestling” for AEW to be no longer part of WarnerMedia.
The report says (as transcribed by WrestlePurists): “Regarding AEW’s status, this is basically from a key executive in WarnerMedia, the feeling is as far as AEW not being canceled, which was and still is a very low percentage chance of happening due to the ratings. It would take someone who just hates wrestling for that to happen.”
Dynamite performs well when it comes to ratings, and is inexpensive to run. The show performs better than other TBS and TNT programming, except for NBA.
Before the merger took place, AEW’s new reality series was already greenlit which will premiere later this year.
AEW’s TV deal with WarnerMedia will expire at the end of 2023. There’s no information about the contract’s future after that, but it wouldn’t be too surprising if AEW continues to be a mainstay in the company.
