All Elite Wrestling hosted its 250th episode of AEW Dynamite on Wednesday night, a milestone show highlighted by a near-60-minute instant classic match between Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) and Will Ospreay.
But despite the achievement, plenty of uncertainty regarding the pro wrestling promotion remains as it continues to negotiate its next media rights deal.
For the uninitiated, AEW is currently in the final year of its contract with Warner Bros. Discovery, which has been the pro wrestling promotion’s lone television home since its inception in 2019. But despite AEW owner/president/co-founder Tony Khan insisting in June that the two sides were “in the red zone” for a new media rights deal, such an agreement has yet to come to fruition.
While it’s unclear when AEW’s exclusive negotiating window with WBD closed, most seem to believe it ended in early-July. And with an agreement having yet to be reached and WBD dealing with its own uncertainty , one prominent pro wrestling reporter believes it’s time for AEW to consider alternatives.
“AEW would probably do well to start talking to other people,” Dave Meltzer said on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio . “Because we’re at that point now where it would probably be good to do that. Because then if you do that, then it does put more pressure on WBD to make the deal. And if you have an outside suitor, you can get that price up.”
Meltzer went on to express his belief that while WBD obviously doesn’t value AEW on the same level as it does the NBA or NHL, the media conglomerate does want to keep the pro wrestling promotion on its airwaves.
“Especially if the idea is to put more money in television and prioritize television — AEW is one of the strongest things on all of those networks, aside from the NBA and The Big Bang Theory , it’s the most consistent ratings draw that they’ve got,” he said.
What Meltzer is saying makes sense and, in many ways, is Negotiating 101. If it has the ability to do, it would only behoove AEW to get as many suitors involved as possible, even its preference is to remain with WBD.
That, however, could prove easier said than done for a variety of reasons. In addition to AEW’s recent ratings struggles and WBD having its hands full with its NBA negotiations ( although perhaps not for long ), there’s the obvious question of what other potential suitors exist.
NBC Universal, The CW and Netflix all have new deals with WWE set to start in the coming months and Fox appears content to be getting out of the pro wrestling business after its current deal to air WWE SmackDown expires later this year. Disney makes some sense. But it’s hardly likely AEW could land a spot on ESPN’s airwaves and it’s unclear whether the network would be interested in the No. 2 pro wrestling promotion.
There’s always the option of AEW going the streaming route, but it would need a payday that justifies what it would likely lose in exposure by leaving WBD. All things considered, WBD isn’t only the best option for AEW — it’s seemingly the best by a sizable margin — and WBD assuredly knows that.
But to Meltzer’s point, it never hurts to explore your options — especially if doing so helps you obtain some leverage in the process.
For now, the negotiations appear to be in a holding pattern, as WBD deals with the NBA and its own issues. It will be interesting to see whether AEW takes Meltzer’s advice and looks elsewhere or remains content to let the process with WBD play out.
[ Wrestling Observer Radio ]
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