News broke yesterday that All Elite Wrestling and Turner Networks would be shaking things up. Firstly, Dynamite, the promotion's flagship show, will be moving from TNT to TBS starting in January of 2022. While this seems like a demotion at first, it should be noted that TBS was called "The Mothership" for a reason (or, if you remember it in Dusty Rhodes' voice, "Da Muddaship."). TBS is in roughly one million more homes than TNT. Second, a third hour of mainline cable programming, Rampage, was announced for TNT, although it is also moving to TBS in 2022 apparently. Right now, the first Rampage is set to air on August 13, a Friday, at 10 PM. Thirdly, AEW programming will remain on TNT in the form of four annual specials, which sounds like to me Cody Rhodes will have his own Clash of the Champions to play with, obviously with a different name given who owns the original trademarks. Finally, according to Dave Meltzer, there will be a "significant" increase in rights fees paid to AEW, although that number is not public at present time.
There seems to be a lot to unpack here, but the truth of the matter is that this is a net positive for AEW and especially the company's fans. From the beginning, AEW's secondary programming was always confined to YouTube, which is a fine platform for many potential viewers, but the ad money isn't especially great for wrestling especially. Maybe I am speaking out of turn because I'm an old fogey who doesn't see the appeal of small-screen wrestling to be consumed whenever after it drops opposed to a rigid broadcast at a fixed time, but I feel like having more time on cable is better overall. The timeslot doesn't seem great, but the fact that Turner wants more broadcasting for their networks does. The fact that they want more is good, and the fact that they want to reboot Clash of the Champions, albeit with a different name, is even better news for fans who will get pay-per-view quality shows for the price of their cable or streaming bill.
The way AEW's roster is expanding means that more time on television is a good thing provided AEW doesn't make the same mistakes WWE does in hyperfocusing attention on a small selection of wrestlers whom they want to matter at the expense of a larger roster that is floundering. I think AEW does an admirable enough job keeping their guys fresh and relevant with the stable system, but having more opportunities for wrestlers to actually wrestle or cut promos for matches in which they will be wrestling can only strengthen the roster and the connections that those individuals have with audiences, especially now that AEW is heading back on the road in front of live crowds again.
Ultimately, this next step is AEW transforming from upstart to real live competitor to WWE's market hegemony. Financially, AEW has a long way to go before reaching WWE's market presence, especially in the form of several billion-dollar distribution contracts. However, one cannot deny the nascent popularity of the promotion compared to a WWE that has been stagnating for five years or so. Now is the chance to grow, and Turner sees that with the opportunities presented in front of them. If anyone proclaims this news to be bad, they're trying to sell Patreon subs for their own depressing hatefests wherein they complain that wrestling isn't what it used to be.
