AEW Dark Will Become All Elite Wrestling's Second Televised Weekly Show

All Elite Wrestling proudly announced on Wednesday that it had signed a new contract extension [...]

By Connor Casey

All Elite Wrestling proudly announced on Wednesday that it had signed a new contract extension with WarnerMedia that will keep AEW Dynamite on TNT through 2023. The media company has also signed on to broadcast a second show for the promotion, though little details were given out in the original release. Later in the day Kevin Reilly, Turner president and chief content officer for TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, revealed in an interview with The Wrap that the company plans on taking the AEW Dark series, which airs on YouTube on Tuesdays and is taped before and after each episode of Dynamite, will be moved to television and likely rebranded.

"We're going to embellish that show and put some additional material, kind of behind the scenes, kind of docu-follow stuff, if you will, about the athletes and the stories," Reilly said. "We think that's going to end up being a really good, robust, different kind of show.

""I think we should continue to put some stuff out on YouTube just to build that bridge, but not the whole show," he added.

Reilly also mentioned in the interview that the second series likely won't have a full 52-week schedule but did say it would be on TNT.

"When we launched AEW one year ago, we wanted to start a revolution that would disrupt the wrestling business, but everyone said that it would take a strong weekly television partner to make AEW real in the eyes of everyone — above all, the fans," AEW president Tony Khan said in the initial release. "What virtually no one realized at the time was Kevin Reilly and TNT were committed to this very same movement from Day One, and their belief in us made it possible for AEW to think and act big from the start. Here we are, only three months into Wednesday Night Dynamite, and now we've been extended through 2023! We're now making the ultimate statement that the team of AEW and TNT is here to stay and to bring fans more of the great wrestling that the fans demand and deserve."

Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer followed up AEW's initial release by reporting the new deal was for $175 million, and that TNT has the option to extend the deal through 2024 if it agrees to pay a higher rate.

This week's AEW Dynamite will have a special Bash at the Beach theme and is headlined by Darby Allin vs. PAC.

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