Tony Khan is once again promoting a big announcement for this week’s AEW Dynamite. But unlike last month’s, which saw the arrival of New Japan’s Jay White and the signing of former NXT Champion Keith Lee, he has stated in multiple interviews that this will not be a talent acquisition. He started hyping the news on Feb. 18, saying on Busted Open Radio, “I’m working on something pretty big. It would be massive. I don’t know if it’s what anybody would expect or think it is, but it would be a big deal in pro wrestling. I’m looking forward to hopefully making it happen. Stay tuned. I will hopefully get it done and have more to announce soon.”
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It was then confirmed last week that Khan would have the announcement ready for tonight’s AEW Dynamite (March 2) in Jacksonville. Quite a few rumors about what it might be have been spreading ever since then.ย
The first is that it might be some sort of deal with Ring of Honor, which is looking to return from hiatus over WrestleMania weekend with Supercard of Honor XV and operate as an independent promotion without having stars locked down on exclusive contracts. Fightful Select dropped a report Tuesday night that multiple companies have made “overtures” about a potential sale or partnership over the past two years. Sean Ross Sapp wrote, “In asking within ROH, we weren’t given an official comment, but were told that there were ‘way more bidders than expected’ and that multiple wrestling companies and a few media companies have been involved in discussions at some point.” The asking price for the company has ranged from $40 to $60 million. A sale of the company would likely include its tape library, which stretches back to 2002.ย
Said library could be what helps get AEW a streaming deal with WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, which is the other big rumor heading into Wednesday night. Andrew Zarian of The Mat Men Podcast dropped a report on that via Twitter on Wednesday morning that potentially points to both HBO Max and Ring of Honor’s library.
Khan was asked about the announcement several times during a media conference call on Wednesday afternoon. He said it “will affect pro wrestling and I think it’s going to be awesome news for the fans and a lot of the wrestlers.”
When asked specifically about an HBO Max deal, Khan said, “I’ve been asked that several times today and in the past week. It’s absolutely something we’re looking to do, I can’t say much more about it right now. But absolutely (we want to do that).”
