The professional wrestling industry is undergoing a paradigm shift in 2023. Promotions across the globe are experiencing growth in various capacities, but the biggest changes are happening in the sport’s titans: AEW and WWE. Tony Khan’s young company is expected to reveal a new broadcast deal with Warner Bros. Discovery later this week, one which is rumored to be of an astronomical valuation. Vince McMahon’s sports-entertainment giant has already put its transformation in motion, as WWE was sold to Endeavor earlier this year. That sale culminated three months of shopping WWE to potential buyers, with the likes of Amazon, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, and even Khan himself among the interested parties.
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Speaking on Maggie and Perloff, Khan kept quiet on specifics regarding his interest in WWE but noted he sees the sale as a strength to the industry as a whole.
“I can’t speak to that except to say that I was interested. It will also be very interesting to see what happens with that sale,” Khan said. “Certainly, in many ways, it’s a big positive to the pro wrestling business.”
Khan pointed to figures like live attendance and television ratings as evidence that the entire industry is booming at the moment.
“I think the huge attendance numbers and TV and streaming numbers for pro wrestling and the great sales for AEW on pay-per-view and all the big merchandising numbers show that pro wrestling is really back as an industry in many major ways in 2023,” Khan continued. “AEW is a big part of the conversation. That’s all been really positive for us.”
This week will prove to be a major turning point in AEW’s short history regardless of which rumors come to fruition. AEW is set to be part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront on Wednesday, May 17th. It is at that presentation that the company is expected to announce both a new television rights deal with WBD as well as a third weekly show, AEW Collision, which will air on Saturdays. AEW Collision was put in motion this past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite when stars like former AEW TNT Champion Miro and former AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa were seen entering Khan’s office. Khan appeared later on the broadcast to tease that AEW “can produce even more great content every week.”
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on AEW’s future with WBD.
