‘Confirmation’ of Tony Khan’s New Deal With WBD Spotted by Fans With Huge Update

In recent months, there has been a lot of talk about the new television deals for pro wrestling shows. As we know, Raw from January 2025 will move to Netflix, SmackDown will air on USA Network in October, and NXT will land on The CW also from October. AEW is also grappling with the renewal of television rights with Warner Bros. Discovery. For the past few months, Tony Khan has been negotiating directly with Warner Bros. Discovery to renew the streaming rights to Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision.

Although AEW received an important offer from Warner, they decided not to accept it in search of a better deal. It was recently reported that, despite the fact that Tony Khan has shown a very positive attitude on several occasions, the negotiations would not be going as well as he claims. The chances of it failing increased when All Elite Wrestling started trending online back in June for all the wrong reasons. As the audience data for an episode of AEW Dynamite was released, specialized media such as Programming Insider and WrestleNomics reported that the show registered 502,000 viewers on average.

This was the lowest figure in AEW’s history in its usual Wednesday night slot. The news set off alarm bells among the fan community. They surely did not expect such low figures. Especially considering that the show did not compete with the NBA or NHL. Many expected this drop in ratings would surely kill the deal, but it seems like Khan has pulled off the impossible! If you check the international version of the MAX app by the WBD, you can already find All Elite Wrestling’s content.

AEW finally makes it to MAX

Signifying that, finally, the deal has come to fruition. A Twitter user by the name of @DrainBamager shared a screenshot of the international version of the app on his social media. The picture surely reveals that AEW is indeed a part of MAX’s streaming services now. However, it is yet to be available in the US version of the app. But it won’t take long before it finally makes its much-awaited debut on the platform.

During his recent interview with SportsGrid, Tony Khan was asked again about the situation of negotiations with WBD. Khan did reveal in his usual style that he was very positive and insisted again that the relationship with Warner was very favorable. “We’re having great conversations at Warner Brothers Discovery; definitely that it’s a great home for pro wrestling. We’re really excited about having AEW every Wednesday on TBS and every weekend on TNT. I think it’s awesome, and we’re having great conversations with Warner Brothers Discovery. Mr. [David] Zaslav [WBD CEO and President] himself has been really great [and] very engaged. We’re trying to figure this out. It’s a very complicated thing.” It seems like he was telling the truth, after all. But what about his fall in ratings? Will Warner Bros. Disney be fine with the drop?

AEW is working hard to fix the drop in audience

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio show, Dave Meltzer spoke about the current situation of negotiations between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery. Meltzer commented that AEW will be trying to improve the quality of Dynamite in the coming weeks to prove to Warner that they deserve a better offer. The cards for the upcoming shows are expected to be much more engaging and to include high-caliber bouts and segments to capture the audience’s attention.

“The reason that these shows have been so loaded is because the negotiations aren’t done and they’re really looking… To get the best foot forward. Until the contract is signed, if it’s signed, which presumably it will, but these ratings are important as far as the final payment numbers and time slots and all the other stuff that’s going into the negotiations and all aspects of it. If the product looks hot in the ratings, it’s gonna help them; that’s why next week’s show is so loaded; that’s why this week’s show is the way it was.”

This is purely visible to all, as we are getting matches like MJF vs. Rush and MJF vs. Will Ospreay on weekly programming rather than PPV or PLE’s. Tony Khan has recently emphasized that AEW’s upcoming TV deal will ensure a sustainable future for the company and that it will be extremely important. So maybe this deal will truly bring a new era for the Jacksonville-based promotion. What do you think of AEW going to MAX? Let us know in the comments.