La Zona Muerta

So.

Nearly a year and a half ago, there began to be whispers of AEW expanding and getting a new media rights deal. It was coming at a time of great upheaval for the company; it was after the infamous backstage brawl between the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, CM Punk, Ace Steel and, depending on how much you want to believe Charm Bracelet Guy, Larry the Dog. There was a new tension seeping in that wasn’t there in AEW before, a sort of dark cloud hanging over proceedings… but despite all that, all the tension, the worries about who would stay or go, the rumors started to roll.

The rumor was that AEW was going to receive 250 million dollars per year for the next five years while adding on a new show, a show to specifically feature CM Punk. Unheard of for a company so small, so young. An unqualified success.

The story of what happened there (Punk sending away an AEW filming crew the day the new show was supposed to be announced as a negotiating tactic to rehire Ace Steel and so on) is a story for another time… obviously the show that was to feature CM Punk did come to pass and became Collision. The point here is that the rumor of the billion dollar deal was SO PERVASIVE that Punk himself referenced it on the first episode of Collision. I don’t know where the rumor itself started but I myself heard it from no less than three people who were in a position to hear it from people in the company (although one of those people told me that rumor and then almost immediately poured ice on it). Someone in the company believed this. Several someones. MANY someones. Much like that rumor that spread a while back about Saudi Arabia buying WWE spread like wildfire after someone at NXT texted Bryan Alvarez about it… clearly some wrestlers and staff at AEW thought this billion dollar thing was real.

Tell a friend, telephone, tell a wrestler.

At any rate, the rumored billion dollar deal did not come to pass. AEW definitely did make SOME sort of deal for the addition of Collision. They are not a public company; we’ll never know the exact numbers. Obviously they did not end up making A BILLION DOLLARS or whatever… the rumor died but never quite went away. WITHER THE BILLION?

Cue this year. Hell, cue the end of last year. Tony Khan has been walking around with a big grin on his face, talking about how big 2024 was going to be for AEW. Being excited about AEW is literally his job… but this was something more than merely being a promoter. He signed all the biggest, hottest free agents for a LOT of money and it was very, very clear that he knew something we didn’t. Around mid year, when the question of media rights renewal again started to loom large (hey, what happened to that billion dollar deal?), he would grin and shake and say things looked bright for AEW’s future. He started telling us, as the year rolled on, in the form of football metaphors how the deal was progressing. Dummies, of course, made fun of this. “Oh, we’re on the one yard line, we’re in the red zone, we’re in the end zone.” People kept chalking this up as Khan either talking with unwarranted confidence or being a dork but in reality, AGAIN, he knew something we didn’t. Wrestling fans and commentators got more and more petulant as the days ticked by with no formal announcement. “He’s gonna announce it at All In! At All Out! At this thing or that thing!” I kept telling people, OVER AND OVER AGAIN that this was not a Wrestling Warz® announcement but rather a business one; WBD would announce it via press release and through interviews and leaks to the industry press, not as a dopey segment on a dopey wrestling show, but still people got more and more impatient. TK BAD FOR SAYING ENDZONE. It was reported by credible sources that the deal had already been signed and people were STILL upset that it hadn’t been announced. Grifters said he blew the deal or worse, that there was never a deal in the first place (see Bischoff, E. Actually, don’t see him, plz). Every Wednesday rating, every scary PPV spot meant RUINATION AND JEOPARDY. Finally, Khan all but said that he might have something to announce the week of the big 5th Year of Dynamite show and still there was gnashing of teeth. “WhY nO aNNouNcEmeNT?”

Sigh.

WBD, through press release and timed interviews / “leaks” to industry press (huh! Imagine that) announced yesterday at 1PM Pacific time that AEW signed a new, multi year deal that will see Dynamite and Collision remain on TBS and TNT respectively while also being simulcast on MAX. While the initial press release was vague (as press releases often are), it did come to light that both the archives for AEW and at some point, pay per views would ALSO be on MAX, the latter not yet ready to roll out. Apparently, the idea is that if you have a MAX subscription, you will be able to purchase the PPVs at some sort of discount (I wouldn’t count on too big of one). Through reporting from outside sources we BELIEVE that the deal is for a guaranteed three years with a fourth year option WBD can exercise at a higher rate. Variety reported that “according to sources, the deal is valued at upwards of $150 million per year when all elements are taken into account.” Of course, no one knows what UPWARDS means and several wrestling sources pushed back on the “upwards of $150 million” part, as did places like the Business Sports Journal, where the deal was reported as being $170 million annually. BSJ also threw another spanner in the works, claiming that “WBD also keeps its equity stake in AEW, but the size of it was not disclosed.” That ALSO saw some push back, so as always… no one knows nothin’. Such is life when you are dealing with companies that don’t have to disclose all of the hard numbers. We have to subsist upon guesswork.

The take away from all this is that we can reasonably surmise that AEW is making somewhere north of 150 million dollars per year (perhaps a LOT further north) and that doesn’t take into account potential pay per view revenue, a potential deal with FOX or other suitors. We can further say that AEW is probably making somewhere around twice as much money per year to produce LESS TV hours than they did in 2024, as it appears poor Rampage is going to that great cancelled wrestling studio in the sky.

So, no billion? I guess not, but it seems like they at least got close, especially if the per year is on the higher end of estimates and the fourth year option gets picked up. It’s still a mind boggling amount of money. The fact remains that somehow, in the space of five years, AEW is now a profitable company, the second most profitable wrestling company. Ever. In the history of all things. People will try to spin this as not being THAT good of a deal. Variety saying “upwards of $150M” will haunt everyone forever as that will be the amount quoted endlessly, sanded down and weaponized by the ignorant WWE fans and grifters who make money on talking about how badly AEW sucks. Despite all that, even if we took the lowest estimates as gospel, AEW would still be a viable, profitable company, successful beyond any reasonable expectation.

So how does one celebrate the news?

Why, with a draw, a DQ, a squash match and the first pinfall loss of an undefeated combatant given to someone about to retire, which was immediately forgotten and ignored. We celebrate with a good guy agreeing to give a bad guy a match for a title but then the bad guy brings up the good guy’s dead brother for no real reason.

Sigh, again.

This chunky, arrogant son of a bitch winds up being the Dragon I hold in my heart. Turns out I don’t like the beard and braids guy so much

As always, you have the tale of two AEWs. On the one hand, you have the (now) second most successful company ever, the one that I want to protect from stupid internet grifters, kids who only watch WWE and know no other way and other assorted people who should know better…

On the other hand, you have the company that books an undefeated streak and then randomly gives that first pinfall loss to a guy who will be leaving soon as opposed to a younger star who needs that little, final push to rocket to the top. I don’t believe Kazuchika Okada is “washed” (the most overused and misused term currently) and if reports are to be believed, he WANTS to be a sillier, more character driven wrestler because he believes that’s what you need to be on US TV. I don’t think he’s coasting or any of that nonsense… but he had a fairly so so match with Bryan Danielson, lost via backslide (!) and then disappeared from sight ALMOST INSTANTLY as the next chapter of Jon Moxley vs. Dragon unfolded. Okada’s first loss in AEW and it was barely even a footnote; something to be forgotten immediately.

Sometimes, AEW makes it VERY tough to be a fan.

Earlier in the night, Will Ospreay and the yet to truly impress Ricochet had a match that ended in a draw. I’ll rant about draws in a moment, so put a pin in that. Anyhow, Tony Khan babyfaced himself (I suppose that’s his right on his big night) and gave us the FIVE MORE MINUTES the crowd craved… and the restarted match immediately ended in a disqualification as Konosuke Takeshita attacked Ospreay. To be fair, they have had Takeshita mean mugging Ospreay for MONTHS, but to do a dumb draw finish, restart the match and then immediately end it again?

Thanks, I hate it.

On the subject of draws, I don’t know where you fall on them. I know some people think that they are a valid way to end matches, another tool to use. I’m of the mind they should be used sparingly. I was in an argument with someone about whether or not AEW does too many draws. He said that AEW has done like maybe ten draws in the space of five years. I pointed out that they had just done three in the month of August alone, one less than six weeks ago.

I see that as a problem, not as a viable finish. I am of the belief that those matches ALL had someone not wanting to lay down for someone else and draws were the compromises reached as opposed to effective booking. Your mileage, as always, may vary.

Chris Jericho called out Mark Briscoe and took credit for the TV deal, as a heel does. Fine. Mark Briscoe accepted the challenge. Fine, again.

Jericho then pointed out that deep down, Mark Briscoe wasn’t as good as his dead brother, Jay. He already got the match, but needed to say this devastating truth to get under Mark’s skin for the sake of MIND GAMES.

Mark knocked Jericho down.

The end.

It’s not like Jericho went into business for himself; obviously he had permission to say something so heinous. I don’t often do this to you, dear reader, but if I booked that and wanted to use something so heavy? Mark Briscoe would have mounted Jericho and beat him savagely for five minutes straight as people TRIED to pull him off. Not a hokey, standard wrestling pull apart, but a serious, visceral beatdown to match the severity of what Jericho said.

Why did this match need the emotional severity of evoking Mark’s very real, very dead brother?

It didn’t.

Yuck.

Nuff’ said.

Dem boys

There was definitely stuff I enjoyed on this extra long Dynamite. Hangman Page’s descent into madness continued, as he laid waste to Juice Robinson, triggering the VERY welcome return of Jay White to save the day for Juice (although I don’t see Jay as much of a guy who would save a subordinate). The Hangman stuff continues to be compelling and well done. Britt Baker returned and had a good match with Serena Deeb. If it had been trimmed down a bit, it could have been a GREAT match. Both ladies are maligned in a lot of the wrestling circles I hang out in, but I like Deeb’s mat based wrestling a lot and I think Britt can rise to the occasion and be good (her main failings are being a bit inconstant in ring and, like an MJF, her promos are good but probably a bit too self serving). There was a really good vignette with Darby Allin where he related getting into a fight as a kid on a Metro bus (Metro is the public transportation service for Seattle and the greater Seattle area) which spoke to me as a long, long time Metro commuter. The only part that was a tad unbelievable was when he said that when he got into the fight, everyone on the bus helped break it up. That’s BULLSHIT; NO ONE has EVER lifted a FINGER to stop a fight on a Metro bus.

As I wrap up here, the only other thing that bugged me on the show was the MVP segment where Prince Nana challenged him to a fight. I was all about this (Nana did occasionally wrestle in ROH and even , if I recall correctly, did enhancement work on at least one episode of WWE Velocity twenty plus years ago) until MVP was like “LOL, refer to my complaints department, Shelton Benjamin.” Shelton? Really? I realize Bobby Lashley is gonna need a guy to eat pinfalls for him and the like but… new rule, Tony. I know you are FLUSH WITH CASH, but you are not allowed to hired anyone older than me any more. We do not need a forty nine year old coming into the cool, hip, young show to show the youngsters what’s what. Just perplexing.

So, a mixed bag of a fifth year “anniversary.” About par for the course for today’s AEW; some great stuff, some good stuff obscured by bad booking or bad finishes and some lousy stuff. Not the full course meal I prefer but, I guess the one I’ll be getting for the the next three to four years. Hopefully now that the BIG F’N DEAL is done, Khan can get back to crafting more of the good stuff and less of the bad.