wrestling / News
People in WWE Reportedly Believe AEW Won’t Get Another Viable TV Deal Due to WBD & Paramount Merger
Image Credit: AEW, Warner Bros. Discovery
It appears rumors are spreading in WWE about the television future of AEW. There have been a lot of questions as of late regarding the future of AEW and its television prospects in light of the ongoing merger between Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Paramount Skydance (Paramount).
As previously noted, both AEW and WBD denied a recent story that AEW was told in advance of WBD’s sale that AEW needs to develop “a contingency plan” if the company’s current multi-year broadcast deal with WBD isn’t picked up for its fourth option year in 2028.
This week’s edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has more behind-the-scenes details on how WWE is perceiving AEW’s television future. As many already know, UFC, which is also under the umbrella of WWE parent company TKO, has a major broadcast deal with Paramount+. Meanwhile, WWE and TKO also have existing broadcast partnerships with other major media conglomerates, with UNBCUniversal’s USA Network for SmackDown, Disney/ESPN for WWE premium live events, Netflix for Monday Night Raw, and The CW for NXT. Meanwhile, another rival promotion, TNA Wrestling, currently has a broadcast deal with the AMC Network.
According to Dave Meltzer’s report, an individual in WWE said that they have “spread the word” there that some people, if not many, believe that AEW won’t be available on Paramount, which will become the new owners of WBD and its television networks, and the individual questioned if AEW can get a viable deal elsewhere.
Additionally, the report goes on to note that another individual in WWE said that the people “at the highest levels” of the promotion are speaking like AEW won’t get another television deal once the current one with WBD ends. However, Meltzer also notes that similar stories such as that were spread during the previous negotiations ahead of AEW landing a new, very lucrative multi-year broadcast deal with WBD, which also included AEW programming being simulcast on HBO Max, and pay-per-view events also being available through the streamer.
The latest broadcast rights deal between AEW and WBD also included a 2.3x increase. Meltzer indicated that rumors like the aforementioned one are spread to brew uncertainty among the talents in order to keep them from thinking about potentially signing with AEW.
How WWE Perceives the Future of AEW Post-Paramount/WBD Merger
With regards to the earlier rumors regarding AEW’s current future and Paramount potentially being uninterested in AEW programming, The Observer Newsletter writes that having heard from people in WWE, one said that the decision regarding AEW’s broadcast future “hasn’t been made,” and also that no one even knows when the merger is going through, nor who would even be making the decisions regarding AEW if and when the merger happens.
It should be noted that WBD recently informed its shareholders that they hope the merger will close by the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. AEW will then have at least a year, if not longer, to secure a new media rights deal, either with Paramount Skydance or elsewhere.
For now, the AEW television future appears to be up in the air.
