“All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite” has been renewed by TNT through 2023, WarnerMedia said on Wednesday morning. Additionally, TNT is taking over YouTube series “AEW Dark,” Turner president Kevin Reilly told TheWrap hours later during his executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour.
“AEW Dark” currently streams Tuesdays on YouTube, but Reilly told us he does not yet have a weeknight for the cable version. The adapted show, which he said may be rebranded and renamed, will air weekly on TNT — though perhaps not 52 weeks per year, according to Reilly.
“We’re going to embellish [‘AEW Dark’ on YouTube] and put some additional material, kind of behind-the-scenes, kind of docu-follow stuff, if you will, about the athletes and the stories,” Reilly said. “We think that’s going to end up being a really good, robust, different kind of show.”
But will there still be an “AEW Dark” presence on YouTube? Or any original All Elite Wrestling matches, for that matter?
We posed those questions to Reilly.
“I think we should continue to put some stuff out on YouTube, just to build that bridge — but not the whole show,” he responded.
“When Tony Khan first shared with me his idea of starting a new wrestling league, I was impressed by his audacity to go up against a contender that has been the only game in town for twenty years, and ultimately believed that together we could bring his vision for a new, authentic, gritty product to bear,” Reilly said this morning in the press release containing the “Dynamite” renewal news. “The fans have spoken and after only three months, we have seen AEW shake up the wrestling world and this will only continue as we build upon this momentum.”
Reilly is referring to WWE there.
Head-to-head, “AEW: Dynamite” has been beating WWE’s “NXT” program in Nielsen ratings as of late.
“When we launched AEW one year ago, we wanted to start a revolution that would disrupt the wrestling business, but everyone said that it would take a strong weekly television partner to make AEW real in the eyes of everyone – above all, the fans,” said Tony Khan, president and CEO of AEW. “What virtually no one realized at the time was Kevin Reilly and TNT were committed to this very same movement from Day One, and their belief in us made it possible for AEW to think and act big from the start.
“Here we are, only four months into ‘Wednesday Night Dynamite,’ and now we’ve been extended through 2023! We’re now making the ultimate statement that the team of AEW and TNT is here to stay and to bring fans more of the great wrestling that the fans demand and deserve,” he continued
AEW is a new global wrestling league founded by Khan. The roster features Cody & Brandi Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), Kenny Omega, Hangman Adam Page, Nyla Rose, Awesome Kong, Dustin Rhodes, Jungle Boy, Dr. Britt Baker, MJF, Pac and SCU.
In addition to being in-ring talent, Cody, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega also serve as executive vice presidents. Brandi Rhodes is AEW’s chief brand officer.
Watch some AEW action via the trailer video above.
“All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite” airs Wednesdays from 8-10 p.m. on TNT. “NXT” occupies the same night and time slot on USA Network.