On a recent edition of his “Wise Choices” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff discussed AEW nearing completion of a new TV deal with Warner Bros. Discovery as their current agreement expires by the end of the year.
As we’ve been reporting here on eWn, the new AEW-WBD deal is for four years, with three years guaranteed and a one-year option. It is approximately $170 million per year and will allow AEW to air shows twice a week on TBS, TNT, and TruTV.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On AEW inking a new deal with WBD: “First of all, it’s nothing but good news. Let’s be really clear: despite what a lot of people have said, particularly in social media and some of the dirt sheets and Reddit comments that I’ve seen, where according to them I’ve been forecasting the demise for AEW and that they would never get a new deal, and all that. Which is absolutely false. Going back probably a year ago, I predicted in all likelihood, AEW would get a new deal.
“I did, couple of times during that period. It was probably longer, a year and a half when nobody knew for sure where Raw was going to end up before Netflix. There was a point in time when Warner Brothers was interested in acquiring those rights, and there were meetings. And that’s been all documented and it’s not news, it’s not a secret. And I did say at that point that if indeed WBD were to end up with either Raw or Smackdown, it would be unlikely — very unlikely that AEW would exist on WB. But as that didn’t happen, and we all know where Raw is and Smackdown ended up, I’m not surprised.”
On AEW potentially producing more content in the new deal: “It looks like there’s going to be more content. And what’s interesting is, when AEW first started, Dynamite first started. And I was fully supportive, very optimistic for it. I was looking for something new and exciting, something different than WWE. And shortly after AEW got off the ground. I just started hearing rumor and innuendo that there was going to be an additional show. And this was five years ago now, say five and a half years ago. And I was talking to Conrad and I said, ‘I think that’s a mistake.’
“Until Tony Khan gets his creative infrastructure, until you really get a handle on creative and talent management and get your roster in place, the last thing you want to do is put creative pressure on a new company any more than necessary. And — again, this is redundant, but I think it’s a big mistake for a company that still hasn’t figured out how to produce their A-show to start spreading themselves thin and producing a D-show or an E-show. It’s absolutely ridiculous to me. They don’t have the intellectual or creative horsepower to pull it off. Or to pull it off well; they’ll get it done. They’ll s**t shows out the door, and it’ll land on TV. But they’re going to continue until they do something different than what they’ve been doing for the last five years. If next year looks anything like this year and they will lose another 30%. In 2025 versus 2024 looks like ’24 versus ’23, what the f**k?”
