H Jenkins on May 1, 2021
AEW Dynamite impressed TNT and Turner wanted to keep them around. They expanded their deal with All Elite Wrestling early on into their partnership, adding three years to their union in the process, making four years overall.
Le Champion appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio where he opened up about AEW’s original deal with TNT. They were only getting an ad share, but then a three-year deal was on its way after seeing how well they performed. That is when the Wednesday Night War really ended for Jericho.
“The television deal with TNT, which by the wav was a revenue share for the first three months from October to January we were just getting a piece of whatever ad revenue they could sell. Suddenly, we did so great with our demos that they gave us this $175 million contract three months in to lock us in.”
“That’s when whatever wrestling war on a Wednesday, that’s when it ended. I mean, it was done then. They put their show up against us and we steamrolled right past them and got this deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s when we knew, ‘we can relax a bit and start working on these stories and stat building stars.'”
AEW is making $43.75 million per year for four years, with an option for TNT to extend the contract for 2024. Once that contract was signed, WWE failed in their mission to shut this new upstart pro wrestling company down.
Transcription by Ringside News
May 1, 2021 10:22 am
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