Reason Behind AEW Moving Away from LED Ring Aprons

AEW has seen considerable growth over the past five years as a wrestling company, which is something many people simply didn’t see happening. Change is the only constant in life and AEW embraces change in a big way, which is why they eventually stopped using LED boards for the aprons and now the reason for that has been revealed.

As previously reported, AEW officially signed a multi-year media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at an incredible $555 million over three years. This agreement comes after months of speculation surrounding the future of AEW’s broadcasting arrangements.

The deal will provide AEW with $180 million in 2025, $185 million in 2026, and $190 million in 2027. Additionally, Warner Bros. Discovery has the option to extend the contract through 2028 at an even higher rate. Naturally, this has made many fans wonder whether there will be more production changes coming to AEW thanks to the new deal.

While speaking on Fightful Select’s Q&A podcast, Sean Ross Sapp was asked if there would be production changes now that AEW secured a new deal. Sapp stated that it’s possible and then noted that the company has not been interested in using the LED boards for the past few months, believing that cloth barricades and regular ring aprons are safer options. However, there remains a possibility that Warner Bros. Discovery could request the return of the LED features in the future.

“Possibly. I know at least the last couple of months they have not been interested in doing the LED boards. They felt like they were safer with the cloth barricades and the regular ring apron. There is always the chance that WBD might say, “hey, we kind of want those back.”

2025 will undoubtedly be a big year for AEW and there will likely be a ton of changes all across the board. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the LED ring aprons will make their comeback in the future, as anything is possible in the world of professional wrestling.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication