There is a new day to watch professional wrestling on cable in primetime.
TNT announced Wednesday that All Elite Wrestling’s yet-to-be-named, two-hour weekly television show will begin on Oct. 2. By putting the show on Wednesdays, it avoids any conflict with TNT’s slate of NBA games, which airs on Thursdays for the entire season and also Tuesday in the second half. The first show will be in Washington, DC.
The live show, which will be on from 8-10 pm, will air two days before WWE’s first “SmackDown Live” on Fox. Having the show on Wednesday, the same day WWE broadcasts its NXT and NXT UK shows on the WWE Network, means AEW will not be going head-to-head with any of WWE’s cable properties. WWE will also have a weekly Fox Sports 1 studio show on Tuesdays starting in the fall.
AEW announced it was going to TNT in May prior to the WarnerMedia upfronts. The deal marks the first time wrestling will appear on TNT since the final “WCWs Monday Nitro” on March 26, 2001. AEW’s focus is to produce a sports-based wrestling product that will allow it to be an alternative to WWE.
The promotion has run three live shows since AEW launched in January. Its next one, All Out, is set for on Aug. 31 at the Sears Centre in the Chicago area. Chris Jericho faces Hangman Adam Page in the main event and the winner becomes the first AEW world champion.
It’s. Going. Down. October 2nd, 2019 #AreYouElite#AEWonTNTpic.twitter.com/bhbvZw24QG
— AEW on TV (@AEWonTV) July 24, 2019
AEW has a roster filled with some of wrestling’s top performers, including Jericho, Page, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Cody, the Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), Brandi Rhodes, Britt Baker and SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky). AEW’s commentary team is led by the legendary Jim Ross, who is joined by Excalibur and Alex Marvez.
Jacob Ullman, the senior vice president of production and talent development at Fox Sports, told The Post in April that the company sees broadcasting “SmackDown Live” on Fridays as something that “fits perfectly” in a big four-day stretch in the fall for the network that includes “Thursday Night Football,” a new college football show on Saturdays and its NFL games on Sunday. Fox also broadcasts MLB postseason games.
WarnerMedia could be looking at a similar wrestling and major sports blend with AEW airing on Wednesdays. The show can act as an advertising platform into its NBA broadcasts on Thursdays. In addition, TBS broadcasts MLB postseason games in October.
