Tony Khan’s announcement was actually two Adam Cole announcements
Adam Cole #AdamCole
Tony Khan’s announced several things on Dynamite over the years. Wrestling fans haven’t always agreed that whatever news the AEW owner, president & head of creative delivered was worthy of they hype that preceded it.
What will the verdict be on his Feb. 22, 2023 “important announcement”?
To pass judgement, you’ll need to know what it was. Here you go…
TK actually let Adam Cole do the honors of revealing that the long rumored & reported behind-the-scenes reality show will premiere in March. AEW All Access will be an hour long and air after Dynamite at 10pm ET.
And since one of the things this show will chronicle is the ups and downs wrestlers go through, Cole connected that to his own road back from a nasty concussion he suffered last year. That road will end next month as well — he’ll return to the ring the night All Access premieres.
Great news on Cole notwithstanding, what about the other announcement? Variety had a story on it ready to go, and it includes a synopsis…
The series is titled “AEW: All Access” and is expected to debut on TBS in March. It will follow some of the company’s biggest stars, including Adam Cole, Dr. Britt Baker, Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti, The Young Bucks, Saraya, Wardlow, and Eddie Kingston along with Khan. Each episode will follow them week-to-week as they seek to remain at the top of the company while also exploring rivalries between them. The show will also detail the lead up to major AEW events and pay-per-views.
… which matches the kind of programming Warner Bros Discovery executives have been saying they wanted to develop with AEW. The article also includes some numbers that seem pretty surprising in comparison to what the Nielson ratings say every week:
“AEW has such an amazingly loyal and dedicated fan base that brings in more than 4 million viewers to TBS every Wednesday night,” added Jason Sarlanis, president of Turner Networks, ID, & HLN, linear and streaming. “With ‘All Access,’ we are bringing that incredible audience a whole new way to experience the wrestling universe they love. We have a powerful partnership with Tony Khan and AEW. With this new series we are expanding the franchise in a way that invites viewers inside the world of wrestling like never before.”
Whatever the numbers — or your estimation of whether the announcement counts as “major”, the launch of All Access does bode well for the future of the AEW/WBD partnership.
And hey, Adam Cole is back BAY BAY!
Get complete results and coverage of everything from tonight’s episode of Dynamite here.