News of AEW adding a new Saturday show to its line-up has been buzzing for weeks now. Along with that buzz, have come murmurs that the AEW talent could be split into two distinct rosters, one for Wednesdays and another for Saturdays. Such a move could allow Tony Khan to put distance between The Elite and CM Punk following the fallout from their backstage AEW All Out altercation.
Andrew Zarian, of the Mat Men Podcast and Wrestling Observer, is reporting that despite speculation the new AEW show will air on TBS, like Dynamite, “TNT will land the new show.”
On the day of ROH Supercard of Honor, Haus of Wrestling was informed, by a source, of the plan for AEW to launch a Saturday show, and separate the company into two rosters, one with Punk and the other with The Elite. During the post-Supercard media scrum, I asked Khan about what I had heard.
“I’ve talked to a couple of people who say you may be interested in doing yet another show that could potentially give you the space to maybe move some people around,” I began. “Maybe have different wrestlers on different rosters, maybe continue to create different rosters. When it comes to dealing with talent, and maybe talent that doesn’t get along, do you find that having separate rosters and brands and being able to create rosters that work harmoniously together is an effective tool for you as a promoter?”
“Yes, I do think it has been good to have AEW and Ring of Honor and to be able to have two companies where there is crossover between the rosters but there are people that identify with one show or another,” Khan responded. “Who identify with certain championships or stories. It’s great but it’s also been great to have that forbidden door kind of opening and people going back and forth and create new rivalries.
“So, I am always interested in creating new properties, and exciting possibilities and acquisitions and developments in the world of wrestling, and I have definitely had a really good experience here in Ring of Honor. I think expanding the Ring of Honor roster and, again, bringing back some of those old rivalries from Ring of Honor and some of those traditions and rivalries, and creating new ones. That is always something I am interested in and would always be open to.”
If you are to believe the most recent reporting, it would appear that some form of roster split is on the way. Along with that comes two distinct brands and properties that Tony Khan will likely use to gin up the highest TV rights fees he can get from Warner Brothers Discovery in the coming months. Keep your eyes on this space, the next month is going to be very interesting.
If you use any quotes from this article please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling for the transcription.