The terms of AEW’s new TV deal will be one of the biggest pro wrestling stories of 2024. It sounds like President Tony Khan and Warner Bros. Discovery have been trying to hammer out a deal for months, but nothing has been announced as WBD’s exclusive negotiating window is coming to a close.
With that in mind, SportsGrid asked Khan how close we are to an announcement about a new TV deal. Here’s what Tony said while wearing his Warner Bros. Discovery hat:
“Well, we’re having great conversations at Warner Bros. Discovery. Definitely it’s a great home for pro wrestling. TBS is the station that has the longest history of hosting pro wrestling of any channel in America. And we’re really excited about having AEW every Wednesday on TBS, and every weekend on TNT. I think it’s awesome. And we’re having great conversations with Warner Bros. Discovery. Mr. Zaslav himself has been really great, very engaged. And we’re trying to figure this out. It’s a very complicated thing. It’s a big media rights package, and I’m very excited to keep working, hopefully for a long time, with Warner Bros. Discovery. We’re having a great time here and we have a great relationship with the management. Mr. Zaslav in particular has been fantastic to us.”
Tony was then asked about what the new deal will mean for the future of AEW if he is able to score the touchdown:
“It’s gonna be a huge thing. It will mean that all the investment into AEW has more than paid off. It will mean a very secure future for AEW for a very long time to come. We’re gonna get a great media rights deal. We’re having great conversations here. And we have a great home now at Warner Bros. Discovery, and you know, I think this is a great home for us. And I’m really pleased they want us to stay. They’ve made us great offers and we’re having great conversations now. But, you know, with five hours of wrestling every week and streaming, there’s all kinds of things to talk about. It’s really, really very exciting for the future of AEW.”
I suppose speculating about the nuts and bolts of AEW’s new TV deal is interesting to some folks, but I’m here to cut to the chase of what really matters, and that’s counting words.
Earlier today, I joked about Tony overusing the words “excited” and “exciting” during his interviews. A reader named Performer pointed out that Tony actually uses the word “great” more often, and this Cagesider turned out to be right.
Tony spoke for 48 seconds in the first section that I transcribed above, and another 40 seconds for the second section. I count the word “great” 12 total times in these 88 seconds of his speaking time. Meanwhile he only said “excited” or “exciting” three times, so it wasn’t even close.
This absurd rate of saying the word “great” puts Seth Rollins’ 35 John’s across 8+ minutes to shame, and Roman Reigns’ five tater tots barely even belongs in the conversation.
Tony’s interview with SportsGrid goes on for another 20+ minutes, but sadly I don’t have the time to transcribe the rest of it to see the full count of great, excited, and exciting.
Are you as excited as Tony Khan is for AEW’s great new TV deal with WBD that has yet to be signed? Let me know how you feel in the comments below, Cagesiders.