Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has been a good home to pro wrestling over the past few years, helping AEW grow to become the solid second-place promotion in the U.S. But what if it decides it wants wrestling’s crown jewel as well?
We’re talking about WWE Raw, the longest running weekly wrestling show on TV and one that many still consider the company’s flagship. With SmackDown on its way to USA next fall, the thought was that Raw would end up elsewhere, with a number of parties likely to be interested.
The most interesting one? WBD.
Once thought to be a longshot, there’s been increasing sentiment from industry insiders that WBD is back in the mix for Raw, with the thought of putting it on TBS or TNT.
(Update: For what it’s worth, Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling also has sources saying perhaps Raw would go to TBS or TNT and AEW programming would shift to Discovery.)
After hinting at it on social media earlier this week, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer came right out and said it today on Wrestling Observer Radio, noting that CM Punk’s arrival in WWE may have reignited WBD’s interest in Raw.
They would like to get close to $400 million, I don’t think they’re going to get $400 million for it but they’re shopping it around and WBD obviously being one of them and WBD seemed to be dead and it’s not dead. That’s the basic thing. With Punk there and everything like that, it’s not dead.
It’s not like people should go ‘oh my god’ this and that with AEW. There’s no way of knowing anything more than they did have a meeting and it’s not dead.
Meltzer added that exclusivity is not as important to the Endeavor-led version of WWE as it was in the past, meaning the company would be OK having one of its shows on the same network as AEW. It’s also possible it wouldn’t actually come to that, as AEW’s current broadcast deal with WBD is said to expire in the fall of 2024, which is about the same time Raw would be on its way in.
One other sign that WWE isn’t as hung up on exclusivity is the chance that The CW winds up broadcasting other wrestling content besides NXT, for which it acquired the rights beginning next fall. Wrestling Junkie’s Phil Strum noted that some wrestlers have made social media posts for upcoming NWA tapings that have The CW’s logo prominently featured.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that WBD knows about the power of Punk firsthand from his time in AEW, as contentious as it often was, and got an up close look at how he can draw eyeballs to a wrestling show. Now that WWE has made it clear he’s going to be on Monday nights, all of the pieces fall into place pretty logically.
That doesn’t mean Raw on TBS or TNT is a sure thing, or that it will ever share space on the same programming calendar with Dynamite or Collision. But even the chance that it could is another sign that we’re in a whole new world for pro wrestling, one that could look much different by this time next year.