Is it just a matter of having more time that would help AEW showcase more of its roster? Because if so, its broadcast partners may be readying to give them exactly that.
According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast and Wrestling Observer, AEW is getting a third weekly wrestling show. The program is expected to be an hour long, like AEW Rampage, and may air on Saturday nights during the old 6:05 p.m. time slot on TBS once occupied by WCW Saturday Night in days gone by — though those details have yet to be confirmed.
Zarian believes the announcement for the new show will come soon, perhaps within the next month.
AEW technically already has shows that supplement Dynamite and Rampage in AEW Dark and Dark Elevation. However, those shows are shown on YouTube, not cable TV, and are clearly meant to showcase wrestlers who aren’t quite ready for weekly television with a few bigger names sprinkled in.
If the new show is treated as something on the same level as Dynamite and Rampage, that would be a somewhat different proposition. It may be preferable to simply adding another hour to Rampage, which already airs late (10 p.m. ET) on Friday nights.
The downside is putting pressure on AEW fans to add another hour to their weekly schedules to keep up with everything going on with the top talent in the promotion. Asking for four hours of time spread over three nights feels like it’s pushing the limits of what to reasonably expect from 21st century audiences, even those made up of passionate followers like AEW has.
One way to solve that might be to give the new show a specific focus to differentiate it. AEW CEO, GM and Tony Khan recently resurrected the idea of an “All Elite Women” show focused on the women’s division if the company’s broadcast partners were interested in picking it up.
Khan has also been teasing some major upcoming announcements, and a third weekly show would certainly qualify. It shouldn’t be long until we learn if this is one of the news bits he’s been sitting on to keep AEW buzzing in 2023.