My biggest wrestling phase came in the late ’90s, which makes sense.
I was finishing elementary school and starting middle school, probably the best time to appreciate the fun elements of professional wrestling without caring about the downsides (or, back in those days, the problematic parts.) Plus that was the height of the Monday Night Wars era, when two companies were legitimately battling for supremacy.
We now once again have two American companies in a semi-rivalry, although at this point it seems much less likely that one will end up absorbing the other one at some point. (In this particular business, though, you never really know.) WWE is obviously still around, with AEW serving as the complementary product, either as an alternative or an additive for wrestling fans.
AEW currently runs two weekly shows on WBD-owned TBS, and according to one report from Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian, they’re closing in on a third. Zarian notes that the show will likely be a one-hour show, running on Saturday nights.
It’s hard to say where the reporting ends and the rumors begin here, which is, of course, par for the course with wrestling. Even the execs can fall back into the work/shoot dynamic from time to time. So on the surface, does the addition of a third regular broadcast hour make sense for AEW?
If there was ever a day or time for new programming…
😉 https://t.co/7h9udT8jML pic.twitter.com/3Uw6xQAs8i— Andrew Zarian (@AndrewZarian) March 6, 2023
Well, if TBS wants it, then yes, absolutely. They have a big roster, with not nearly enough airtime at the moment to fill it. Honoring the long tradition of a Saturday evening hour of wrestling on TBS would be an incredible throwback to the era when that was the main wrestling I got to watch all week, as I wasn’t allowed to stay up for all of Nitro or Raw on a school night.
Assuming it does indeed come to fruition, running it as a sort of semi-developmental show for the less-exposed talent on the roster would be a win. Not fully JV, to be clear; it was always a thrill when one of the bigger names would pop in on Saturday back in the day. There’s certainly room for it, and AEW (and more importantly, TBS, no matter the modern corporate parent) has plenty of tradition to draw on there.
It makes too much sense not to happen at some point.
