When it comes to major changes at television networks and wrestling not being a priority with those that replace executives who went to bat for the industry, the worry about what changes mean for shows like Dynamite on TNT is real.
To this day, many in WCW still claim that it was changes at the top of TNT and Time Warner that brought down the company and eventually led to WCW being sold for pennies on the dollar to WWE and Vince McMahon. So, when news broke this week that a huge name over at TNT in Kevin Reilly (chief content officer at WarnerMedia) left the company, there were fans of AEW left feeling a sense of potential deja vu.
Reilly was said to be a huge reason AEW got their television deal in the first place and with him gone, if there wasn't anyone left to advocate for the less-than one-year-old wrestling company, what would come next?
Executive Vice President of AEW Cody Rhodes felt the need to respond to some of the questions he was getting about whether or not AEW's flagship show Dynamite could get the axe with the organizational changes at the network. One fan came right out and asked if fans should be worried.
Cody responded, "No. We have been blessed to have had so many viewers (even opposed), thus the 3+ year extension. It’s a great partnership!"
It's A Numbers Game
Essentially what Cody is saying is that the numbers don't lie. If AEW was getting lower-than-expected ratings and the show was struggling, that would be one thing. But, this week the promotion scored their highest rating in months as 901,000 viewers tuned in. They are also doing extremely well with their key demographic (ages between 18-49).
If the numbers continue to rise, AEW should have nothing to worry about. If the numbers fall...
If AEW doesn't have anyone in the network actively promoting what a good bet they are, they'll certainly be left to proving it on a weekly basis. In short, that three-year extension probably came at just the right time.