Dark Match - Official Trailer (2025)

Dark Match - Official Trailer (2025)

A small-time wrestling company accepts a well-paying gig in a backwoods town only to learn, too late, that the community is run by a mysterious cult leader with devious plans for their match.

"Five matches. Five offerings." Who's ready to rumble (with the Devil)?! Shudder has unveiled an official trailer for an indie horror comedy film called Dark Match, which will be streaming on Shudder at the end of this month. It first premiered at the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival last year, and also played at FrightFest and Fantasy Filmfest. A group of small-time wrestlers find out just how real wrestling can get when they become guests of honor at a match held by Satanists in a small community. This wrestling horror comedy pits small-time wrestling company against a town of crazy people. With an ensemble cast led by the living legend Chris Jericho, Dark Match is heading direct to streaming on Shudder to view. The indie flick stars Sara Canning, Steven Ogg, Michael Eklund, Ayisha Issa, + Chris Jericho, among others. It looks especially fun if you're a pro-wrestling fan and horror fan finally waiting to see these two worlds mashed up.

Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Lowell Dean's horror film Dark Match, direct from YouTube:

Dark Match Poster

A small-time wrestling company accepts a well-paying gig located in a backwoods town only to learn, too late, that the local community is run by a mysterious cult leader with devious plans for their match. With an ensemble cast led by living legend Chris Jericho, Dark Match will be streaming on Shudder soon. Dark Match is written and directed by Canadian genre filmmaker Lowell Dean, director of the films 13 Eerie, WolfCop, Another WolfCop, and SuperGrid previously, also this year's Die Alone, along with a few other shorts. It's produced by Rhonda Baker, Don Depoe, Michael Feehan, Johnny Mac, and Michael Peterson. This initially premiered at the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival last year, and it also played at FrightFest in the UK. Shudder will debut Dark Match streaming on Shudder starting January 31st, 2025. Look any good?
ScreenRant is proud to present the official trailer for Shudder's new film, Dark Match. The horror-thriller stars AEW Wrestler, Chris Jericho (Terrifer 2, MacGruber), and releases exclusively on the streaming service on Friday, January 31. Jericho also serves as an executive producer alongside Eleanor Wiebe. Ayisha Issa (Transplant), Steven Ogg (Westworld), Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries), Michael Eklund (The Call), and Jonathan Cherry (Goon) make up the rest of the main cast.

The story centers around a small-time wrestling company that "accepts a well-paying gig in a backwoods town only to learn, too late, that the community is run by a mysterious cult leader with devious plans for their match." It is written and directed by Lowell Dean, who has worked on projects such as 13 Eerie, Hi Opie!, and Wolfcop. Prior to Dark Match, Dean wrote and directed Carrie-Anne Moss and Frank Grillo's 2024 movie, Die Alone.

More About Horror-Thriller Dark Match
Watch ScreenRant's Exclusive Trailer Above
ScreenRant's exclusive look at Dark Match opens with the characters traveling to their gig in the backwoods. A person is seen holding a sign that says, "Welcome, wrestlers," and they are met by a crowd of people upon entering the mysterious building. It quickly becomes evident that something is off, and what they thought was a wrestling match turns out to be a brutal fight for survival.

After seeing what the characters are forced to endure in the Dark Match trailer, the action-packed feature is already living up to its name. The movie is produced by John K. Macdonald, Don Depoe, Michael Feehan, Rhonda Baker, and Michael Peterson, with Karim Hussain, CSC onboard as the cinematographer. It has an official run time of 94 minutes.

Dark Match will be available to stream exclusively on Shudder beginning Friday, January 31.
Shudder has released a new trailer for the film Dark Match, starring current ROH World Champion Chris Jericho.

From the video’s description, the movie’s synopsis is as follows:

A group of wrestlers find out just how real wrestling can get when they become the guests of honor at a match held by Satanists.

With an ensemble cast led by living legend Chris Jericho, DARK MATCH premieres January 31 on Shudder.

The film is directed by Lowell Dean, with Sara Canning, Steven Ogg, and Michael Eklund rounding out the featured cast.

Jericho won the ROH World Championship by defeating Mark Briscoe on the October 23, 2024 edition of AEW Dynamite, and has successfully defended the title as recently as ROH Final Battle against Matt Cardona.
Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Sara Canning, Michael Eklund and Jonathan Cherry make up the rest of the main cast.

The synopsis for the movie is as follows.

A small-time wrestling company accepts a well-paying gig in a backwoods town only to learn, too late, that the community is run by a mysterious cult leader with devious plans for their match.

We loved this film, reviewing it at last year’s Fantasia film festival saying it is plays like The Iron Claw and Glow meets The Wicker Man.

Its analysis of the cutthroat world of low budget circuit wrestling is fascinating, as is its exploration of the cult of wrestling. A welcome marriage of two popular fandoms, Dark Match is a gore-soaked great time.

We also had a great time catching up with Steven Ogg and Ayisha Issa for a chat about this film which you can still watch at the end of the link.

Watch the Dark Match trailer below and catch the film exclusively on Shudder on 31st January.
Chris Jericho is a wrestling god, with the gifted ability to evolve himself so as to stay fresh for audiences. That’s how you become the current Ring of Honor world champion and “The Nueve” aka a 9-time World Heavyweight champion. Outside the ring, Jericho is also a busy actor with a clear attraction to gory horror movies, and his latest, Dark Match, finds him mixing two of his passions.

After his roles in the Terrifier sequels and Kevin Smith’s KillRoy Was Here, Jericho takes the lead role in Dark Match, about a small-time wrestling company that learns too late that they’re the target of a devious cult leader.

The film is written and directed by Lowell Dean, known for the films Wolfcop, Another Wolfcop, 13 Eerie, and SuperGrid. Cinematography is being handled by Karim Hussain, whose work on Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool and Possessor was excellent and should be here, as well.

Jericho is joined in the cast by Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Sara Canning, Michael Eklund, and Jonathan Cherry.

Dark Match streams exclusively to Shudder on January 31st!

SYNOPSIS: A small-time wrestling company accepts a well-paying gig in a backwoods town only to learn, too late, that the community is run by a mysterious cult leader with devious plans for their match.
AEW Dynamite
AEW Dynamite logo since March 6, 2024
AEW Dynamite logo (2024–present)
Genre Professional wrestling
Created by Tony Khan
Presented by
Excalibur (play-by-play commentator)
Tony Schiavone (color commentator)
Taz (color commentator)
Starring AEW roster
Opening theme
"I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters (opening theme)
"POP" by Mikey Rukus (bridge theme)
Country of origin United States
Original language English
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 275 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setup Multi-camera setup
Running time 120–125 minutes (including commercials)
Production company All Elite Wrestling
Original release
Network TNT
Release October 2, 2019 –
December 29, 2021
Network TBS
Release January 5, 2022 –
present
Network Max
Release January 1, 2025 –
present
Related
AEW Collision
AEW Battle of the Belts
Ring of Honor Wrestling
AEW Dynamite, also known as Wednesday Night Dynamite or simply Dynamite, is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airs live every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), simulcast on TBS, with some exceptions, and the streaming service Max. The show premiered on October 2, 2019, and is considered AEW's flagship program. It is one of the company's two weekly programs, along with its second main program, Saturday Night Collision. Dynamite is the first professional wrestling program to air on TBS since the final episode of WCW Thunder on March 21, 2001.

The show was originally broadcast on TBS's sister channel, TNT, from October 2, 2019, to December 29, 2021, before moving to TBS beginning January 5, 2022. Before its time on TBS, major sporting events would cause some episodes to air at a later time or on other nights. From June 2023 to December 2024, it was one of AEW's three television programs with the addition of Friday Night Rampage, which had premiered in August 2021 and ended in December 2024. Since January 1, 2025, the show has been simulcast on TBS and the streaming service Max, airing live on Max regardless of the location from where the show is produced.

History
See also: AEW Dynamite debut episode
Duration: 16 minutes and 41 seconds.16:41
Members of the AEW roster such as Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho speaking in October 2019 about the creation of AEW Dynamite following the airing of the first episode
The American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was launched in January 2019. In addition to filing trademarks for the promotion's name, several other trademarks were filed at the time, including Tuesday Night Dynamite, presumably a name for a television show.[1][2][3] In June 2019, AEW filed an additional trademark for Wednesday Night Dynamite, leading to many sources believing the show would air on Wednesday nights under this name.[4][5][6][7]

On May 15, 2019, AEW and WarnerMedia announced a deal for a weekly prime-time show airing live on TNT, the former broadcaster of World Championship Wrestling (WCW). They would also stream live events and pay-per-views (PPV) on B/R Live in the United States and Canada.[8][9][10] In April, veteran commentator Jim Ross confirmed the show would be a weekly two-hour show.[11] During AEW's Fight for the Fallen event, AEW wrestler Chris Jericho revealed the show would begin airing in October.[12] On July 24, AEW announced the show would premiere on Wednesday, October 2, and would broadcast from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.;[13][14] the show sold out within 3 hours of tickets going on sale.[15] AEW President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Khan said that they chose to air the show on Wednesday nights instead of Tuesday nights because TNT airs the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and to prevent counter-programming against the National Football League (NFL)'s Thursday Night Football, as the Khan family also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team.[16][17][18][19][20]

In August 2019, WWE announced that it was moving their WWE Network show NXT to the USA Network and expanding the program to a live, two-hour broadcast in the same timeslot as AEW's upcoming show. NXT premiered on USA on September 18, two weeks before AEW's broadcast debut on TNT.[21][22] On August 30, the day before AEW's PPV All Out, TNT aired a one-hour special called Countdown to All Out at 10pm Eastern Time (ET),[23] which averaged 390,000 viewers.[24]

The standard Dynamite set used from October 2, 2019, to December 28, 2022. It had also been used by its sister shows Rampage, Battle of the Belts, and some of its pay-per-view events. Dynamite utilized a different set when Rampage was held in a different city or when the arena was not standard size. This set design returned for Dynamite's 200th episode on August 2, 2023.
Like they had done for each of their PPV events, AEW began a "Road to" YouTube series on September 4 entitled The Road to AEW on TNT to build anticipation for the debut broadcast of the show.[25] On September 19, 2019, the show's name was revealed as Dynamite. A two-hour preview show called Countdown to All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite aired on October 1 at 8pm ET;[26] it averaged 631,000 viewers.[27]

On October 2, 2019, Dynamite debuted on TNT which averaged 1.409 million viewers, which made it the largest television debut on TNT in the past five years.[28] Also on October 2, NXT would make their two-hour debut on USA Network (the previous two episodes featured the first hour on USA with the second hour on the WWE Network), and they averaged 891,000 viewers. Dynamite beat out NXT in viewership and more than doubled its competition in the key adults 18–49 demographic, scoring 878,000 viewers compared to NXT's 414,000. This would also mark the beginning of the "Wednesday Night Wars".[29] Prior to and after the episode, dark matches were filmed to air on AEW's YouTube show called Dark, which began airing on the following Tuesday (except before PPV events, where the episodes aired Fridays).[30] Despite AEW's initial attempts to avoid conflicts with the NBA games, AEW had to run Dynamite on Thursdays, and even on a Saturday, due to the NBA playoffs.[31] Dynamite was the first wrestling show to air on TNT since the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020, which caused restrictions for live events around the world, AEW ran empty arena shows from March 18–25 and again from May 6–August 19 from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, and taped six weeks of shows from March 31 to April 2 from One Fall Power Factory in Norcross, Georgia, AEW's de facto training facility. During these broadcasts, AEW used their employees and other in-ring talent to serve as the live audience for matches when they were not involved in matches or other on-air segments.[32][33] AEW later began allowing more family and friends of essential personnel to attend, and on August 27, 2020 (moved to Thursday because of the NBA playoffs), AEW resumed live audiences from Daily's Place, though to a limited capacity of 10–15% of the venue.[34] During the pandemic, in order to allow more time off, AEW often taped two weeks of shows in two days (live Wednesday, then a taping Thursday), which allowed wrestlers a week off. This procedure also allowed AEW to pre-tape Thanksgiving and Christmas shows in advance using the format.[35] AEW then began running shows at full capacity of Daily's Place in May 2021.[36] Also in May, AEW announced that they would be returning to live touring, beginning with a special episode of Dynamite titled Road Rager on July 7, in turn becoming the first major professional wrestling promotion to resume live touring during the pandemic.[37] Road Rager was also the first in a four-week span of special Dynamite episodes called the "Welcome Back" tour, which continued with the two-part Fyter Fest on July 14 and 21 and concluded with Fight for the Fallen on July 28.[38][39]

In regard to the addition of Rampage on TNT in August 2021, WarnerMedia had asked Khan if he would rather expand Dynamite to three hours, but he rejected the notion, stating that he did not want to run Dynamite for that length as he really wanted that third hour as a separate show on a different night. He also claimed that Rampage would not be a secondary show to Dynamite, and that it would be its partner or its equivalent. He further said that Dynamite and Rampage would be AEW's core properties, while their YouTube shows, Dark and Elevation, would be their peripheral properties, essentially their developmental programs.[40]

It was announced on October 25, 2021, that Dynamite would start airing live from coast to coast starting with the October 27 episode (the show's return to Wednesday nights after two weeks due to TNT's coverage of the NHL). This lasted until Dynamite's move to TBS.

On January 5, 2022, Dynamite moved from TNT to TBS, marking the first professional wrestling program to air on TBS since 2001.

The Dynamite set used from January 4, 2023, to February 28, 2024. This set had also been used for Rampage and Battle of the Belts.
In May 2023, AEW confirmed another television program, Collision, to premiere that June on TNT (Dark and Elevation were also canceled, with Rampage shifting to featuring developing talent).[41] Prior to Collision's official announcement, it had been speculated that with the addition of Collision, AEW would do some form of a roster split, similar to WWE's brand extension, in which part of the roster would only perform on Dynamite, while the other part would be on Collision. In an appearance on the Barstool Rasslin' podcast on June 13, Khan said that there would not be a hard split where wrestlers would exclusively appear on only one program. Instead, he said some wrestlers would be featured on certain shows, but there could be opportunities for storylines to cross between them. He also confirmed that the title holders would be the champions for all of AEW's programs.[42]

The Dynamite set used since March 6, 2024. This is also used for Collision and Ring of Honor Wrestling, and was also used for Rampage until its cancellation.
Special episodes
Main article: List of AEW Dynamite special episodes
Roster
Main article: List of All Elite Wrestling personnel
The wrestlers featured on All Elite Wrestling take part in scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers are portrayed as heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match.

The primary commentators for AEW Dynamite are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Taz. Additional commentary has been provided by Jim Ross, Don Callis, Nigel McGuinness and others since its creation.

Production
Theme music
Song Artist Dates
"Dynamite" No One Hero October 2, 2019–February 28, 2024
"Pop" Mikey Rukus March 6, 2024–December 25, 2024
"I'm So Excited" The Pointer Sisters January 1, 2025–present
Broadcasting

The set prior to filming at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, October 25, 2023
In the United States, Dynamite airs live Wednesdays on TBS at 8pm ET.[43] On January 15, 2020, it was announced that WarnerMedia had extended the contract for the series through 2023.[44] The show originally aired on TBS's sister channel, TNT, from October 2019 to December 2021. On October 2, 2024, the fifth year anniversary of the first ever Dynamite, AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly WarnerMedia) announced a multi-year media rights extension, where Dynamite would be simulcast on TBS and WBD's streaming platform Max, beginning on January 1, 2025, with the Fight for the Fallen special.[45][46]

On September 25, 2019, AEW announced an international streaming deal with FITE TV primarily for regions outside of the United States and Canada via the "AEW Plus" package, which includes live streaming and replay access of Dynamite in simulcast with its U.S. airing.[47]

Canada
In Canada, Bell Media's TSN acquired broadcast rights to Dynamite, marking the return of professional wrestling to the network after WWE Raw moved to rival network The Score (now Sportsnet 360) in 2006. The show is broadcast in simulcast with TNT in the U.S. (but is subject to scheduling) and is streamed on TSN Direct as well as TSN's website.[48] Starting August 24, 2022, Dynamite would also air in French on Réseau des sports (RDS).[49] On December 30, 2022, AEW would stop airing on Réseau des sports (RDS) due to the network's budget constraints.[50]

Europe
In the United Kingdom, AEW has a deal with ITV network to broadcast AEW shows,[51] with Dynamite airing on ITV4 every Friday night, with repeats every Monday night on ITV1.[52] It is also available to view on their streaming service ITVX.

On October 22, 2019, TNT Serie announced a deal to air Dynamite on Friday nights in Germany.[53][54] On October 24, 2019, Toonami announced a deal to air Dynamite on Tuesday nights in France.[55][56] On July 21, 2020, Sky Sport and AEW announced a deal to air Dynamite on Friday nights in Italy, replacing WWE programming.[57][58] AEW also aired on Sport Extra in Romania from 2020 until 2022.[59] Dynamite aired in Poland from March 5[60] until August 27, 2022[61] on Warner TV. In Spain, AEW announced that was going to air Dynamite on TNT starting on June 17, 2022, and later live from June 19, 2022.[62] As of 2023, in some European markets (including countries like Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Romania and Czech Republic), Dynamite (and other AEW events such as PPVs, Rampage, Dark, Elevation and Battle of the Belts) are available on DAZN.[63]

Latin America
On October 22, 2020, AEW reached an agreement with the digital platform with Pluto TV broadcasting its repeat events (including past pay-per-view) with commentators in Spanish from Latin America.[64]

On November 22, 2020, Dynamite began airing on Space, a WarnerMedia International channel in Brazil and on Space's Spanish feed, available throughout Latin America on Sundays.[65][66] On September 30, 2022, it was announced that AEW would stop airing on Space in Latin America on October 1, with Brazil following on December 30.[67][68] Currently, AEW Dynamite (alongside the rest of AEW programming) is aired by Televisa-Univision, on TUDN in Mexico and on ViX streaming Platform in the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Africa
Dynamite began airing on TNT Africa on February 5, 2021, in English-speaking countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.[69][70] The show airs every Sunday morning at 10 AM CAT, four days after the U.S. broadcast.[71]

Asia
In India, AEW is announced to be airing Dynamite on Eurosport starting on August 15, 2021, and later live from August 19, 2021, every Thursday on 5:30am IST.[72] Dynamite began airing on Premier Sports in the Philippines on September 25, 2021.[73] On April 8, 2022, it was announced that as part of the AEW and NJPW working relationship that Dynamite would air in Japan on NJPW World.[74][75]

Oceania
Dynamite started airing on ESPN2 from 16 February 2023 in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Niue, Nauru, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Northern Marianas, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Wallis and Futuna.[76]

Broadcast history
Channel Timeslot Years
TNT Wednesday 8–10 p.m. ET[77] October 2, 2019 – December 29, 2021
TBS January 5, 2022 – present
Max January 1, 2025 – present
See also
icon Television portal
List of All Elite Wrestling special events
List of professional wrestling television series
Notes
References
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"Wir haben es für euch nach Deutschland geholt! Bei All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite begegnet ihr alten Bekannten und Newcomern aus der Wrestling-Szene. Freut euch auf actiongeladene Matches und dramatische Stories! Immer freitags um 21:50 Uhr auf TNT Serie" [We brought it to Germany for you! At All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite you will meet old acquaintances and newcomers from the wrestling scene. Look forward to action-packed matches and dramatic stories!]. TNT Serie (in German). October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
Berman, Ross (October 24, 2019). "AEW Dynamite Picks Up French TV Deal". ProWrestling.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
WarnerMedia France [@WarnerMedia_FR] (October 24, 2019). "La ligue AEW arrive en exclusivité sur @ToonamiFR ! Découvrez les premiers épisodes le 31 octobre sur...et dès le mardi 5 novembre à 21h sur l'antenne chaque semaine, 6 jours après sa diffusion aux US #catch #wrestling #AEWDynamite" [The AEW League arrives exclusively on @ToonamiFR! Discover the first episodes on October 31 and from Tuesday November 5 at 9 p.m. on the air each week, 6 days after its broadcast in the US #catch #wrestling #AEWDynamite] (Tweet) (in French). Retrieved October 24, 2019 – via Twitter.
DeFelice, Robert (July 24, 2020). "After Two Decades, Sky Sports Italy Is Dropping WWE And Replacing Them With All Elite Wrestling". Fightful. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
"Un'estate lunga un anno: una stagione di sport da vivere su Sky Sport" [A year-long summer: a season of sport to be experienced on Sky Sport]. Sky Sport (in Italian). July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
"Nou canal de sport în grila Digi: Sport Extra HD. Are motorsport, wrestling sau ciclism". Paginademedia.ro (in Romanian). December 10, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
"Warner TV pokaże All Elite Wrestling, walki nowej ligi wrestlingu". wirtualnemedia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved February 22, 2022.
"Kanał Warner TV rezygnuje z pokazywania wrestlingu, wraca do profilu filmowego". press.pl (in Polish). Retrieved October 6, 2022.
"AEW debuting on TNT in Spain". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
Schneiderman, Miles (January 26, 2023). "AEW Announces Major International Broadcast Deal". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
"Exclusiva: Pluto TV tendrá noticieros en vivo, lucha libre y 'Misterios sin Resolver', para ofrecer 66 canales gratis en México" (in Spanish). October 21, 2020.
Space [@spacebrasil] (November 12, 2020). "⚠ Agora é oficial ⚠ A elite do Wrestling mundial chega quebrando tudo no #AEWSpace Estreia este mês, no Space" [⚠ Now it's official ⚠ The elite of world wrestling arrives breaking everything in #AEWSpace Opening this month at Space] (Tweet) (in Portuguese). Retrieved November 14, 2020 – via Twitter.
Filippone, Agustín (November 15, 2020). "AEW llega a Latinoamérica por el canal Space" [AEW arrives in Latin America through the Space channel]. Superluchas. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
"AEW Programming Leaving Space Network In Mexico And Other Regions; Will Remain On Air In Brazil". www.fightful.com.
"AEW não será renovada no Space Brasil para 2023". www.wrestlebr.com (in Portuguese). November 11, 2022.
"AEW comes to TNT Africa". Retrieved January 23, 2021.
"TNT Africa announces channel refresh for 2021". January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
"TNT Africa". Turner Entertainment. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
"Eurosport India Strengthens Pro-Wrestling Roster with All Elite Wrestling (AEW)". lockerroom.in. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
"TapGO".
"AEW Dynamite and Rampage coming to NJPW World in Japan". Won/F4W - Wwe News, Pro Wrestling News, Wwe Results, Aew News, Aew Results. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
"AEW and New Japan announce new deal". Pwinsider. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
"AEW announce major broadcast rights deal with ESPN for Australian, New Zealand viewers". www.sportingnews.com. February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
"All Elite Wrestling to Launch on TNT Wednesdays in October". July 24, 2019.
External links
Official website
AEW Dynamite at IMDb
AEW Dynamite at TV Guide
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All Elite Wrestling
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Categories: All Elite Wrestling shows2019 American television series debuts2010s American sports television seriesAmerican live television seriesAmerican professional wrestling television seriesAmerican English-language television showsTBS (American TV channel) original programmingTNT (American TV network) original programmingWrestling Observer Newsletter award winners2020s American sports television series
All Elite Wrestling, LLC

Trade name All Elite Wrestling
Company type Private
Industry Professional wrestling
Founded January 1, 2019; 6 years ago
Founder Tony Khan[1][2][3]
Headquarters 1 EverBank Stadium Drive
Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Area served Worldwide
Key people
Tony Khan
(President, CEO & General Manager)
Kosha Irby
(Chief Operating Officer)
Michael Mansury
(Executive Vice President & Global Head of Production)
Tyson Smith, Matthew and Nicholas Massie
(Executive Vice Presidents)
Jeff Jarrett
(Director of Business Development)
Products
Home videoLive eventsMerchandiseMusicPay-per-viewPublishingTVVideo on demand
Services Licensing
Revenue Increase ~$250 million (2023)[4]
Owners Shahid Khan
Tony Khan
Parent Beatnik Investments, LLC[5]
Divisions AEW Games[6]
AEW Heels[7]
AEW Music[8]
Shop AEW[9]
Website allelitewrestling.com
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned by father and son duo Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as president and chief executive officer. AEW is headquartered at EverBank Stadium, which is also the headquarters of its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) and the home of the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars, which is also owned by Shahid Khan.[10][11]

AEW was founded on January 1, 2019 by Tony Khan and professional wrestlers Matt and Nick Jackson, Cody Rhodes, and Kenny Omega, who all served as co-executive vice presidents.[note 1] After signing with WarnerMedia that May,[12] AEW launched its flagship weekly television series Dynamite in October 2019, which aired initially on TNT and now airs on TBS.[note 2] AEW produces one other weekly television series— Collision (launched in June 2023)[a]—as well as seasonal programs and regular television specials, such All Access, Overdrive, and Battle of the Belts. It previously produced other weekly television series Rampage until December 2024, the YouTube streaming series Dark and Dark: Elevation until April 2023,[b] and airs several YouTube-exclusive programs.

AEW holds live and taped events throughout the U.S. and internationally. Its biggest and flagship annual pay-per-view (PPV) event is All In, whose inaugural iteration led to the promotion's founding, the event itself being comparable in size and scope to WWE's WrestleMania.[13] AEW's other largest PPV shows All Out, Double or Nothing, Full Gear, and Revolution, which are produced quarterly and considered (with All In) its "Big Five" events.[14] AEW first expanded abroad in October 2022, when it held a live broadcast of Dynamite in Toronto, Canada, followed by a Rampage taping the next night at the same venue. The promotion held its first PPV outside North America in August 2023 with All In London at Wembley Stadium, which also marked AEW's debut in the United Kingdom.

In addition to sister promotion ROH, which is also owned by Tony Khan, AEW has partnerships with several independent promotions outside the U.S., particularly in Mexico and Japan. In June 2022, it held the inaugural Forbidden Door PPV event and supershow with Japan-based promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Chicago; a second iteration was held the following year in Toronto, which marked AEW's first PPV outside the U.S. and NJPW's first traditional PPV in Canada.

AEW is considered one of the largest wrestling promotions in the world, ahead of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and second only to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) by annual revenue.[15][16] In 2024, AEW was ranked by Forbes as the third most valuable combat sports organization in the world, after Ultimate Fighting Championship and WWE, with an estimated value of $2 billion.[17]

History
Background and formation (2017–2019)
Part of a series on
Professional wrestling

History
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Notable people
By region
Styles
Concepts
Culture
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Controversies
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vte
Main article: All In (2018)
In May 2017, professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer commented that the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) could not sell 10,000 tickets for a wrestling event,[18] a feat that no U.S.-based wrestling promotion besides the dominant WWE had accomplished since WWE's defunct major competitor, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), in 1999.[19] The comment was responded to by professional wrestlers Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks (the tag team of Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), who were then top stars signed to ROH and good friends both inside and outside of professional wrestling as part of the group Bullet Club (and later part of the sub-Bullet Club faction, The Elite).[20] They promoted and held an independent professional wrestling event called All In in September 2018, featuring wrestlers from ROH as well as other promotions. The event sold out in 30 minutes and had the largest audience in attendance for a professional wrestling show in the United States held and organized by promoters not affiliated with WWE or WCW since 1993. The event was attended by 11,263 people.[21][22][23][24] The event was acclaimed, and it led to much online speculation that Cody and The Young Bucks would expand their ambitions and create their own professional wrestling promotion or do a second All In event. Reportedly, people in the television industry were also very impressed with the show.[25][26]

Left to right: Cody Rhodes, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson, and Kenny Omega helped start AEW.

Tony Khan (left) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of AEW, while his father Shahid Khan (right) is its co-lead investor and co-owner.
On November 5, 2018, several trademarks were filed in Jacksonville, Florida, that indicated the launch of All Elite Wrestling.[27][28] Names filed for trademark included: All Elite Wrestling, AEW All Out, All Out, AEW, Double or Nothing, Tuesday Night Dynamite, AEW Double or Nothing, and several logos.[29][30][31] In December 2018, Cody, The Young Bucks, and several other wrestlers left ROH.[32][33] The official announcement of AEW's creation came at midnight Eastern Time on January 1, 2019, in an episode of Being the Elite, a YouTube web series created by and featuring The Elite. Also announced in the episode was Double or Nothing, AEW's inaugural event and sequel to All In.[34][35][36]

On January 2, 2019, Cody and The Young Bucks officially signed with the promotion as competitors as well as serving as AEW's co-Executive vice presidents, while entrepreneur, football executive, and longtime wrestling fan Tony Khan was announced as the president of the company.[37][38] Tony and his father, Shahid, were reportedly backing the promotion as lead investors.[39][40] The Khans are billionaires and part of the ownership group of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team and Fulham F.C..[41]

Cody's wife, Brandi Rhodes, was announced as the company's chief brand officer on January 3, 2019.[42][43] On January 8, 2019, the company held its inaugural press conference on the forecourt of the TIAA Bank Field, where they announced talents that were going to perform as part of the promotion, including former ROH wrestlers the team of SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Frankie Kazarian), "Hangman" Adam Page, independent wrestlers Britt Baker, Joey Janela, MJF, Penelope Ford, and former WWE wrestlers Pac and Chris Jericho.[44][45][46]

On February 7, 2019, the group held a press conference where tickets were released for Double or Nothing. Other big announcements included Kenny Omega joining as a wrestler and the company's fourth co-Executive Vice President, as well as the signings of Sammy Guevara, The Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix) and Best Friends (Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor).[47]

Early history and TNT debut (2019–2020)
See also: Wednesday Night Wars

AEW is headquartered at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

The original logo used from January 1, 2019, to January 3, 2023.
On May 15, 2019, AEW and WarnerMedia announced a deal for a weekly primetime show airing live on TNT, the network that formerly had broadcast WCW's Monday Nitro during the Monday Night War (1995–2001). CBS Sports described AEW as "the first company with major financial backing to take a swing at beginning to compete with WWE on a major level in nearly two decades".[12]

On May 25, 2019, AEW produced their first-ever pay-per-view (PPV), Double or Nothing. It took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada and saw the debut of Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE. Also during Double or Nothing, pro-wrestling veteran Bret Hart unveiled the AEW World Championship belt.[48] During the summer, AEW produced two more events, Fyter Fest in June and Fight for the Fallen in July.[49]

On August 31, 2019, AEW produced their second pay-per-view event, All Out as a spiritual successor to All In. At the event, the AEW Women's World Championship belt was unveiled and in the main event, Chris Jericho defeated "Hangman" Adam Page to become the inaugural AEW World Champion.[50] On September 19, TNT's website listed AEW's show as AEW Dynamite with a one-hour preview show scheduled for October 1 at 8 p.m.[51] On October 2, Dynamite debuted on TNT which averaged 1.409 million viewers, which made it the largest television debut on TNT in five years.[52] Also on October 2, WWE's NXT would make its two-hour debut on USA Network (the previous two episodes featured the first hour on USA with the second hour on the WWE Network), and they averaged 891,000 viewers. Dynamite beat out NXT in viewership and more than doubled its competition in the key adults 18–49 demographic, scoring 878,000 viewers compared to NXT's 414,000. This would also mark the beginning of the "Wednesday Night Wars".[53] Prior to and after the episodes, untelevised matches were filmed to air on AEW Dark on the following Tuesdays (except before PPV events, where the episodes aired Fridays) on AEW's YouTube channel.[54] On November 9, AEW produced their third pay-per-view event, Full Gear. In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated Kenny Omega in an unsanctioned Lights Out match.[55]

On January 15, 2020, WarnerMedia and AEW announced a $175 million contract extension for Dynamite on TNT through 2023 and that AEW would be launching an upcoming second television weekly show, later revealed as AEW Rampage.[56][57]

AEW has a training facility known as the Nightmare Factory, which is co-owned by Cody Rhodes (the facility's name being an ode to his nickname) and AEW wrestler/coach Q. T. Marshall, who also serves as head trainer.[58][59]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021)

From March 2020 to July 2021, AEW hosted most of its events at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida (which is connected to EverBank Stadium), due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As other sports cancellations and postponements were being announced in March 2020, AEW began to be impacted by the American onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the suspension of the 2019-20 NBA season after two players tested positive for the virus, the March 18 episode of Dynamite was held without spectators from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida.[60][61] That year's Double or Nothing was supposed to take place on May 23, but on April 8, the MGM Grand Garden Arena announced that they had canceled all events up through May 31 due to the pandemic.[62] At that point, Nevada had been in a state of emergency since March 12, banning all public gatherings indefinitely. In response, AEW announced that Double or Nothing would still proceed as planned but from Daily's Place, as well as TIAA Bank Field for the main event match.

On April 13, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had deemed AEW, like WWE, an essential business critical to the state's economy, and had added an exception under the state's stay-at-home order for employees of a "professional sports and media production" that is closed to the public and has a national audience.[63][64][65] In an interview on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Tony Khan stated the pandemic has deprived AEW millions of dollars in revenue from live events.[66]

On August 3, 2020, Jazwares released the first line of AEW action figures and toys.[67]

AEW announced the return of ticketed fans to live events on August 20, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines including wearing masks, physical distancing, and temperature checks.[68] Beginning with their August 27 episode of Dynamite, they allowed up to 10 percent capacity at Daily's Place and up to 15 percent capacity starting with that year's All Out.[69]

On November 10, 2020, the promotion announced AEW Games, the company's video game brand. AEW revealed that three games were in development; AEW Casino: Double or Nothing and AEW Elite GM for mobile devices, and AEW Fight Forever developed by former WWE 2K developer Yuke's.[70][71]

For the Double or Nothing pay-per-view in May 2021, the venue was raised to full capacity, making it the first time AEW held an event with a full capacity crowd since March 2020.[72]

Return to live touring and ROH purchase (2021–2022)
In May 2021, AEW announced that they would be returning to live touring, beginning with a special episode of Dynamite titled Road Rager on July 7 in Miami, Florida, in turn becoming the first major professional wrestling promotion to resume live touring during the COVID-19 pandemic.[73] Road Rager was also the first in a four-week span of special Dynamite episodes called the "Welcome Back" tour, which continued with the two-part Fyter Fest on July 14 and 21 in Cedar Park and Garland, Texas, respectively, and then concluded with Fight for the Fallen on July 28 in Charlotte, North Carolina.[74][75] In June, AEW announced that the September 22 episode of Dynamite would be another special episode titled Grand Slam and would be AEW's New York City debut, a city primarily known as home territory for WWE, as well as their first full event held in a stadium. The event would also become AEW's most attended event, with over 20,000 spectators.[76][77][78]

On August 20, 2021, CM Punk joined AEW. It was Punk's comeback to professional wrestling after leaving WWE in 2014.[79]

On August 27, 2021, it was revealed that Dark would begin being taped at its own set within Universal Studios Florida in Orlando at Soundstage 21.[80]

On the March 2 episode of Dynamite, Tony Khan announced that he had purchased Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcast Group, including its brand assets, intellectual property, and video library.[81][82] It was clarified through a press release issued that night that the acquisition was made through an entity separate from AEW and wholly-owned by Khan.[83] In a media scrum following AEW's Revolution PPV on March 6, Khan revealed that he eventually planned to run ROH separately from AEW, and also indicated that ROH could be used as a developmental brand for AEW.[84] On May 4, the sale of ROH to Tony Khan was officially completed.[85] Later in 2022, AEW promoted its first events outside of the United States, when they held a live broadcast of Dynamite on October 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, followed by a Rampage taping the next night at the same venue.[86]

Expansion of live and broadcast events (2022–present)
Following the 2022 All Out pay-per-view, then-reigning AEW World Champion CM Punk used the post-PPV media scrum to air out-of-character grievances against multiple members of the roster, including Colt Cabana, Adam Page and AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.[87] After Punk's portion of the scrum concluded, it later emerged that Punk and his friend Ace Steel had a legitimate brawl with Omega, the Young Bucks and Christopher Daniels following the Bucks and Omega storming into the former's locker room.[88] The incident was dubbed by fans and reporters as "Brawl Out". In the aftermath, all involved were suspended,[88] Omega and the Bucks were stripped of their AEW World Trios Championship and Punk was stripped of the AEW World Championship.[89] Steel's contract was terminated by AEW a month later,[90] The Bucks and Omega returned at Full Gear and Punk returned the following June after undergoing surgery for an injury from his match with Moxley.

On February 1, 2023, AEW announced that they would be expanding its live events schedule and would begin doing house shows, with its house show series titled AEW: House Rules. AEW's first House Rules event took place on March 18 at the Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio.[91] Prior to House Rules, AEW had only held one house show, titled The House Always Wins, which occurred at Daily's Place in Jacksonville on April 9, 2021.[92] On April 5, 2023, AEW announced that they would revive the All In name—which Tony Khan acquired the rights to after purchasing ROH—for AEW's United Kingdom debut to be held at London's Wembley Stadium on August 27, 2023.[93]

On May 17, 2023, AEW announced a third weekly television show titled AEW Collision, with its first episode featuring Punk's return to the company and Luchasaurus capturing the AEW TNT Championship from Wardlow. The show airs live, with some exceptions, and premiered on TNT on Saturday, June 17, 2023.[94]

In June 2023 AEW released AEW Fight Forever after years of development; the game received mixed reviews, being praised for its throwback style of arcade gameplay but criticized for limited presentation, modes and customization.[95][96]

In August 2023, AEW held All In at Wembley Stadium, a pay-per-view that received critical acclaim; with a live paid attendance number of 72,265, it became one of the highest attended events in professional wrestling history.[97] The event is also notable for being CM Punk's final AEW event, as he was fired with cause by Khan and the AEW Discipline Committee, following a legitimate backstage altercation with Jack Perry;[98] Perry was also later suspended indefinitely.[99]

At the conclusion of the All In event in London, AEW announced that it would return to Wembley Stadium on August 25, 2024,[100] with tickets going on sale on December 1, 2023.[101] All In subsequently took place at Wembley Stadium as scheduled, coinciding with the United Kingdom's August Bank Holiday weekend.[102] The event was notable for featuring the AEW debut of former WWE wrestler Ricochet, the return of British wrestler Jamie Hayter, who had been out with an injury since May 2023, the appearance of former AEW wrestler Sting, and the in-ring return of English wrestler and London native Nigel McGuinness following his retirement in 2011 and subsequent transition into color commentary.

October 2024 saw deals with two major broadcast networks. On October 2, AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced a multi-year contract extension; the contract maintains AEW's existing programs on TBS and TNT but adds digital rights for WBD's streaming platform Max in the United States; beginning in January 2025, AEW's weekly television programs will be simulcast on Max. Later in 2025, AEW pay-per-views will also become available for purchase and streaming on Max. Although they will remain available via television providers and other platforms, they will have a discounted price on Max, and Max will be promoted as the main home of AEW pay-per-views.[103][104] On October 9, AEW signed a multi-year deal with Fox Sports Mexico that saw the network broadcast all AEW content and programming beginning with WrestleDream PPV on October 12; the agreement also called for Fox Sports Mexico to broadcast an upcoming new AEW show on Mondays.[105]

Programming
Main article: List of All Elite Wrestling special events
Prior to Dynamite and pay-per-view events, AEW released a "Road to..." and "Countdown to..." series of videos on its official YouTube channel. The videos consist of interviews, video packages, and backstage segments. The series is used to hype pre-existing matches, as well as create new rivalries.[106]

In November 2019, AEW announced Bash at the Beach, a nine-day series of events, featuring two episodes of Dynamite, including one aboard Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea.[107]

In February 2021, AEW announced their newest show AEW Dark: Elevation, which began airing on March 15. The show was uploaded to their YouTube channel on Mondays at 7 p.m. ET as a complement to AEW Dark.[108]

As part of the deal to move Dynamite to TBS, AEW agreed to produce quarterly television specials on TNT that would air on Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET. The series was titled AEW Battle of the Belts, with the first special airing on January 8, 2022.[109][110] Beginning with the fourth special on October 7, 2022, Battle of the Belts was moved to Friday nights, airing immediately after Rampage at 11 p.m. ET to avoid potential counterprogramming, particularly against WWE's pay-per-views.[111]

Beginning with seventh special on July 15, 2023, Battle of the Belts would be moved back to Saturday nights and would air live after Collision.[112]

On the February 22, 2023, episode of Dynamite, Tony Khan and Adam Cole announced a new television program beginning on March 29 called AEW: All Access. "All Access" was a mini-series and ran six episodes, airing from March 29 to May 10, 2023. It was a reality television show about the lives of the promotion's wrestlers and featured behind-the-scenes footage. The program aired immediately after Dynamite at 10 p.m. ET on TBS. Though Khan stated that the show performed well and was positively received,[113] there is no confirmation of a second season.

With the addition of Collision to AEW's weekly lineup, which began broadcasting on TNT on June 17, 2023, AEW ended their weekly online shows Dark and Dark: Elevation.[114] Rampage aired its final episode on December 27, 2024.

Broadcast

Program Original release Original network Notes
AEW Dynamite* October 2, 2019–present TBS AEW's live flagship television program.
AEW Collision* June 17, 2023–present TNT AEW's second live television program.[115]
AEW Battle of the Belts* January 8, 2022–present TNT Quarterly television specials.
AEW All Access March 29, 2023–present TBS Reality television program featuring behind-the-scenes footage.
TNT Overdrive August 10, 2024–present TNT Clip show presented by various AEW wrestlers.
(*) - Also airs via streaming on Max

Online exclusive

Program Original release Original network Notes
AEW Unrestricted February 24, 2020–present YouTube Features interviews with AEW wrestlers hosted by Tony Schiavone, Will Washington, and Aubrey Edwards.
Hey! (EW) March 13, 2022–present YouTube Features interviews with AEW wrestlers hosted by RJ City.
Johnny Loves Taya February 14, 2024–present YouTube Reality show featuring real life husband and wife Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie
AEW Stories July 25, 2023–present YouTube The stories of individual AEW wrestlers through interviews and backstage access.
AEW Timelines August 1, 2023–present YouTube Highlights greatest moments, matches, and wrestlers in AEW's history.
Former

Program Aired Network Notes
AEW Dark October 8, 2019 – April 25, 2023 YouTube Online show that featured matches taped at Universal Studios Florida.
AEW Dark: Elevation March 15, 2021 – April 24, 2023 YouTube Online show that featured untelevised matches from Dynamite tapings which involved wrestlers from AEW's roster and the independent circuit.
AEW Rampage August 13, 2021 – December 27, 2024 TNT Taped supplemental television program.
Events
Main article: List of All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view events
AEW pay-per-view events are available on Triller TV in other international markets. They are also available via traditional PPV outlets in the U.S. and Canada, and carried by all major satellite providers.[116][117]

International rights
On May 8, 2019, AEW reached a media rights deal with British media company ITV plc to broadcast AEW shows on ITV4 with pay-per-views being broadcast on ITV Box Office starting with Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019. However, after ITV Box Office ceased operations in January 2020, ITV no longer broadcasts AEW pay-per-views in the UK.[118]

On February 19, 2020, AEW reached a new media rights deal with German media company Sky Deutschland (which previously broadcast WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling shows) to broadcast AEW pay-per-views on Sky Select Event.[119]

On summer 2020, all AEW programs (with the exception of AEW Collision) have been broadcast in Italy by Sky Italia through its sports' channels.[120]

On January 22, 2021, TNT Africa announced that the channel would begin airing Dynamite on Friday nights in Sub-Saharan Africa. The show premiered on February 5, 2021.[121]

On May 19, 2021, AEW announced that Dynamite would be moving to TBS in January 2022. In addition, AEW also announced that they would be launching a second weekly TV show called AEW Rampage, which would air on Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on TNT, beginning August 13.[109]

On August 2, 2021, AEW announced a deal with Discovery Inc. to air Dynamite and Rampage on Eurosport in India starting on August 15, 2021.[122] On February 10, 2022, Warner TV announced that they would be airing Dynamite and Rampage in Poland.[123] On April 8, 2022, it was announced that as part of the AEW and NJPW working relationship, Dynamite and Rampage would air in Japan on NJPW World.[124][125] On May 5, 2022, AEW announced that Dynamite and Rampage would air on TNT in Spain starting on June 17, 2022, and later live from June 19, 2022.[126]

AEW events aired in Latin America on Space from late 2020 to late 2022. The promotion airs in Hispanic America on Vix since July 2023, and in Brazil on AEW Plus.

In January 2023, AEW sold its broadcasting rights to streaming service DAZN in 42 territories in Europe and Central Asia.[127][128]

Partnerships
AEW has partnership agreements with several promotions around the world. Additionally, as Tony Khan owns both AEW and Ring of Honor (ROH), wrestlers from AEW companies frequently appear on ROH and vice versa; however, although ROH belts are often defended on AEW shows the reverse is rarely true.

Shortly after its founding in early 2019, AEW struck partnership deals with promotions Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) in Mexico and Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE) in China.[45][47] By late 2020 and through 2021, AEW was collaborating with other wrestling promotions in the U.S. and abroad, with Tony Khan stating he needed to be "open to allow all of the partnerships with the multiple promotions that AEW is working with."[129] In December of that year, AEW began a partnership with Impact Wrestling, which saw AEW World Champion Kenny Omega making appearances on Impact!.[130] Omega would later make his in-ring debut for Impact at Hard to Kill,[131] defeating Rich Swann to win the Impact World Championship at the Rebellion event, making him the first person to hold championships in both Impact and AEW concurrently.[132] In October 2021, the working relationship between AEW and Impact ended following the latter's Bound for Glory PPV.[133]

On February 3, 2021, at the Beach Break television special, AEW started a partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). After the main event, Kenta made his AEW debut and hit Jon Moxley with his finishing strike, the Go 2 Sleep.[134] Kenta would later make his AEW in ring debut at the following Dynamite. Over one year later on the April 20, 2022 edition of Dynamite, it was announced that AEW and NJPW reached an agreement to co-produce a pay-per-view event titled AEW×NJPW: Forbidden Door, which took place at the United Center in Chicago on June 26.[135][136][137] The event was an acclaimed success and was followed by a second iteration on June 25, 2023, held at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, which AEW's first PPV outside the U.S. and NJPW's first traditional PPV in Canada.

On March 20, 2022, during Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling's Judgement event, it was announced that AEW had formed a working relationship with DDT and with Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling that would see wrestlers from both brands appear on AEW programming.[138][139]

On October 13, 2023, AEW announced a working relationship with Mexico's Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre promotion.[140]

Contracts and roster
Main article: List of All Elite Wrestling personnel
AEW signs most of its talent to exclusive contracts, under which they can appear or perform only on AEW programming and events (which includes ROH) or AEW-approved independent events; additionally, AEW allows periodic appearances from wrestlers and personalities from partner promotions, including Japan's New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW),[141] DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW), Pr