| AEW Dynamite | |
|---|---|
 AEW Dynamite logo (2024–present) | |
| Genre | Professional wrestling |
| Created by | Tony Khan |
| Presented by |
|
| Starring | AEW roster |
| Opening theme |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 320(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera setup |
| Running time | 120–125 minutes (including commercials)[a] |
| Production company | All Elite Wrestling |
| Original release | |
| Network | TNT |
| Release | October 2, 2019 (2019-10-02) – December 29, 2021 (2021-12-29) |
| Network | TBS |
| Release | January 5, 2022 (2022-01-05) – present |
| Network | HBO Max |
| Release | January 1, 2025 (2025-01-01) – present |
| Related | |
AEW Dynamite, also known asWednesday Night Dynamite or simplyDynamite, is an Americanprofessional wrestling television program produced by the AmericanpromotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airslive every Wednesday at 8 p.m.Eastern Time (ET), with some rare exceptions, and issimulcast onTBS and the streaming serviceHBO 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 thefinal episode ofWCW 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 on 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 ofFriday 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 HBO Max, airing live on the streaming platform regardless of the location from where the show is produced. On April 16, 2025,Dynamite produced its 289th episode and became the longest running weekly professional wrestling show to air inprime time on a Turner network, surpassingWCWMonday Nitro.
The Americanprofessional wrestling promotionAll 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 andWarnerMedia announced a deal for a weekly prime-time show airinglive onTNT, the former broadcaster ofWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW). They would also stream live events andpay-per-views (PPV) onB/R Live in the United States and Canada.[8][9][10] In April, veteran commentatorJim Ross confirmed the show would be a weekly two-hour show.[11] During AEW'sFight for the Fallen event, AEW wrestlerChris 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 theCapital One Arena inWashington, D.C.;[13][14] the show sold out within 3 hours of tickets going on sale.[15] AEW President andChief Executive OfficerTony Khan said that they chose to air the show on Wednesday nights instead of Tuesday nights because TNT airs theNational Basketball Association (NBA) on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and to prevent counter-programming against theNational Football League (NFL)'sThursday Night Football, as the Khan family also owns theJacksonville Jaguars NFL team.[16][17][18][19][20]
In August 2019,WWE announced that it was moving theirWWE Network showNXT to theUSA 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 beforeAEW's broadcast debut on TNT.[21][22] On August 30, the day before AEW's PPVAll Out, TNT aired a one-hour special calledCountdown to All Out at 10pmEastern Time (ET),[23] which averaged 390,000 viewers.[24]
Like they had done for each of their PPV events, AEW began a "Road to"YouTube series on September 4 entitledThe 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 asDynamite. A two-hour preview show calledCountdown 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 outNXT in viewership and more than doubled its competition in the key adults 18–49 demographic, scoring 878,000 viewers compared toNXT'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 calledDark, 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 runDynamite on Thursdays, and even on a Saturday, due to theNBA playoffs.[31]Dynamite was the first wrestling show to air on TNT since the final episode ofWCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001.
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020, which caused restrictions for live events around the world, AEW ranempty arena shows from March 18–25 and again from May 6–August 19 fromDaily's Place inJacksonville, Florida, and taped six weeks of shows from March 31 to April 2 from One Fall Power Factory inNorcross, Georgia, AEW'sde 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-tapeThanksgiving andChristmas 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 aspecial episode ofDynamite titledRoad 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 specialDynamite episodes called the "Welcome Back" tour, which continued with the two-partFyter Fest on July 14 and 21 and concluded withFight for the Fallen on July 28.[38][39]
In regard to the addition ofRampage on TNT in August 2021, WarnerMedia had asked Khan if he would rather expandDynamite to three hours, but he rejected the notion, stating that he did not want to runDynamite for that length as he really wanted that third hour as a separate show on a different night. He also claimed thatRampage would not be a secondary show toDynamite, and that it would be its partner or its equivalent. He further said thatDynamite andRampage would be AEW's core properties, while their YouTube shows,Dark andElevation, would be their peripheral properties, essentially theirdevelopmental programs.[40]
It was announced on October 25, 2021, thatDynamite 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 toTNT's coverage of the NHL). This lasted untilDynamite's move to TBS.
On January 5, 2022,Dynamite moved from TNT toTBS, marking the first professional wrestling program to air on TBSsince 2001.
In May 2023, AEW confirmed another television program,Collision, to premiere that June on TNT (Dark andElevation were also canceled, withRampage shifting to featuring developing talent).[41] Prior toCollision's official announcement, it had been speculated that with the addition ofCollision, AEW would do some form of a roster split, similar to WWE'sbrand extension, in which part of the roster would only perform onDynamite, while the other part would be onCollision. In an appearance on theBarstool 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 thetitle holders would be the champions for all of AEW's programs.[42]
On March 23, 2025, AEW announced a special episode ofDynamite titledSpring BreakThru, scheduled for April 16, 2025, at theMGM Music Hall at Fenway inBoston, Massachusetts. This will be the 289th episode ofDynamite, making it the longest-running prime time weekly pro-wrestling program inTurner Sports history, surpassingWCW Monday Nitro, which had a total of 288 episodes that aired on TNT from September 1995 to March 2001.[43]
The wrestlers featured on All Elite Wrestling take part in scriptedfeuds andstorylines. Wrestlers are portrayed asheroes,villains, orless distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match.
The primary commentators for AEW Dynamite areExcalibur,Taz, andBryan Danielson. Additional commentary has been provided byJim Ross,Don Callis,Nigel McGuinness,Tony Schiavone and others since its creation.
| Song | Artist | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| "Dynamite" | No One Hero | October 2, 2019 – February 28, 2024 |
| "Pop" | Mikey Rukus | March 6, 2024 – April 30, 2025 |
| "I'm So Excited" | The Pointer Sisters | January 1, 2025 |
| "You Wanted War" | Sum 41 | May 7, 2025 – present |
In the United States,Dynamite airs live Wednesdays onTBS at 8pm ET.[44] On January 15, 2020, it was announced thatWarnerMedia had extended the contract for the series through 2023.[45] 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 everDynamite, AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly WarnerMedia) announced a multi-year media rights extension, whereDynamite would besimulcast on TBS and WBD's streaming platformMax, beginning on January 1, 2025, with theFight for the Fallen special.[46][47]
On September 25, 2019, AEW announced an international streaming deal withFITE TV primarily for regions outside of the United States and Canada via the "AEW Plus" package, which includes live streaming and replay access ofDynamite in simulcast with its U.S. airing.[48]
In Canada,Bell Media'sTSN acquired broadcast rights toDynamite, marking the return of professional wrestling to the network afterWWE Raw moved to rival network The Score (nowSportsnet 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.[49] Starting August 24, 2022, Dynamite would also air in French onRéseau des sports (RDS).[50] On December 30, 2022, AEW would stop airing on Réseau des sports (RDS) due to the network's budget constraints.[51]
In theUnited Kingdom, AEW has a deal withITV network to broadcast AEW shows,[52] with Dynamite airing onITV4 every Friday night, with repeats every Monday night onITV1.[53] It is also available to view on their streaming serviceITVX. It is also available onTriller TV.
On October 22, 2019,TNT Serie announced a deal to airDynamite on Friday nights inGermany.[54][55]On October 24, 2019,Toonami (since rebranded as Warner TV Next) announced a deal to airDynamite on Tuesday nights inFrance.[56][57]On July 21, 2020,Sky Sport and AEW announced a deal to airDynamite on Friday nights inItaly, replacingWWE programming.[58][59] AEW also aired onSport Extra inRomania from 2020 until 2022.[60]Dynamite aired inPoland from March 5[61] until August 27, 2022[62] onWarner TV. InSpain,AEW announced that was going to air Dynamite onTNT starting on June 17, 2022, and later live from June 19, 2022.[63] As of 2023, in some European markets (including countries likePortugal,Sweden,Poland,Turkey,Romania andCzech Republic), Dynamite (and other AEW events such as PPVs, Rampage, Dark, Elevation and Battle of the Belts) are available onDAZN.[64]
On October 22, 2020, AEW reached an agreement with the digital platform withPluto TV broadcasting its repeat events (including past pay-per-view) with commentators in Spanish fromLatin America.[65]
On November 22, 2020,Dynamite began airing onSpace, aWarnerMedia International channel inBrazil and on Space's Spanish feed, available throughoutLatin America on Sundays.[66][67] 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.[68][69] Currently, AEW Dynamite (alongside the rest of AEW programming) is aired byTelevisa-Univision, onTUDN in Mexico and on ViX streaming Platform in the rest ofLatin America andthe Caribbean.
Dynamite began airing onTNT Africa on February 5, 2021, inEnglish-speaking countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.[70][71] The show airs every Sunday morning at 10 AM CAT, four days after the U.S. broadcast.[72]
InIndia,AEW is announced to be airing Dynamite onEurosport starting on August 15, 2021, and later live from August 19, 2021, every Thursday on 5:30am IST.[73]Dynamite began airing onPremier Sports in thePhilippines on September 25, 2021.[74] On April 8, 2022, it was announced that as part of the AEW andNJPW working relationship thatDynamite would air inJapan onNJPW World.[75][76]
Dynamite started airing onESPN2 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.[77]
| Channel | Timeslot | Years |
|---|---|---|
| TNT | Wednesday 8–10 p.m.ET[78] | October 2, 2019 – December 29, 2021 |
| TBS | January 5, 2022 – present | |
| HBO Max | January 1, 2025 – present |
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