AEW Making Plans For New Non-Wrestling Programming

Rhodes to the Top 2.0, anyone?

by Andrew Pollard
Tony Khan 2022
AEW

While some like to speculate on AEW's future with Warner Bros. Discovery, there's some hugely positive news that, not only are WBD happy with the "huge numbers" that AEW garners, but that there are plans afoot to create new non-wrestling AEW content.

This news came during an interview WBD US Networks Group Chairwoman & Chief Content Officer Kathleen Finch recently conducted with The Hollywood Reporter.

In a discussion which spanned plentiful WBD topics, Finch at one point namedropped AEW and gave an indicator of future plans for Tony Khan's promotion.

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"We really play in the sports space. One of the things that we’re doing around sports is creating shoulder programming to hold onto those fans. AEW [All Elite Wrestling] pulls huge numbers, so we are working with the wrestling team to figure out what new kind of content can we build that’s not in a wrestling ring."

Of course, what this "not in a wrestling ring" content ultimately becomes, that remains to be seen.

AEW is no stranger to developing content outside of its usual squared circle-driven wheelhouse, with the organisation producing the Rhodes to the Top reality series in 2021. While Cody and Brandi Rhodes - who obviously headlined that show - are no longer #AllElite, that doesn't mean that AEW can't revisit a similar scenario with other talent.

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For those unaware, Warner Bros. Discovery owns both TNT (which houses AEW Dynamite) and TBS (which houses AEW Rampage and quarterly specials), and clearly WBD is eager to maximise the AEW assets which it has at its disposal.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.