TNT GM talks Wednesday Night War.
All Elite Wrestling finally premieres on TNT on Wednesday, Oct. 2 with AEW Dynamite. The two-hour live program will go head-to-head with NXT, which will air on USA Network at the same time, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Ahead of the premiere, TNT General Manager Brett Weitz spoke to NY Post about the Wednesday Night Wars.
“I’d say the one across the street [WWE] is a very mic-heavy league and there are a lot of people grabbing mics and a lot of people talking trash in and out of the ring and there is a lot less wrestling happening,” he said. “[AEW] is from soup to nuts, from the moment you start to the moment the night is over, it never stops. It never ever stops. It’s really like watching an action movie. You watch these guys jump off of a ladder in the ring, a 10-foot ladder that’s already on a 10-foot podium on the ring and [he] does a triple back flip to land on somebody else on a table, I don’t care if you like wrestling or not, you’re gonna be engaged by that,””
Despite believing WWE is a "mic-heavy league," Weitz isn't looking to be in competition with WWE. However, he believes this is exactly what WWE wants.
I think ultimately if I’m Vince and I’m trying to keep my business going for the next 20 years, I’m potentially gonna stoke the ‘Monday Night Wars’ again,” Weitz said, referring to the old WWE vs. WCW rivalry. “I’m gonna try to reinvigorate that fandom. It would be wonderful if that happened, but that’s not our main focus right now.”
AEW superstars and executives have done their fair share of hyping a war, both in-character and out. Kenny Omega recently called NXT stars "developmental talent" while AEW has "real stars." The comment drew the ire and support of many fans online.
Weitz went on to say that a highlighted version of Dynamite could end up on B/R Live. “If we can get people to come out of those movies into wrestling, that’s a new audience and not just a destination audience but a flow audience," said Weitz about airing AEW Dynamite commercials prior to movie screenings.
Weitz also commented that AEW could have “exactly the right amount of provocative content" due to its PG-14 rating.
AEW Dynamite premieres Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. ET. Fightful will have live coverage of the show.
