‘AEW Dynamite’ Taps Out ‘WCW Nitro’ as Longest-Running Primetime Wrestling Show on TNT/TBS

by

On Wednesday, April 16, 2025, All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite will air its 289th episode, making it the longest-running weekly prime-time professional wrestling show in the history of TNT or TBS (currently airing on TBS). In simpler terms, this means that AEW’s flagship program has been consistently running for a significant number of weeks, breaking records and setting new standards.

Essentially, what we’re conveying is this: Tony Khan’s primary AEW series has surpassed the length of WCW Monday Nitro, which was run by Ted Turner. This fact is significant.

Do you recall the iconic Monday Nitro from WCW? This show faced off against Monday Night Raw of WWE during a time that wrestling enthusiasts call the “Monday Night Wars.” For 83 weeks, WCW surpassed what was then WWF in the Nielsen TV ratings. However, it’s important to note that for Eric Bischoff, former showrunner of Nitro, this victory would forever be etched in his memory. Sadly, the success didn’t endure. AEW hasn’t achieved what Nitro did, but it has undeniably made a significant impact as the first real competitor to WWE since Vince McMahon acquired WCW, effectively ending Monday Nitro’s run.

Khan emerged victorious in the abbreviated and fleeting contest known as the Wednesday Night Wars. In the month of April 2021, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) made a strategic move by transferring its secondary league programming, NXT, from Wednesday evenings to Tuesday nights.

Khan, the owner of All Elite Wrestling and son of Shahid Khan, billionaire owner of Jacksonville Jaguars, expressed his awe upon reaching No. 289. He shared this with The Hollywood Reporter, stating that it was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream as a wrestling enthusiast. From the age of 8, he immersed himself in WCW and preferred it over WWF/E for almost an entire decade due to its unique appeal.

Essentially, AEW is considered the modern version of WCW by many people, and its founder has had several reasons to celebrate recently. In October 2024, Khan not only renewed his contract with Turner, but also broadened it to include streaming. This means that AEW’s televised shows are now being broadcast live on Max (for U.S. viewers), and they can also be watched on-demand.

According to Khan, AEW’s viewership on TBS/TNT has not been significantly impacted by streaming platforms – a statement that, while not completely accurate, reflects a fairly small decline. However, Khan does not have access to all the viewing data as Warner Bros. Discovery is secretive about their Max streaming statistics. Despite this, Khan has been informed that AEW Dynamite is among the most popular shows on Max.

It’s been “a seamless transition” into AEW’s streaming era, Khan said.

It might not be the aspect that it took five years for cord-cutters to access AEW content, but rather, they could now do so. On the other hand, WWE has been streaming since 2014 via the WWE Network, which is now a component of Peacock. Notably, WWE’s flagship weekly show, “Raw,” is now an original series on Netflix, and outside of the U.S., all WWE televised programming is available on Netflix.

The overhaul of the Max platform, which debuted in May 2023, enabled live sports on Max to be viewed, if not entirely enjoyable.

“The technology has been great,” Khan said. “The Max stream looks great.”

Notably, the broadening of the media rights agreement allowed Max to become the streaming platform for AEW’s pay-per-view events. These events can be accessed on an actual pay-per-view basis through Amazon Prime Video.

Khan feels he’s struck a golden balance regarding the number of pay-per-views (PPV); At present, AEW offers nine per year, yet he anticipates this figure could rise to ten. For the moment, nine is “an excellent quantity,” according to him.

Khan often acknowledges David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, for a significant portion of AEW’s expansion. From the get-go, Zaslav showed interest in AEW, as Khan mentioned. Moreover, he has provided them with numerous chances to thrive, such as the introduction of Saturday Night Collision on TNT in June 2023, an idea that Khan attributes to Zaslav himself.

Khan expressed his gratitude, stating, “They’ve been nothing but kind to us. I aspire to spend my entire life here. My dream is to remain a fixture on TBS and TNT indefinitely.

And Max, presumably.

AEW Dynamite airs live on TBS and streams live on Max Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.

Read More

2025-04-16 20:56