Various: Tony Khan on Changes to AEW’s Taping Schedule, MLW to Sign New Rights Deal, NJPW

AEW CEO Tony Khan Comments on Upcoming Changes to AEW’s Taping Schedule

PWInsider held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included the upcoming changes to AEWs tapings schedule with the return of weekly touring soon.

“No. It’s going to be different formats. It’s great questions you’re asking. I really appreciate it. And I’ll give you some scoops. I’ll break the news. With Rampage, there’s going to be some weeks rampage will be live and there’ll be weeks where we plan to tape Rampage after Dynamite, including here at Arthur Ashe stadium, where we will be filming also after. We’ll do Dynamite live and we’ll also film Rampage. And in some of the markets where we have these amazing crowds, I think it’s okay.

We can take advantage of it and give them Dynamite and Rampage.  There’s also going to be times where we’re going to do a lot of live Rampages. We’re going to have a live debut. We’re going to do some great live episodes. The Go Home will be live for All Out at the Sears Center, and also we’ll be live for the Go Home in St. Louis and it’ll be great. We’ll also be… so it’ll be Rampage. It’ll be really, really special for us. I think it will be, sometimes we’ll do it after Dynamite. We’ll do Dynamite, then we’ll do Rampage. Sometimes if Rampage is not live, then that’ll be one taping.

Before Dynamite, we used to tape Dark. That’s going to change. I’m going to tape Elevation before Dynamite now. So it’s going to be a shorter Elevation and I may add matches that I’ll explain where I’ll add them from.  I’m going to procure a venue for use to tape Dark and other content that’ll be great. And I’m really looking forward to this. I think it’s going to be tremendous and it will be where we’ll shoot Dark and we’ll do tapings. And it’ll be, as it’s been, it’s been a developmental situation and it’ll continue to be developmental. And it’s been great doing it all under one roof, all at one taping. And there’s been advantages, but there’ll be some advantages now to doing it as its own taping and being able to give 100% attention to these and not having also to think about Dynamite and soon Rampage and Elevation also …

So it will change the presentation, when we start going back on the road, particularly when we start… when Rampage begins. It’s going to change. And there’ll be weeks where it’s different. There’ll be more content in the live arena some weeks, maybe when Rampage is live and we’ll film more stuff. And there’s other weeks where I’m going to rely on the studios. But I have a plan for it and I try to be really organized and meticulous in the booking.”

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MLW Reportedly Opts Out of DAZN Deal, Expected to Sign New Media Rights Deal Soon

Major League Wrestling reportedly is currently expected to sign a new media rights deal soon, according to PWInsider.

Mike Johnson reported that the company recent opted out of their streaming deal with DAZN and is currently in the process of removing their content from their official YouTube channel.

While responding to a fan question on Twitter, MLW owner Court Bauer stated that the reason for the recent missing MLW Fusion content on their YouTube channel is due to a new rights deal that the company is currently in negotiations for their library.

We’re in the middle of a deal for the rights to the library. Hope to share more soon. https://t.co/yi6xWGjuIP

— Court Bauer (@courtbauer) June 16, 2021

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NJPW News & Notes

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced a new date and main event for their upcoming Wrestle Grand Slam 2021 event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The event is now currently scheduled to take place on July 25th and will feature a main event match of Kota Ibushi vs. Shingo Takagi (c) for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The event was originally scheduled to take place on May 29th but was postponed due to coronavirus pandemic-related issues in Japan.

NJPW also announced that their originally scheduled May 15th Wrestle Grand Slam 2021 event at the Yokohama Stadium has been officially cancelled. The company announced that they will be holding an additional two Wrestle Grand Slam events in its place on September 4th and 5th at the MetLife Dome in Tokorozawa, Japan.

NJPW also announced two new matches for the cards of their Summer Struggle in Sapporo 2021 events on July 10th & 11th in Hokkaido, Japan:

• July 10th – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match – Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado (c)
• July 11th – IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match – SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) (c)