Update on WWE’s Current Talks for New RAW TV Deal & Potential Affect on AEW

As noted before, WWE signed a new television deal with USA Network this past September for their SmackDown brand and a new television deal with The CW this past November for their NXT brand leaving just their RAW brand as the only notable brand left without a new deal.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that Endeavor President Mark Shapiro, WWE CEO Nick Khan, and WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque all held a meeting with Warner Bros Discovery officials this past Monday. Meltzer reported that one report from the meeting stated that CM Punk was a major part of this pitch with the idea of him being a regular talent on the RAW brand. This same report reportedly also stated that this pitch also included them pushing Punk’s merchandise sales and social media views along with the ratings of recent WWE shows he has been on.

Meltzer reported that WWE’s talks with WBD does greatly affect AEW due to them also currently being in talks with WBD on a number of deals including a potential new streaming deal. Meltzer reported that WBD also currently gets a cut of AEW’s streaming PPV buys through their Bleacher Report service.

In regards to the potential of WWE pushing AEW out of WBD, Meltzer reported that it is not likely that WWE’s new owners would attempt to get exclusivity for WWE for any potential deal with WBD. Meltzer reported that the basis for this belief is due to Endeavor’s deal with UFC did not block rival MMA promotion PFL from signing a deal with ESPN and The CW’s deal for NXT is also currently believed to not be exclusive for wrestling on the network. Meltzer reported that it is currently not known if WBD would want two different wrestling franchises.

Meltzer also reported that nothing is currently locked regarding WWE’s talks for RAW nor RAW’s home for their next television deal due to many factors still remain to be sorted out, including the channels and days of the week RAW and SmackDown will be on. Meltzer reported that SmackDown very likely will be moving out of Fridays due to it would not make sense to keep the show there considering how much USA Network paid for the show and Friday being a weak night for viewership.

In regards to costs, Meltzer reported that WWE is currently seeking around $398 million per year as the high end for a new television deal for their RAW brand. Meltzer also reported that AEW is still the cheaper option for cost per hour compared to WWE at around $30 million to $50 million per hour for Dynamite and $124 to $133 million per hour for RAW. Meltzer also reported that AEW Dynamite viewers currently have the highest household median income at $61,500 which is 13.3% higher than a RAW household based on a recent study from Wrestlenomics.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources stated that the recent rumors about a potential deal between WWE and WBD is only just chatter at this point and nothing has been confirmed to actually be moving in that direction. Sapp reported that people who are normally in the loop for this type of situation on both WWE and WBD’s sides are either out of the loop or currently do not believe this will happen in the end. Others closer to a position of influence reportedly stated that the opposite is more likely to happen.

In regards to AEW, Sapp also reported that AEW officials are aware of WBD’s recent talks with WWE and have not been left in the dark about it from WBD officials.