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00:00What a day!
00:01Oh my gosh, what a day, what a night.
00:05Clockwork Carnage was absolutely bonkers.
00:08Unreal.
00:09How are you feeling?
00:10I feel absolutely fantastic.
00:11Yeah, I feel really great.
00:12Well, that's great news.
00:13Hey, how was your birthday?
00:14It was Tony's birthday the other day, by the way.
00:16It was great.
00:16It was great.
00:17It was great.
00:18And it was great.
00:20The Sunday was absolutely fantastic.
00:22The Jaguars picking up the win versus the Eagles.
00:25Hopefully we'll get a Jags win tomorrow versus Houston.
00:27I hope, personally.
00:29And a great way to start the day today with Fulham keeping a clean sheet
00:34and winning at home versus whole city.
00:36And then an awesome wrestle dream.
00:38A great tailgate brawl.
00:39Yeah, that's right.
00:40And a great tailgate brawl.
00:42It spilled into the pay-per-view with a great, awesome match.
00:46What a way to start the pay-per-view.
00:48Oh my gosh.
00:48FTR and the Motor City machine guns leading into the pay-per-view.
00:52Going right into Mercedes versus Tekla for the world title.
00:55Just wall-to-wall action on this pay-per-view.
00:58And then a crazy finish.
01:00And already some great news.
01:03Hopefully we'll be able to find out officially when I go back to the doctor's office.
01:07Hopefully Osprey will get cleared.
01:08Hopefully a lot of the great wrestlers from tonight will be cleared.
01:11We've heard Mr. Dragunov will be ready to wrestle on Wednesday.
01:15That's a great surprise.
01:17Like I said, it was a great surprise during the show.
01:202 a.m. his local time in the middle of the live broadcast when we heard the great news.
01:25He was going to be able to pick up the visa and get a flight and be here today.
01:29I cannot wait to see who his first opponent is going to be.
01:32We're going to get him ready to go.
01:34This has been all a big surprise.
01:36We're going to go back, evaluate the roster, see who's cleared.
01:40And hopefully we're going to have an absolutely fantastic dynamite here in Florida in Miami on Wednesday night.
01:47Yeah.
01:48And after we go to the Coral Gables, the University of Miami, we'll have a big week.
01:55We've got Collision in Winston-Salem.
01:58And then we've got Fright Night Dynamite coming up in St. Louis.
02:02I can't wait.
02:02A lot of big events, of course.
02:04It's been a big month.
02:06You know, after what was, to say the least, I think, had to be the most challenging time in AEW
02:14history, following our last show, All Out, and the whole roster coming together to pay tribute to the late, great
02:22pack.
02:24And with outpouring of love and support for Ben, it was a show that was close to home for you,
02:33literally, Renee, in Highland Heights, Kentucky.
02:35And we went out there on the collision in Highland Heights, and we kind of had to reset the deck
02:38very quickly.
02:39And that show was a very good wrestling show.
02:43It really set the stage for a lot of things.
02:45And with only a few weeks to go, first of all, we were a week out from Grand Slam France.
02:51Days away.
02:52Days away.
02:53We were days away.
02:54And then just a couple weeks away from this show.
02:58And that really was getting back to wrestling.
03:00We had a great show, Grand Slam France.
03:02I thought last week, really, on Wednesday and Saturday, first of all, really good viewership for the show.
03:09Finishing up there only behind the Major League Baseball Dodgers-Brewers playoff game that did six and a half million
03:16viewers.
03:17Finishing as a top show on cable.
03:19And the three-hour block, again, very successful.
03:23Just really everybody coming together and the company doing really well at a really important time for us.
03:29I've also, in addition to all the things happening outside of the ring and all the great things happening for
03:36AEW in the ring,
03:36I've talked a lot about what a great year I think it's been for AEW on TV and pay-per
03:41-view.
03:41So many great events.
03:42I've been sitting down this week trying to narrow it down to my favorite 20 events starting in January through
03:48October.
03:49And I'm at the point, I think there's a lot that, you know, are a pretty safe bet.
03:54Just almost any AEW fan would put on that list, like AEW Double or Nothing or AEW All In, Wembley
04:00Stadium.
04:01I think those are some of the best events we've ever done.
04:03I think the tribute to PAC is the greatest event and the most important event and the best thing we've
04:10ever done in ring in AEW and the most important.
04:13So there's so many events I think are slam dunks, but trying to narrow it down to 20, I think
04:17it speaks to what a great year we've had.
04:19The first one I put on the list that I think would be to start in January and I wasn't
04:25going to make the list.
04:26I'm still, it's, it's, there's so many great shows this year and I was looking at it and obviously we
04:30have a lot to do.
04:31So I'm still working on this, but I looked at it and one that is definitely going to make the
04:37list and chronologically would be the first,
04:39because I'm going to do it from January through this month, October, trying to pick my top 20 events and
04:45maximum carnage.
04:49And the main event was MJF versus Bandito, MJF versus Bandito for the world title.
04:54But the opening match was Darby Allen versus PAC.
04:59And Darby Allen and PAC will be all over that list, including a match they had later, another show that
05:04I thought was one of the best events of the year.
05:06Another unique event.
05:07There have been so many great dynamites, great collisions, great pay-per-views.
05:11I really loved the fairway to hell.
05:13Oh yeah.
05:14Darby Allen versus PAC and the fairway to hell.
05:16That's another great show I think we had.
05:19It was just absolutely fantastic.
05:21But so many great events this year.
05:22It'd be hard to narrow it down to 20.
05:24So a lot of great things happening in the ring this year in AEW.
05:28A lot of great things have happened outside of the ring and a lot of challenges outside of the ring.
05:32But certainly I think for us something that's been really, really great and that I'm very excited about since the
05:40last time we all convened for a scrum.
05:43It's been very, very, very exciting to finally be able to say after a process that's been going on for
05:51over a year that we've reached a very, very exciting announcement that we all work for Skydance.
05:58And I've been looking forward to it for a long time.
06:02And I think it's very, very good.
06:04I talked about this to some extent on the media call on Thursday and I imagine some of you will
06:09have questions about it.
06:10But I think it's a really good thing for AEW for many of the reasons that I spoke about.
06:15And if you have any questions about that I'll be happy to talk about that too because I've been talking
06:19about it for a long time.
06:21I was hoping this would happen and it's happened and now we can celebrate it officially and talk about it.
06:26We're going to be battling some vacuums out here but we're going to forge on.
06:29You know what, I think that's great because it's continental rules.
06:32There's no outside interference and I won't have anybody, they'll just stay out there.
06:37So and with that we can take the questions.
06:40It's just us, Rene and you.
06:42So I think we'll just go down the rows.
06:44Great, I'll stay and I'll answer every question.
06:53We'll tell them, they're all going to get one so it's all, we can all go.
06:57Hey Jacob.
06:58Hey Tony, Jacob from the Orlando Tourism Report.
07:01Thanks so much for having us out again tonight.
07:04Happy belated birthday.
07:05Oh, thank you.
07:06Absolutely.
07:06I just wanted to talk, tonight we heard some licensed music for Ilya as well as for the pay-per
07:12-view overall.
07:13I was wondering if you could just talk about who's picking these pay-per-view themes.
07:17There's this year alone we've had quite a few hardcore bands and I think it's really interesting.
07:22Can you just speak to music licensing?
07:24Well I'm the curator of the music and a lot of times people have music either that they've used prior
07:30to coming to AEW
07:31or music that they like that they asked me about and if it fits I'll try to use it.
07:36And a lot of them are musical choices that are favorite songs of mine.
07:41Machine Head I bring back every year.
07:43I absolutely love it.
07:44I think it fits us perfectly.
07:47And Sum 41 You Want to War is a song I really liked and I heard it and I thought
07:51that would be a great wrestling theme.
07:53And you hear it on Wednesday Night Dynamite.
07:56And there have been a number of songs over the years that were personal choices of mine.
08:00But a lot of times the wrestlers or people in production, Mike Mansuri, people come in and it's a group
08:06process.
08:06But you know, I am the final curator of the music.
08:10Awesome. Thank you so much.
08:11Thank you, Jacob.
08:11Thanks for having me on your show.
08:12I really enjoyed being on the Orlando Tourism Report with Will Ospreay and you.
08:16Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on.
08:17Thank you.
08:24I'll do them all.
08:25Whatever order.
08:26Yeah.
08:27Hey, Tony.
08:28Thanks.
08:29Jim Barcelone.
08:30Hey, just curious.
08:31Your thoughts.
08:32I mean, you mentioned Florida and being in Florida, Jaguars, AW, all of that.
08:36What has Florida meant to you?
08:38And how much are we going to see AW in Florida in 2027?
08:42Well, you're going to see us a lot in 2027 in Florida.
08:45And we've got a lot of great shows coming up still in 2026, including this Wednesday night.
08:50We'll be in Miami and also with the Jericho cruise collision.
08:54So we'll have dynamite this Wednesday and then we'll be back in November.
08:58I believe November 7th for the Jericho cruise.
09:00We've got this Wednesday, which will be fantastic.
09:03Coming back on October 21st to Coral Gables, which is fantastic.
09:08We had AEW there in 2020 before the pandemic.
09:15And going back six and a half years, another great Darby Allen and Pac match.
09:23Speaking of Darby Allen versus Pac.
09:25And I love Florida so much.
09:30I think in AEW there's so much significance.
09:32We've had more shows in Florida than any other state, any other place in the world.
09:37A lot of the shows have been in Jacksonville, but all over Florida.
09:40Pay-per-views here in Orlando like tonight and World's End 24.
09:46Will Ospreay, two of the greatest matches I've ever seen in my life on the same night.
09:50Wrestling against Kyle Fletcher and then falling to Kazuchika Okada in the finals of the Continental Classic here in this
09:56building.
09:56And Revolution 22, so many great matches.
10:00One of the best AEW pay-per-views ever here in this building.
10:05And to come and have another great one tonight.
10:07This building and the city of Orlando have been awesome for AEW on pay-per-view.
10:12Jacksonville and Daly's Place have been a great home.
10:14And now we're bringing blood and guts on November 4th.
10:18And I look forward to that.
10:20And I think it's great.
10:22You know, a lot of events in wrestling.
10:24We'll find out how we get into blood and guts.
10:27But with the configuration and the setup and the marketing,
10:32I think it makes all the sense in the world to create the marketing assets.
10:35And there are a lot of wrestlers who want to fight in the blood and guts.
10:39There are people lined up out the door that want to fight in blood and guts matches in Jacksonville.
10:46So, believe me, when people say that you should wait until it naturally presents itself.
10:52Let's get through the pay-per-view tonight.
10:54Let's set the stage.
10:55Let's find out who's even cleared.
10:56Because if you'd asked me who was going to participate in tonight's pay-per-view,
11:01and I was supposed to have everything announced coming out of the last pay-per-view,
11:04it would have been completely different.
11:06If you'd asked me Sunday night when we were all sitting together at All Out and said,
11:09who's going to be on the show Wednesday and who's going to be on the next pay-per-view,
11:12I would have had a completely different list of women and men than the people who ended up wrestling
11:16because of the injury toll.
11:17The injury toll of some of these matches, including the ladder match and the Chicago street fight,
11:24both the women's and men's tag team championship matches,
11:26and the tailgate brawl themselves had injuries on the last pay-per-view
11:32that completely changed the landscape for the next month of AEW.
11:36And in addition to other things that transpired.
11:40So I would say what's great about the great state of Florida and AEW is whether it's been TV dynamite
11:54collision.
11:55In Miami, we had one of the best rampages we ever did.
12:00We had Bryan Danielson versus Minoru Suzuki.
12:03We had so many great things we've done in Florida over the years.
12:09I think some of the best memories of AEW on pay-per-view have been in this arena, including tonight.
12:16And I think so many of the best memories in AEW period have been in Jacksonville.
12:23And those are really homes to me.
12:25And Jacksonville is my home.
12:27And now in Orlando, we're going to be spending a lot of time here next year.
12:31We'll have AEW surely coming back in 2027 for big events.
12:35And also the Jags, while we're doing the construction, we'll be playing the home games here in Orlando next year
12:42for 2027,
12:42and then going back to Jacksonville for the stadium of the future in 2028.
12:46So I'll be spending a lot of time here in Orlando also and a lot of great wrestling and football
12:51in Florida.
12:53And I love going to, I love Florida.
12:54It's a huge part of my life.
12:56I love going to college football in Florida.
12:57I go down to Miami.
12:58I go to the games.
12:59I go to the Gator games.
13:01I love college football also.
13:03So it's really, really looking forward to going to Miami Wednesday.
13:09And Florida has been so kind to AEW.
13:11Thank you for asking.
13:13Scott Fishman for TV Insider.
13:16You know, you're largely a TV product right now.
13:19You do TV weekly and pay-per-views.
13:22There was a point where you were trying your hand at live events.
13:25I'm just curious.
13:26You know, there's something to be said about wrestlers and getting reps,
13:28but also giving that, you know, unique fan experience when you do live events
13:32because it's a chance to experiment and also give the fans something unique
13:36and not worry about time constraints and time cues and things like that.
13:39So where are you with that when it comes to those non-televised live events
13:43and maybe doing those again?
13:44We've done a few this year.
13:45We did house rules in Brisbane, Australia the night after Grand Slam in Sydney, Australia
13:51back in February.
13:52And we did the brawl in the ballpark at the Minnesota Twins this summer.
13:57So we've had a few of them, and I do think we've picked our spots to make the most of
14:02them
14:02and get reps on both those shows featured young wrestlers,
14:06and we were able to record the content possibly for future use,
14:10but also trying to make the most of it to do events that are economical
14:17and also logical and that are going to deliver a quality AEW product.
14:23So if people are buying a ticket or if we're putting the AEW name on it,
14:27I want to make sure it's really, really good.
14:29People have really high expectations, deservedly so, when you buy AEW
14:33and when you invest in a ticket for AEW.
14:37So whether it's Dynamite, Collision, or Pay-Per-View, I take a lot of pride in it,
14:42and I'm always there trying to make sure that we deliver a really good show for the fans that buy
14:46a ticket.
14:46So when we do house shows, I always try to make sure they're really good,
14:50and I'm always there at the show trying to deliver a strong product.
14:53And we've done two house shows this year, but we've also done dozens and dozens of really good TV shows,
14:59like you said, because we are primarily a TV and Pay-Per-View wrestling product,
15:05and the live events is a huge part of it.
15:08But to deliver the best live event experience with championship fights, big stakes,
15:12and the kind of great AEW action the fans expect,
15:17and to make sure that we protect our wrestlers who are doing this 52 weeks a year with no off
15:21-season.
15:22I think it's, you know, given the kind of hard-hitting matches we do every week on TV,
15:26there's also something to be said with not having dozens and dozens of house shows every month
15:31so that the wrestlers can come in and deliver hard-hitting matches on Pay-Per-View and TV,
15:37and we do have hard-hitting matches, and, you know, as I spoke of,
15:41even since the last Pay-Per-View there have been some injuries,
15:44people in and out of the roster due to injuries,
15:46and I do think already we have a very hard-hitting style on TV and Pay-Per-View,
15:50and when we do house shows I don't want to put too much on the calendar,
15:53and that was really kind of part of the business plan from AEW from the very beginning,
15:57was having a wrestling company that we were going to do this every week on TV,
16:02the matches were going to be great,
16:04we were going to focus on our great star wrestlers on TV and have a deep roster,
16:09but also not have dozens of house shows so that we keep our wrestlers healthy
16:14and can deliver really great matches on TV and Pay-Per-View every week.
16:18Thank you, Scott.
16:19Hey, Tony. Corey Hayes of False Finish. How are you doing?
16:22Great, man. How are you?
16:23Doing good.
16:24Recently and over the last month and a half or so,
16:27we've seen quite a few free agents come in and sign with all the wrestling,
16:31including Danny Luna, the new level, and tonight you're dragging off.
16:35There's a certain pirate princess out there on the market currently.
16:39Is there a chance in the near future that we could see Kyrie make an appearance here in AEW?
16:44That's a great question.
16:46She's a fantastic wrestler.
16:47I can't speak to that at this time, but I am very aware and excited to see that she's a
16:57free agent.
16:58I think that that's very, very interesting, and I'm very intrigued by the possibility of that.
17:07Thanks for asking.
17:09Thank you, Corey.
17:10Xenia from XT Media.
17:12Congratulations on the amazing Pay-Per-View, as always.
17:15I do have a two-part question, if that's okay.
17:17It has to do with Andrade, who had an amazing match with Tamesa Ciampa today.
17:22We saw a lot of beautiful ladies contribute to the presentation of Andrade in the time being,
17:28but I feel like the two ladies that we saw today, Rachel Leigh and Tetevic, have been the most consistent
17:33faces.
17:33Is it safe to assume that they're a permanent part of the act?
17:37Well, certainly Andrade Alidolo has, as I think you put it perfectly, there have been a number of females that
17:45have been devoted to Andrade Alidolo.
17:52And we've seen them in particular coming out, Tetevic, several times with the contract with Andrade Alidolo.
17:59So, they may be the keepers of the contract and the belt, and we've seen a lot of other women
18:05taking selfies of Andrade Alidolo every week.
18:07So, he's certainly got a lot of women that are fond of him.
18:13And he's the real Latino man.
18:19Second part is, in the same match, we saw a spot where Tamesa Ciampa tried to pin down Andrade's pants
18:25and the pants kicked out.
18:26I am personally very fascinated by moments like this in wrestling.
18:30And my question to you is, how do you view it and how are we supposed to view it?
18:34Is it a joke or is it an element of a magical realism?
18:38I spoke on the commentary about it a little bit.
18:40I felt like it was a little bit of him trying to have fun and play with the mind games
18:45of like an Orange Cassidy.
18:46Almost might do.
18:48And in this case, we see Andrade Alidolo play the mind games with his opponent a lot.
18:52And Andrade Alidolo is always having fun.
18:55He takes selfies during the match, you know, while he's part of a great sport.
19:00Andrade Alidolo is a great athlete.
19:02And I felt like Tommaso was trying to kind of reverse the mind games on him almost.
19:07And in this case, it's not like they would have, you know, that's not a legal fall.
19:12But he's having, I think, fun.
19:14And it's fun within the context of the sport.
19:17But on the other hand, it's important to remember it is a sport and they're both great wrestlers.
19:21And that's why I'm glad they got back to the wrestling after that.
19:24So to your point on commentary, I was sure to make a note of the fact that I do think
19:31there was some of that.
19:32And there's a place for it, you know.
19:35When we started AEW, because it is a serious sport, I remember I asked Orange Cassidy about, about, and this
19:47is before Dynamite, before the first Dynamite.
19:49And I was fascinated by Orange Cassidy because Orange Cassidy is so popular and has come into AEW and been
19:55a huge part of the company and very additive.
19:59And a lot of people, because of the nature of some of the things Orange Cassidy did, and to be
20:05fair, some of the things he did on The Independence are different.
20:08You know, I think the Orange Cassidy that's been in AEW is a great in-ring wrestler and is a
20:15great athlete who's great at his sport.
20:19But also, again, likes to play mind games with the competition and likes to have fun and entertains the crowd,
20:26but also tries to get in the head of his opponents.
20:28And that's why he does the things that he does.
20:30And it was important for me to talk to him and also reach that, reach that understanding for me of
20:38why he does the things that he does.
20:40Because I didn't, when I first saw him and I was trying to get a read on him.
20:45But when Orange Cassidy is tapping the opponent, he's not actually trying to hurt them.
20:52And when you really think about it, when all the times you've seen Orange Cassidy tap the guy in the
20:57leg, have you ever seen anybody really, for the most part, nobody really, like, it doesn't really hurt.
21:02And if they are, they're kind of messing around and, you know what I mean?
21:05It's not like anybody, it's not like anybody's ever gotten beat with the Orange Cassidy kicks.
21:10It's not like anybody ever gets knocked.
21:11Because he's trying to get in the head of his opponent.
21:13And a lot of times it's worked because we see people snap and lose it because he freaks them out.
21:21And so I think there's a place for that if you can explain it.
21:27And in this case, Andrade and Ciampa are great wrestlers.
21:32And I do think it's a great question you're asking, but also in the context of AEW, I think there's
21:43a place to have fun.
21:44But also it's important to put it in the context that, yes, this is a sport.
21:51And after that, the commentary did make a point of addressing it that, you know, this is kind of mind
22:00games on the part of Ciampa.
22:01Was that, so is that part one of a two part question or was that the two part question?
22:04Great. Okay. Thank you.
22:06Hey, Tony. Montesino PR here.
22:11First of all, congratulations on all the pay-per-view.
22:13Thank you.
22:14I have a question for you regarding the women's division.
22:16I think the last couple of years we've seen a growth and improvement and evolution in the women's division.
22:22How you work on building the right team into the women's division and making it stronger every single year?
22:31Well, thank you.
22:31I keep trying to grow the roster of women and men here.
22:34So you've seen great signings of women and men in the last couple of years and continuing to try and
22:39grow and build the depth.
22:41We have a new world champion we crowned at Wembley Stadium.
22:45And tonight she made her first defense of the title.
22:48And she's been a great champion in AEW.
22:51She's the TBS champion and for numerous promotions, Mercedes Monet.
22:56And she defeated somebody who's been a great champion for us, Tekla.
23:01Somebody who's, of course, one third of the great trio, great champions for stardom, the triangle of madness.
23:09And we have a lot of great champions and great wrestlers here.
23:13Persephone is a great star for AEW and CMLL, a great world champion for CMLL.
23:18And she flew in, came in, and defended the championship for the TBS title on pay-per-view tonight.
23:25Persephone, absolutely fantastic.
23:28And another wrestler who embodies being a champion all over the world and a great champion in AEW.
23:33We have great world tag team champions, Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor.
23:37Originally, I had scheduled them to defend the tag team championship.
23:40We've crowned top contenders.
23:43Harley Cameron and Chris Statlander, Wrathlander, earned a championship match.
23:48And originally, I was hoping to have it tonight.
23:51But the Brawling Birds, after that crazy Chicago Street fight, Jamie Hayter, the former world champion,
23:57and the current world tag team champion Jamie Hayter, not cleared to wrestle tonight.
24:02But we will get to that match.
24:03We've got so many exciting things happening in the women's division
24:06and so many exciting possibilities and match-ups to come.
24:10So I think by growing the roster, signing more wrestlers, continuing to develop within,
24:16we saw a lot of our great homegrown wrestlers on the pay-per-view tonight,
24:21including in that TBS championship match.
24:24And on the tailgate brawl, great tag team match to kick things off on collision tonight.
24:29So I think AEW is where the best wrestle.
24:33We've continued to grow and build the roster.
24:35And by bringing in the best free agents and developing homegrown stars here in AEW,
24:40I think that's been a very successful recipe for us, also in Ring of Honor.
24:44There's so much great women's wrestling in Ring of Honor.
24:47And I love being able to have the very best of women's wrestling between the two companies
24:54and having women that compete in both companies for multiple championships.
24:58And I think it's helped us grow and improve both companies.
25:04And between AEW and Ring of Honor, I think so much of the best women's wrestling in the world
25:08takes place in these two promotions in a sport, women's wrestling,
25:13where there's great competition all over the world.
25:16Thank you.
25:21This will be for you, Tony.
25:23This is Mike C.
25:24I'm with Nico's Knows Best Podcast.
25:26I want to thank you for giving us a few good interviews in the past with Mariah May and Samoa
25:31Joe.
25:31I really appreciate that.
25:32I was going to follow up with the women's wrestling as well.
25:36You know, stacked.
25:37I mean, watching Mercedes and Tecla was the highlight, really, for me,
25:42that really brought me out, you know, tonight.
25:44I thought it was great.
25:44And, of course, Carnage, you know, was the main event we're going to do.
25:48But so many women that you had just talked about.
25:51I know that Toni Storm has been out and, you know, she had such a great run.
25:57We saw a little bit of Dr. Britt Baker, just kind of interesting.
26:01So I was just going to see if there were a few.
26:02And then Penelope Ford.
26:04Yeah.
26:04So stacked with everyone you have.
26:06But when you bring back the other ladies, tell me a little bit about plans, you know,
26:10especially for Toni and if Britt Baker, you know, as well, since she's from right here in Winter Park.
26:16Yeah, absolutely.
26:16Well, Britt Baker here in Florida and by way of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Britsburg, Pennsylvania.
26:24And it's been great having Britt back in AEW.
26:26And also she's formed a very successful pair with the TBS champion Persephone,
26:31who is also the CMLL World Women's Champion.
26:34And they teamed up in Arena Mexico last night and flew back here.
26:39And they were teaming up last night.
26:42And then Persephone came, defended the title tonight.
26:44And Britt was here.
26:46Persephone won the match without outside interference,
26:49because Britt has interfered in some of her matches tonight.
26:52Persephone did it on her own.
26:53She's a great wrestler.
26:54And those were great challengers.
26:56I would love to see any of them and all of them back in the ring with Persephone.
27:00And also could be some interesting pairs.
27:02Also, Britt got involved when Persephone won the title from Maya World, the former TBS champion.
27:08Maya World's been out injured.
27:09She's having a great 2026.
27:11Somebody who's really stepped up and filled in in what's been an incredible year.
27:17And I think the women's wrestling has been great.
27:19So a lot of exciting possibilities.
27:21Great to have Britt back, as you asked about.
27:23But also a lot of great things happening with the TBS title and her teammate lately, Persephone, the champ.
27:29Also, you asked about the former world champion, Timeless Tony Storm.
27:35Well, I know we've been missing Timeless Tony Storm, but everybody's just been doing absolutely fantastic.
27:42The women's wrestling and AW has seen the locker room absolutely step up in the absence of the former world
27:49champion.
27:49We have a great world champion now in Mercedes Monet, who's had her first successful defense of the world championship
27:55tonight.
27:56The former world champion, Timeless Tony Storm, is certainly on a lot of our minds.
28:01And I can't say when or where, but I know Timeless Tony Storm will be back in AW and looking
28:06to get payback for whoever it was that took her out.
28:10Thank you.
28:13Hi, Tony.
28:14Congrats on a great pay-per-view tonight.
28:17So, by the way, Ed, Landon Tourism for WPRK.
28:21I'm curious, since you mentioned you're very excited about the Skydance merger with Paramount and Warner Brothers.
28:30Yes.
28:31Have you had any conversations with the Ellersons about the future of AEW?
28:36Yes.
28:37I've had a conversation with David Ellison about the future of AEW.
28:40I've had a few great conversations with David Ellison about AEW.
28:44And he is very excited to be partner in AEW with us and to be now Skydance means Warner Brothers
28:55and Paramount under the same roof.
28:57And this means more exciting opportunities, more resources.
29:01Warner Brothers is going to be stronger.
29:03I think this is such a great option.
29:06There were two great buyers, but in the end, this was the solution that made sense for so many reasons.
29:15For David Ellison, who's going to be a great leader for Warner Brothers.
29:19I think he's been fantastic for Paramount and he's a great partner for us with the NFL.
29:24And he's going to be a great partner for AEW with Warner Brothers.
29:29He's somebody who's the same age as me.
29:31He's a wrestling fan.
29:33I think that's really exciting for us.
29:35And also, he wanted to keep TBS and TNT and Warner Brothers Studio and streaming under the same roof.
29:44And for us, that's important because we're on HBO Max and we're on TBS and TNT.
29:48And this is a plan that makes a lot of sense for everyone in AEW because it was very important
29:55and very exciting for AEW to get Warner Brothers Discovery to not only put together this great renewal in 2024
30:04with us, to continue for years this successful run.
30:08Now with AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite, the longest running primetime pro wrestling show in the history of TBS and TNT.
30:15We got Collision on Saturday nights.
30:18We have great wrestling on Collision on Saturday nights, including an awesome tailgate brawl tonight.
30:24And keeping what we have going with TBS, TNT and HBO Max, it makes a lot of sense.
30:31It was a huge step for us to add HBO Max a couple of years ago and keeping the whole
30:36company strong together.
30:38It's a fantastic situation for us.
30:41And so for many reasons, this is really exciting.
30:46And I've said for a long time, very openly before the merger went through, I was very outspoken that I
30:52think this was the best option for us.
30:54And I was very optimistic about it.
30:57And now it has gone through and I will continue to say I think this is excellent for us.
31:02And to your point, yes, I've had really good talks with David Ellison, several good conversations with him.
31:09And I'm really excited that he is going to be running Skydance with Warner Brothers and Paramount under one company.
31:19And also that we have great leadership and continuity at Warner Brothers with top executives who are going to continue
31:26that we've had a great relationship with, like Channing Dungy, who's been a great supporter for AEW with Warner Brothers
31:33TV.
31:34And J.B. Perret, who's been a fantastic supporter with Warner Brothers for all things AEW TV and streaming and
31:41business and the pay-per-view business, which has really grown and is having a great year in 2026 in
31:47terms of the quality of the pay-per-views and the numbers.
31:51The pay-per-view numbers keep growing year over year.
31:53This has been an awesome year and we kept it going tonight.
31:59Thank you.
32:02Hey, Tony.
32:03Jay with Behind the Ropes Media and Nico knows best.
32:06Congrats on your triumph tonight in Orlando, Florida.
32:09My question has been since last year.
32:12I actually had this question written down for a while now for you.
32:16AEW has not only established itself as a major force in professional wrestling, but has arguably surpassed what WCW achieved.
32:23in terms of longevity, innovation, and fan loyalty.
32:27What do you believe has been the key to AEW's sustained success where others like WCW ultimately stumbled?
32:35First of all, I would say I very much appreciate those sentiments, but I would want to make it clear.
32:43I'm not saying that, and I think that's an awesome opinion.
32:47I really appreciate it.
32:50I still think there's so much we can do and grow and accomplish.
32:55And AEW, I want to go out every week and continue to build.
32:58I think AEW is having an awesome 2026.
33:01I am so proud that last year, that Wednesday Night Dynamite, AEW became the longest running primetime pro wrestling show
33:11ever on TBS and TNT.
33:13And that was a major milestone.
33:16And recently we celebrated seven years of Wednesday Night Dynamite.
33:22I didn't talk about it at all for an important reason.
33:25Because the show where we were going to talk about this and it was going to be the seven year
33:30anniversary show, it was far more important to celebrate the life of PAC.
33:35And what would have been seven years of Wednesday Night Dynamite where we would have marked this, it wasn't the
33:46most important milestone.
33:49What was way more important to celebrate was Ben's life and all the great things he accomplished and to put
33:55on a show that celebrated his life and to encapsulate that in one night.
34:00Not to try to advertise, not to build up tonight's AEW WrestleDream, even though we had a great pay-per
34:05-view tonight.
34:06In Pittsburgh, it wasn't about building up tonight's show.
34:09It wasn't about building up Grand Slam France.
34:11It was about putting together one night tribute that was the perfect tribute and Ben's in our hearts every night.
34:19And as far as a one night tribute show, that was the best we could do.
34:24It was perfect.
34:25And I think everybody who participated gave it their very best for him.
34:30And so that would have been where we would have talked a lot about the seven year anniversary.
34:38And then, of course, went to Grand Slam France and just been really pushing and pushing ever since and trying
34:49to bring the very best.
34:51It's great to hit these milestones and to celebrate these things like spring breakthrough last year.
34:56And we got so much great press in major publications, the PR team and all of us, myself, really pushed.
35:03And we were able to get articles that I was able to send to all the top executives who supported
35:09us for a long time.
35:10Even though there's been a transition, I really appreciate for years we got great support from David Zasloff and Bruce
35:17Campbell
35:17and the people who ran Warner Brothers Discovery for a long time to get us to this point of the
35:23transition now that David Ellison and the great Skydance team
35:27and a lot of the same top executives from Warner Brothers are now running the show now.
35:32And we got great support for years.
35:34I was able to send to a lot of the executives that are still our bosses today and the team
35:41that led us for a long time
35:42and show them how much support there was for AEW and what a huge milestone this was at Spring Breakthrough
35:48in Boston a year and a half ago.
35:51And a year and a half later, we just had a seven year anniversary of Dynamite.
35:56There's still so much to do and so much to accomplish and that's what I'm really proud of.
36:00So being able to continue and grow, having a year to me to reiterate that I think has been tremendous.
36:09Last year was a great year for us and it was a huge step forward from 2025.
36:13The viewership went up.
36:15We added HBO Max and the viewership went up because I think the quality went up in 2025.
36:22And then in 2026, the viewership has continued to grow on TBS and we've built more of a streaming audience.
36:29The pay-per-views on HBO Max have grown.
36:31And I think the quality of the shows, which is subjective, that I also think has gotten better.
36:36What is not subjective, what's a fact is the viewership.
36:39More people are watching AEW on TV this year than last year.
36:42And more people watched last year than the year before.
36:45So we've continued to go up in viewership on TBS.
36:48And that doesn't include the gains on streaming.
36:52The people we've added, which went, you know, we started from square one.
36:56We had no streaming viewers on HBO Max in 2024.
36:59And that's all additional.
37:01The pay-per-view business has really grown.
37:03The shows have been really good.
37:05Just want to keep doing that week to week to week.
37:07I'm really proud.
37:08And also I feel like there's a very high expectation.
37:13And it's a good thing.
37:16Even if people expect every dynamite to be the greatest dynamite and have all the great wrestling, that's good.
37:22I want people to feel that way.
37:24And it puts pressure on us to deliver great shows every week.
37:28So what I've said before, I'm trying to pick out 20 shows across the pay-per-views and the dynamites
37:32and the collisions.
37:33It's hard because the wrestlers go out and wrestle so hard every week.
37:36And the fans support the show.
37:38And every week people tune into the show expecting great things.
37:42And very often we deliver great things.
37:44And I think setting a high standard for ourselves with our fans to make the show must-watch for dynamite.
37:52And also for the wrestlers to go out and wrestle so hard on collision every week.
37:56And to set the tone where every pay-per-view is worth the money.
38:00Whether you buy a ticket or a pay-per-view.
38:03If we can keep doing that, that's success.
38:05So I just want to keep doing those things.
38:08Because the last couple of years we've continued to grow and build.
38:11And if we keep doing that, then that's going to be success.
38:14You don't have to do it all in one night or one week.
38:16And I feel like we've really made a lot of progress in the last couple of years.
38:21We've built up and up and up.
38:22And I think that's undeniable.
38:25But just on a business case.
38:27And then I think the shows have been even better and better too.
38:31That's subjective.
38:32That's just my opinion.
38:33But it's just a fact.
38:35More people are watching the shows.
38:37And we're having bigger and bigger business and revenue in the last few years.
38:40Thank you.
38:43Hi.
38:44Astrid from Astrid Asse and BodySem.net.
38:46First of all, congrats on this amazing pay-per-view tonight.
38:49My question was, as somebody that loves women's wrestling, I would love to see the club work coverage as part
38:54of the women's wrestling.
38:56Women's division sometime in the future.
38:57Is it something that could be possible?
38:59Yeah, I think so.
39:00I think it would be great.
39:01I really enjoyed the match in Eve.
39:03And I thought the match tonight was fantastic for the men.
39:06And the first casino gauntlet match I did was for the men.
39:10But I loved putting the casino gauntlet match together for the women.
39:12My favorite one probably was the one we did in Texas.
39:14I thought came out great.
39:16It was a very hard-hitting match.
39:17A lot of people got injured out of that match.
39:19And that's what I talk about coming out of the pay-per-views.
39:22I had plans coming out of that awesome match.
39:24There were 12 women in the match, all in Texas.
39:27And I thought that was one of the best casino gauntlet matches we've ever had anywhere,
39:31was the women's casino gauntlet match there.
39:34And unfortunately, there was a lot of injuries coming out of it.
39:36And I had to change up a lot of things after that.
39:39But that's the things we talk about, where having a really deep roster is really important.
39:45And just like that was a great adaptation of the casino gauntlet match that began, like I was mentioning,
39:52in Jacksonville and L.A. with Will Ospreay winning the first couple of those matches.
39:58Definitely, I think Clockwork Carnage could be excellent.
40:00Now, I did make some changes after I watched Will Ospreay's Clockwork Carnage match.
40:05I added these qualifiers.
40:07I said no outside interference whatsoever as a rule to establish.
40:11We're going to have these exciting matches.
40:13And also, changed it from two minutes to three minutes between entries,
40:19because I felt like that would probably make more sense and allow things more time to breathe on the pay
40:23-per-view,
40:24which I thought was a great pay-per-view and a good length on a Saturday night.
40:29Thank you for asking.
40:31Okay, Tony, last question right here.
40:34Tony, how you doing, Alan Owens?
40:36One of the hardest things in professional wrestling is to attract outside fans outside of professional wrestling.
40:42And there is actually a member of your roster that I've got to collaborate a few times with that every
40:48time I post a video with him,
40:49I always get asked, who is this guy? How do I see more of him? And that's a Leo Rush.
40:54Leo Rush has been doing amazing work on social media.
40:57And the Blackheart character is something that everyone has always asked me.
41:02How do I learn more about this? How do I see more of this?
41:04How do I point me in the direction where I can watch?
41:07And we haven't really been seeing too much of him on AEW television.
41:11How much does the social media aspect of characters and these wrestlers, I guess, dictate how much you use them
41:18or maybe potentially use them more?
41:21Well, I really like Leo and Leo's character and Leo's personality as the Blackheart is something of a wildcard.
41:30So he can show up unpredictable times and places. And he's been a big part of AEW at times.
41:36He's also been a big part of Ring of Honor at times this year.
41:39And I think we're having a very good year of Ring of Honor.
41:42I thought the Death Before Dishonor, the last pay-per-view that we did in ROH, was very good.
41:46And the last TV taping we did for ROH was voluntary.
41:51And we've had a couple of the shows air, including the one this Thursday with Matt Seidel versus Brian Keith.
41:57And there's some really good matches on these tapings. I thought the high-end versus Billy Starks was excellent.
42:04AR Fox versus Bandito for the world title was tremendous with Bandito putting the pack armband around the championship.
42:13And Leo Rush has been a big part of ROH.
42:16And that ROH taping we did 48 hours after All Out, 48 hours after our last scrum, 24 hours after
42:26we learned that PAC had passed.
42:28The call time was, I think, 21 hours after maybe 20 hours or so after most of us had first
42:39found out about PAC passing away.
42:42And I put out the announcement as soon as possible that the show was voluntary.
42:46And understandably, a number of people could not make it to the taping.
42:51I think it was a very hard day to get through.
42:56Also, it was unthinkable when we scheduled the taping that this would be the circumstance.
43:06But it was good for a lot of us to get through together.
43:10I think some of you were actually at that taping.
43:12And by the time we got to the main event of AR Fox and Bandito for the world title, the
43:19match that aired recently on ROH, I felt like we'd all really been through something.
43:23But also, if you really do watch the shows, I feel like people kind of might talk about a version
43:28of ROH from a few years ago.
43:30And I feel like it's worth checking it out right now because there are very good stories and a lot
43:35of great action, very competitive matches week to week.
43:38And you might be talking about an ROH you saw a couple years ago.
43:41But a lot of the things I hear and see people say about ROH make me think that the people
43:46saying that maybe haven't seen the show in a few years.
43:49So I think it's really worth checking it out because there's a lot of very good action and there are
43:53very good stories that we put together.
43:54And the people who worked the tapings worked really hard and the fans were excellent.
43:58A few of you who were here and also a group of families that came to the show and sat
44:04through everything.
44:05And those kids made so much noise.
44:09And you really felt like and again, we had these TV tapings for ROH and it's free to get in
44:16for everybody.
44:17And the fans who stayed from start to finish, I thought were absolutely fantastic.
44:22And there's still a couple of shows left on those tapings.
44:24So really good stuff happening in ROH as well.
44:29And Leo's been a big part of that this year.
44:31Bandido, who was up here as a champion, has been a big part of that.
44:34Athena has been instrumental for years as the world champion.
44:38And Athena has beaten a lot of great wrestlers.
44:41And a lot of those great wrestlers have gone on to be in the mix for the top spots.
44:45And Athena at times here in AEW herself has been in the mix in great matches, including that gauntlet match
44:50I mentioned.
44:52And there's so many great wrestlers in ROH like Leo, who you mentioned, has been a great TV champion.
44:58Lee Moriarty as the pure champion has been absolutely fantastic.
45:03And it's a great vehicle.
45:05For many years before I owned ROH, there was a great connection with Lucha Libre.
45:10And there still is with great Lucha Libre wrestlers, including the world tag team champions,
45:16Mystico and Dorada, who've been globetrotting to defend the titles now in Arena Mexico.
45:21But also, Mystico has been in Japan recently.
45:26Masca Dorada also overseas.
45:28So both of them have been very involved and will be continuing to be part of the tag division.
45:34Pure wrestling, I think, as I mentioned with Lee Moriarty, has been a calling card for ROH.
45:38And I was pleased to be able to bring women's pure wrestling to ROH.
45:42And I think there's been some great matches there as well.
45:45And so, yeah, I think with Leo, he brings a lot of great attributes to the table.
45:52He's certainly unpredictable.
45:53And you never know where he's going to show up between AEW and ROH.
45:56And he is somebody that has a great connection with the fans that I've always really admired Leo as a
46:01wrestler.
46:02I've never made any secret of that.
46:04At one point, I tried to mentor Leo into being a young financial guru
46:11because I saw maybe some of myself in Leo, but now I see there's maybe some of myself in Leo,
46:17but we're very, very different people.
46:19But I am a big fan of Leo.
46:23And thank you for that.
46:24Did everybody get to ask a question?
46:26Is there anybody here that wants to ask something that didn't get to ask?
46:29Or did everyone get to ask a question tonight?
46:31Great.
46:31I really appreciate you all being here tonight.
46:33I thought it was a great pay-per-view.
46:35Thank you for staying.
46:37We had great guests up here.
46:39Renee did a great job moderating.
46:41And I wanted to make sure if you all came out, you got to ask a question.
46:45A lot of you have been covering AEW from the very beginning.
46:49AEW, we first announced we're launching this promotion up the road in Jacksonville.
46:55And a number of you were there in 2019 when we first announced this.
47:00And you've been covering pay-per-views, including a few great pay-per-views in this arena.
47:05I appreciate you all being here tonight and everybody watching at home.
47:10If you ordered the pay-per-view, I hope you felt like you got your money's worth.
47:13We really tried to put on another great show.
47:16I think we're having a great year of pay-per-views.
47:18And the fans in the arena were tremendous.
47:20I can't wait to bring another great pay-per-view here to Orlando.
47:24I look forward to having another huge AEW event here in the great state of Florida with blood and guts.
47:32November 4th, I look forward to being in Miami.
47:35This Wednesday, we'll have the debut of Dragunov.
47:39Will Ospreay says he's cleared.
47:41And I'm going to go check on that now and figure out which wrestlers are able to wrestle and aren't.
47:46And we'll be working with the doctor.
47:49We got the Jags game tomorrow.
47:50It's a big weekend.
47:52And then AEW in Miami this Wednesday.
47:54Renee, thank you for staying and doing this.
47:57You're such a great host.
47:58And you were all great to stay and ask these questions.
48:01Thank you for being here.
48:02God bless you and get home safe.
48:03Thank you.
48:04Bye, guys.
48:09Bye.
48:10Bye.