AEW has quickly risen to become the second-biggest wrestling show in the United States, in just their fourth year in business.
With them set to put on the biggest wrestling event of all time, All Elite Wrestling has come on leaps and bounds from their first show in 2019 (Double or Nothing 2019).
They went from being a “t-shirt company” to selling out Wembley Stadium and having three network TV shows on the air every week.
But why does AEW have three TV Shows? In this article, we’ll explain everything.
Why Does AEW Have Three Shows?
AEW has three different shows to showcase three different types of wrestling, while giving opportunities to every wrestler on their roster.
The three TV shows that AEW currently broadcast weekly, on TBS and TNT, are:
- AEW Dynamite (Wednesday)
- AEW Rampage (Friday)
- AEW Collision (Saturday)
With AEW Dynamite (their flagship show) being two hours long, it cannot feature every single one of the wrestlers on their giant roster.
Dynamite was created in 2019 as AEW’s answer to Monday Night Raw – the main show for the company where they build stories and put on great matches, to build up to huge matches on pay per view.
Because AEW traditionally only did four pay per views per year (although 2023 has added All in and Forbidden Door to make that six), Dynamite was the host of many top matches that could have been pay per view matches, but were given TV time instead.
After two years on the air, Dynamite was joined by AEW Rampage. This hour-long spectacle was added to the schedule on TNT when AEW signed a new deal with Time Warner.
Live sports were a huge money-maker for the TV company, and wanted Tony Khan to add another hour of programming to it’s schedule.
The show was originally the place where some of the top stars wrestled, and big matches took place. Kenny Omega lost the AEW Championship to Christian Cage on the first episode, starting it off with a bang.
In the second episode, it got even bigger. Over a million people tuned in to see CM Punk make his grand return to wrestling, seven years after walking out of the WWE.
He wrestled exclusively on Rampage for a while, positioning the show as a must-watch for fans of the former WWE Champion.
Sadly, the Friday Night time slot for Rampage meant lower views, and lower interest. Over time, the show got less and less important, and big matches were quickly moved away from the show.
It still featured many matches, but usually featuring mid-card talent. Stories took place on Rampage that were not seen on Dynamite, leaving fans to miss out on some great stories altogether.
In 2023, CM Punk’s return to AEW marked the start of a brand-new TV show on Saturday Nights. AEW Collision saw the enforcement of a soft-brand split, with half the roster calling Dynamite home, while half regularly appeared on Collision.
This Saturday night show became a huge hit, with stars like CM Punk, Jay White, FTR and Christian Cage making it must-see TV every week.
AEW added Collision because the network wanted more wrestling to sign a big-money TV deal with Tony Khan, and wanted a show with CM Punk as the top star on it.
With the removal of Youtube shows AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation, the three AEW shows promised three very different products – something that is great for AEW fans to sink their teeth into.
Which of AEW’s three shows is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section, or click below to read about the best AEW matches of all time.