Wrestling Wednesday: After 20 Years, AEW Brings Pro Wrestling Back to TBS
It’s been so long since professional wrestling has been broadcasted on TBS that I’ve never seen a match aired on the network. TBS last broadcasted pro wrestling in 2001, which was a few years after my fandom ended. Tonight, after 20 years, AEW brings pro wrestling back to the network responsible for the biggest growth spurt the industry ever enjoyed.
Outside of Vince McMahon, Ted Turner is most responsible for the growth of professional wrestling. TBS broadcasted more pro wrestling events during wrestling’s biggest boom than any other network. Georgia Championship Wrestling, owned by Jim Barnett, aired on TBS from 1971 to 1984. Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (WWF) aired on TBS for two years after, and what became World Championship Wrestling (WCW) aired from 1988 to 2001. Wrestling shows were among basic cable’s highest-rated programming in the early 1990s, due to heavy viewership in the Southeastern United States. With TBS originally being broadcasted locally from Atlanta and reaching much of the Southeastern U.S. even in the ’70s, it was the perfect home for pro wrestling to flourish.
As TNT makes room for more sports in the form of National Hockey League games, AEW Dynamite debuts on TBS tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The move makes sense and cents for Turner Broadcasting. It allows for the airing of more men’s sports on TNT, which helps the sixth-most viewed network in 2020 better compete with ESPN, the second-most viewed network. It also moves a pro wrestling show reaching nearly as many viewers aged 18 to 49 as WWE’s shows to a network that lost 14 percent of its viewers in that age range the last two years. The move will likely result in AEW Dynamite reaching new viewers, too, as loyal TBS viewers are introduced to the show. It’s a win-win for Ted Turner and Tony Khan.
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As AEW Rampage, an hour-long show on Friday nights, becomes the home of TNT Championship title matches (a men’s championship), AEW Dynamite will be the home of TBS Championship title matches (a women’s championship). But the card for tonight’s AEW Dynamite debut on TBS is so loaded that the TBS Championship match between Jade Cargill and Ruby Soho won’t be the main event. It will air before both the AEW Tag Team Championship match between the Lucha Bros. and Jurassic Express, and the sequel to the 60-minute, championship draw between Hangman Adam Page and Bryan Danielson.
I’ve written at length about the need for all sports and entertainment industries, especially pro wrestling, to feature more females in high-profile roles, from coverage to commentary to competition. Even after the Page/Danielson 60-minute, championship draw, my favorite, all-time match remains the unsanctioned “Lights Out” match between Thunder Rosa and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., which was a main event match worthy of the billing. And after Tay Conti, Anna Jay, Penelope Ford, and The Bunny outperformed a men’s main event match between Cody Rhodes and All Ego Ethan Page for the TNT Championship on AEW Rampage New Year’s Bash, I hope the move of AEW Dynamite to TBS and the advent of the TBS Championship will result in more women’s pro wrestling main event matches.
For now, though, I’m happy AEW has yet another opportunity to grow its audience and compete with WWE Raw and WWE NXT. Speaking of WWE NXT, congratulations to Fallon Henley (formerly Tesha Price with AEW) on her WWE NXT contract. I hope WWE treats you better than it treated a lot of the professional wrestlers now making AEW a contender for the pro wrestling TV ratings championship.
