Report: All Elite Wrestling TV deal with Turner imminent

It looks like All Elite Wrestling’s television partner will be revealed soon and, as expected, Turner appears to be the landing spot.

It’s been long-rumored that All Elite Wrestling, the Tony Khan-backed upstart pro wrestling promotion that counts Cody, The Young Bucks, Adam Page and Kenny Omega among their Executive Vice Presidents, would eventually finalize a television deal with Turner. And, according to a Thursday report by The Wrap’s Tony Maglio, we’re less than a week away from the AEW-Turner partnership being made official.

Maglio reports that a source has called the AEW-Turner deal, “virtually done,” with the two expected to announce it an hour ahead of WarnerMedia’s Wednesday, May 15 upfronts. WarnerMedia is the parent company of Turner. It’s expected that AEW’s televised show will air on TNT, which was once the home of WCW’s Monday Nitro, the flagship show of the time’s primary competition for the WWE from 1995 until 2001. The AEW presentation is expected to take place at Madison Square Garden.

As of The Wrap’s publication, Turner declined to comment on the report; AEW has yet to respond to FanSided’s request for comment.

Also notable from Maglio’s report is that the pre-show for AEW’s inaugural event, Double or Nothing, set for May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, will be streaming live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. On Wednesday, AEW announced that Double or Nothing would be available on pay-per-view in the United Kingdom via ITV Box Office, but did not include any information about how the event will be available domestically.

It’s expected that AEW will have a weekly show, ostensibly on TNT if Thursday’s report proves accurate, starting in the fall. In October, WWE’s SmackDown Live heads from Tuesday nights on the USA Network to Friday nights on FOX; it’s possible that AEW’s show airs on Tuesdays to fill the void.