Details On Changes To AEW's Presentation Since Signing New Media Rights Deal

January 1, 2025, marked the beginning of a new era for AEW as the company's new media rights deal with Warner Brothers Discovery officially began. With the deal worth around $585 million, many people wondered heading into the new year where that money would go, and a recent report from "Fightful Select" has given some insight into what presentation changes have been made.

The most noticeable change has been the use of pyro, which was being saved for pay-per-view events and major TV specials in the spring of 2024. However, this has only been used for Kenny Omega at the time of writing, but that could change going forward. The LED boards around ringside returned at the Worlds End pay-per-view and have remained since the turn of the new year after originally being shelved in the summer as they are reportedly expensive, hence why regular barricades are still being used on sides of the ring that are not facing the hard camera.

"Fightful's" Sean Ross Sapp noted that he couldn't personally comment on how large or busy the company's merchandise stands have been in recent months. But having attended the Maximum Carnage edition of "AEW Dynamite" in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 15, he claimed that the merchandise stand was the biggest AEW has ever brought to the city. 

The $585 million isn't a lump sum that AEW has been given at once, as a "Wrestling Observer" report noted that the company gets around $3.5 million per week with the new deal. It is currently unclear how many changes will be made to their pay-per-view presentations. But with the changes already made to TV, one can assume they will pump money into their biggest events too.