AEW fans got a nasty surprise during the September 16, 2026 episode of AEW Dynamite when HBO Max suddenly locked some Basic With Ads subscribers out of the live stream. Instead of Dynamite, viewers were hit with a screen telling them to switch plans — meaning some fans who were already paying for Max were suddenly being asked to cough up even more money to watch AEW.
Screenshots started spreading across social media almost immediately. The Max upgrade screen showed the $10.99-per-month Basic With Ads plan as the viewer’s current subscription, while the $18.49 Standard and $22.99 Premium options advertised access to live sports. One frustrated fan summed up the situation after getting locked out without any advance notice.
“Thanks for no warning #aew @hbomax”
Another viewer was considerably more direct after being greeted by the unexpected upgrade demand.
“The f*ck? @hbomax”
Ringside News was also tagged by a fan who pointed out exactly how much extra money Max appeared to be demanding just to get Dynamite back on the screen.
“No warning, just pay up more now. Price: $10.99/month with Ads Price: $18.49/month no ads, to watch AEW Shows.”
The good news is that fans quickly started finding ways around the problem, which is another major sign that this was a Max technical issue instead of an actual AEW subscription change. One Roku user said completely restarting the device was enough to get Dynamite working again. That viewer explained the fix simply.
“Had to reset start my Roku to get it to work.”
So, anyone getting the upgrade message on Roku may want to fully restart the device and reopen Max before spending another dollar. It isn’t guaranteed to work for everybody, but at least one affected viewer said that was enough to get past the screen and restore access.
The situation was especially strange because AEW programming has previously been available to Max subscribers on the Basic With Ads tier, and there was no announcement from AEW or HBO Max before Dynamite telling fans they would suddenly need Standard or Premium. Other upcoming AEW programming also wasn’t consistently showing the same restriction, making the sudden paywall look even more like something went wrong on Max’s end.
This isn’t the first time Max users have run into an issue like this either. Basic subscribers have previously been temporarily told they needed a more expensive plan to watch Dynamite before access eventually returned, and tonight’s mess appears to have followed a very similar pattern.
For fans who were already sitting down ready to watch Dynamite, getting smacked with an unexpected $18.49-per-month upgrade demand was a brutal way to start the night. At least the Roku restart workaround gives affected viewers something to try before handing Max another eight bucks every month for a problem that may have never required an upgrade in the first place.
Did restarting your Roku or another streaming device fix AEW Dynamite on Max for you, or are you still getting the upgrade screen? Let us know what happened in the comments.
