Tony Khan believes AEW is having one of its strongest years yet, and he says the company’s television numbers are only part of the story.
While speaking to Yahoo Finance, the AEW President was asked whether the company had achieved the vision he had when he launched it seven years ago. Khan said AEW has not only survived, but continues to grow across television, streaming and pay-per-view. Khan pointed to the company’s media recognition from the previous year before claiming AEW’s audience has grown by double digits during the first half of 2026.
“Absolutely, yes. My vision and dream was to be able to put on wrestling and have it be a lasting thing, and bring wrestling back to TBS and TNT, where I grew up watching wrestling. Thankfully, we’ve been able to do that.
“We started having Wednesday Night Dynamite in 2019. The show still runs on TBS every Wednesday, and then we have Collision every Saturday. This is my dream, to be able to keep the show strong, and the show is thriving.
“Last year, Sports Illustrated voted AEW the best wrestling promotion in the world. Also, a number of major media companies, including Yahoo, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the New York Post, all awarded AEW the best wrestling event of the year. These are awards we hadn’t won the year before, so to be able to stack up all these awards last year showed we’re making progress.
“This year, I feel we’re doing even better in 2026. Halfway into the year, our viewership is up double digits. We’re trending in a great direction. AEW is doing really well on TV, but also our major pay-per-view events are way up.
“Why? I think the quality of the wrestling has been very consistent and keeps getting better. People love seeing the best matchups and the great rivalries.”
Khan then brought up the Beach Break edition of Dynamite, which featured Kenny Omega defeating MJF for the AEW World Championship. According to Khan, it delivered the company’s biggest TBS audience since Blood and Guts in July 2024. He also argued that comparing the two episodes through traditional television ratings does not show the complete picture because AEW now streams simultaneously on HBO Max.
“We just had our most-watched episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite in years for the big Beach Break show last week, with MJF versus Kenny Omega for the World Championship.
“Last week was our highest viewership in years on TBS, and it was the most since our big Blood and Guts cage match in 2024. Two years ago, we weren’t streaming on HBO Max yet, so the viewership now, the true viewership, is actually much higher because not only do we have the TBS viewers, but we also have the streaming viewership.
“In reality, this is the hottest and most viewers we’ve had in a long time, if ever. It feels like the excitement around AEW today is at an all-time high.”
Khan is clearly happy with AEW’s current direction, but the real test will be whether the company can keep that momentum going through All In at Wembley Stadium and the rest of 2026.
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Do you think AEW is hotter now than it has been in previous years, or is Tony Khan overselling the company’s current momentum? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
