Tony Khan reveals length of Battle of the Belts special

[Big Red Machine]

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2021/12/20 ... s-special/

BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH ASSISTANT EDITOR

December 20, 2021


Tony Khan has confirmed that AEW’s upcoming Battle of the Belts special on TNT will be an hour long. Khan joined the Culture State podcast on Monday and revealed the length and said that all of the AEW titles would not be on the line during the show.

“No, it’s a one hour show,” Khan said. “It’s a one hour event, so I can’t put every belt on the line, but it’s a great chance on a Saturday night to expand the reach of AEW by giving the fans great championship matches on a Saturday night, which is a night we know people love watching wrestling … so, there’s going to be big championship matches, I’m very excited about it, and there’s announcements to come.”

Battle of the Belts is the first TNT special that was negotiated into AEW’s television contract earlier this year. The company will hold four TNT events each year. AEW Dynamite will move to TBS on January 5. Battle of the Belts is on January 8.

[Big Red Machine]

That's lame.

[Thelone]

And yet not too surprising. This is the kind of things that makes people think that the relationship between Warner and AEW isn't exactly all rainbows and unicorns like Khan would like you to believe. Again, no one is saying that they're going to be cancelled and dead in six months or whatever, but this should be a bit concerning that the main show is relegated on TBS in two weeks, Rampage has a shitty timeslot, and those specials will be anything but it seems like. All this dEmO talk means nothing when they're bumped down for fucking hockey, which does a third of the overall viewership and half the precious demo of any random Dynamite.

[cero2k]

This is not a surprise, it's been the reported length since they signed the contract for these shows months ago, they didn't get their time cut or anything, they're just an extra special, it's actually TNT giving AEW MORE time.

As for the TBS thing, it's not a demotion, it's never been, it's a move that will benefit AEW because they're not gonna get moved around for sports. This is the US, sports may be more important than religion, and even if AEW gets better demos, an NHL or NBA contract is faaaar superior

[Big Red Machine]

This is not a surprise, it's been the reported length since they signed the contract for these shows months ago, they didn't get their time cut or anything, they're just an extra special, it's actually TNT giving AEW MORE time.

Yeah, it's more time, but the last thing you want is for your special to feel small, and a one-hour show will do that unless you've got some sort of gimmick like no commercials.

[cero2k]

This is not a surprise, it's been the reported length since they signed the contract for these shows months ago, they didn't get their time cut or anything, they're just an extra special, it's actually TNT giving AEW MORE time.

Yeah, it's more time, but the last thing you want is for your special to feel small, and a one-hour show will do that unless you've got some sort of gimmick like no commercials.

it depends how they sell the show, if they pretend it's a PPV or a packed show, then yeah, it'll feel small, but if you sell it like "The First Dance" or whatever it was called, it can be looked like a bigger deal than it is. Going back to LU, Aztec Warfares and All Night Longs felt special and they were just one hour

[Big Red Machine]

This is not a surprise, it's been the reported length since they signed the contract for these shows months ago, they didn't get their time cut or anything, they're just an extra special, it's actually TNT giving AEW MORE time.

Yeah, it's more time, but the last thing you want is for your special to feel small, and a one-hour show will do that unless you've got some sort of gimmick like no commercials.

it depends how they sell the show, if they pretend it's a PPV or a packed show, then yeah, it'll feel small, but if you sell it like "The First Dance" or whatever it was called, it can be looked like a bigger deal than it is. Going back to LU, Aztec Warfares and All Night Longs felt special and they were just one hour

Right, but that's because those were them dedicating the whole show to one match (it also worked for FCW with the Rollins vs. Ambrose Ironman match). But Tony has said they won't be doing that.

[XIV]

“Battle of the belts”

But we’re gonna put a few up. I feel like they could have saved this title for a special Dynamite episode and have all titles defended seeing as they only have 5 at this point.

[Thelone]

This is not a surprise, it's been the reported length since they signed the contract for these shows months ago, they didn't get their time cut or anything, they're just an extra special, it's actually TNT giving AEW MORE time.

I think the specials being only sixty minutes is a bit of a surprise actually. I remember reading that they were going to be 90 because that was the lenght of a Clash of the Champions back in the day. Yes, it is technically more TV time for AEW on Warner's channels, but this feels like a complete "sure, throw them in there, whatever" if I ever saw one. Also, how useful could those quarterly specials possibly be when they're doing big Dynamites fairly regularly already, like literally the last two weeks?

As for the TBS thing, it's not a demotion, it's never been, it's a move that will benefit AEW because they're not gonna get moved around for sports. This is the US, sports may be more important than religion, and even if AEW gets better demos, an NHL or NBA contract is faaaar superior

Stability is important and those delayed Dynamites have been a momentum killer for sure, but this is a demotion for AEW nonetheless.

It's probably a bit of an "apples and oranges" comparison, but I remember when TNA moved from Destination America to Pop TV and some people were saying that it might not be a bad move because Pop was available in more homes than DA, then the first rating came out and was like half of what the last episode on DA did. Of course, the tiny difference in reach between TNT and TBS isn't going to change anything (isn't that like less than a million?), but TBS just seems to be a much less relevant channel nowadays than TNT. Personally, I totally expect AEW to lose between 100 and 200k viewers with the move and to be stuck there until renewal time.

[cero2k]

I think the specials being only sixty minutes is a bit of a surprise actually. I remember reading that they were going to be 90 because that was the lenght of a Clash of the Champions back in the day. Yes, it is technically more TV time for AEW on Warner's channels, but this feels like a complete "sure, throw them in there, whatever" if I ever saw one. Also, how useful could those quarterly specials possibly be when they're doing big Dynamites fairly regularly already, like literally the last two weeks?

Meltzer has been complaining that they're one hour shows for many months

" feels like a complete "sure, throw them in there, whatever" if I ever saw one"
lol, so? hate is as much as you want, it's still more time for AEW, time that they could had given to someone else

Stability is important and those delayed Dynamites have been a momentum killer for sure, but this is a demotion for AEW nonetheless.

It's probably a bit of an "apples and oranges" comparison, but I remember when TNA moved from Destination America to Pop TV and some people were saying that it might not be a bad move because Pop was available in more homes than DA, then the first rating came out and was like half of what the last episode on DA did. Of course, the tiny difference in reach between TNT and TBS isn't going to change anything (isn't that like less than a million?), but TBS just seems to be a much less relevant channel nowadays than TNT. Personally, I totally expect AEW to lose between 100 and 200k viewers with the move and to be stuck there until renewal time.

it's a lateral move at the worst, not only did they sign for significantly more money, but TNT is only 'bigger' because of the NBA, take away the NBA and TNT and TBS have about the same viewership, and it's not like AEW gets the NBA lead-in anyway. In no universe is this a 'demotion'.