AEW began production on their new reality series for Warner Bros. Discovery this week.
A new report from PWInsider notes that a camera crew was backstage at the Chesapeake Arena in Baltimore, MD for Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, filming talents for the series. The crew was also backstage for last night’s AEW Rampage from the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.
The series will reportedly focus on the behind-the-scenes aspect of AEW as seen through the experiences of several wrestlers, who will be the focal point of the series.
There’s still no word on when the series will premiere, and if it will air on TBS or TNT, or some other WBD network. However, a report from May indicted that the show may air on TBS.
It was reported back in May how WBD issued an e-mail to members of a mailing list to gauge feedback on the potential name of a new AEW series that would see season 1 premiere on TBS soon. There’s no word yet on if any of these names are being considered for the new show, but the following titles were listed for feedback: AEW: To The Top, AEW: Fight To The Finish, AEW: All Access, AEW: Breakout, AEW: Uprise, AEW: The Climb, AEW: To The Mat, AEW: Road to The Belt, AEW: Friends and Enemies, AEW: On The Ropes, AEW: Grit and Glory.
It’s been reported how AEW and WBD have pitched non-wrestling reality shows for a while, with Darby Allin filming content for one potential show, and other AEW talents filming for sizzle reels. At one point there was interest in Adam Cole, Britt Baker and Swerve Strickland, but it remains to be seen if any of these stars are involved with the new series filming now.
WBD U.S. Networks Group Chairwoman & Chief Content Officer Kathleen Finch spoke with The Hollywood Reporter back in October and revealed that they were working with AEW to come up with new content that takes place outside of the wrestling ring. Finch talked about how TNT and TBS have one big thing in common – incredibly loyal, male-skewing audiences, which are 55% male. She said they have been discussing what they can create on both TNT and TBS to keep those male viewers coming back every night, and how they can push those viewers from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday to Thursday with a more defined brand lens.
Finch was then asked how they accomplish this objective. “We really play in the sports space,” she responded. “One of the things that we’re doing around sports is creating shoulder programming to hold onto those fans. AEW pulls huge numbers, so we are working with the wrestling team to figure out what new kind of content can we build that’s not in a wrestling ring.”
This new show is the second AEW reality TV series as “Rhodes To The Top” with Cody Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes aired for six episodes beginning in September 2021. The show averaged around 365,000 viewers per episode.
