AEW gets “left behind” at Warner Bros. Discovery Upfronts in New York

[Liz]

There was a bit of a disappointment for AEW at the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront this past Wednesday as the company had virtually zero presence.

Initially it was reported that AEW would have a "huge" presence at the important event but everything fizzled out and apart from one banner and a very short clip in a video highlighting the shows on the network, there was no other mention of AEW.

Warner Bros. Discovery also did not mention AEW at all in the press releases sent afterward.

AEW did not send anyone to the event either and the only wrestling personality in attendance was John Cena, who was there as part of the Peacemaker series on HBO. The banner displayed for AEW Dynamite featured Red Velvet and no one else.

David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is on a mission to slash costs by $3 billion and AEW will start negotiating a new deal with the network next year, with their current deal set to expire in 2024.

What this omission from the Upfronts mean for AEW remains to be seen, but on paper, it does not look good for the future.