Tony Khan has explained putting more world title matches on free TV.
Including Dynamite, Collision, and the Grand Slam Australia special, the AEW World Heavyweight Championship has been defended on TV a total of 13 times in 2026 so far. This is more than 2024 and 2025 combined, which saw a total of 11 title defences on TV.
President Tony Khan was asked if the company’s broadcast partners have a hand in this policy change during his recent interview with Chicago radio station Q101.
While the wrestling executive did not address the question directly, he claimed that AEW is at its best when top stars are fighting each other regularly. Khan then explained that putting big matches on TV allows people to experience their great wrestling product even when they can’t afford to buy the PPVs:
You get the very best on TV and a great wrestling product for the fans who can’t necessarily afford the pay-per-views that you can certainly expect to get such a high standard watching AEW on weekly TV, Wednesdays on TBS, Saturdays on TNT, or streaming everything on HBO Max. And I think there are some fans that necessarily maybe can’t buy every pay-per-view and they still are getting great wrestling every week.
Tony Khan later claimed that the cool thing about AEW PPVs is that they are still worth the money. He said that they try to put out an incredible PPV every time because he doesn’t take the people who spend money on their product for granted.
This week’s Dynamite will feature another World Title match with MJF defending his championship against Kenny Omega. Omega will never be able to challenge for the title again if he loses the bout.
