After watching SmackDown and NXT secure expensive, expansive media rights deals with the USA Network and The CW, respectively, with a new deal for the CM Punk-headlined RAW soon to follow, all eyes are on AEW and just how much money Tony Khan can secure for a portfolio that includes Dynamite, Rampage, Collision, and Ring of Honor.

Would TK be able to secure the sort of deal that allows AEW to agressively expand into the future? Would he be able to secure a new overall deal that sends Pay-Per-Views to streaming service a la Peacock, without the need for a $50 a month dent to fans' bank accounts? Or maybe he'd be forced to parse out the brand like Eric Bischoff and others have suggested, allowing the company to diversify in the best way possible.

“We’ve had really good talks with Warner Brothers Discovery, had a great visit with them today, and we have a really exciting relationship that has grown a lot over the years and has expanded for AEW,” Tony Khan said via Fightful. “Ring of Honor is still a third party in the relationship, a company putting on really exciting wrestling, and is peripheral to the conversation right now. It offers a lot of value to AEW and to a media company. There is a lot of interest in ROH, and some of the most exciting wrestling and stories and some of the best events in ROH history are happening now. It’s really awesome that ROH has healthy options and very complimentary for myself, my family, and our business interests, the ROH media rights and the massive library and IP are there and accessible to us as we pursue new media rights for AEW in 2024 and we also have the additional value of the ROH library with the AEW library that has continued to grow. Almost 200 episodes of Dynamite, well over 100 episodes of Rampage, and an exciting half-year of Collision.”

You have to give it up to TK; he at least has a solid enough plan, even if it's not the same one WWE has opted to pursue due to their commitment to diversifying their overall portfolio. But would Khan be willing to break up AEW if the right deal came along? Well, Khan was kind of asked that question on the media call, and his answer was interesting indeed.

Tony Khan explains why he wants to keep all of AEW together.

Asked about his commitment to keeping all of AEW and even Ring of Honor together, Tony Khan explained that, in his opinion, there is value in having such a big media library, as it can bolster just about any streaming service or network.

“It is a value for us that we have this big library and additional media rights in addition to the five hours of weekly television and the great shows with Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision. Having that with our pay-per-view shows, our library, and complementing that with ROH with new events, which have been some of the best events ROH has ever had in the time we’ve own the company, and the ability to go back and look at some of the greatest wrestlers in the world, a lot of them are in AEW now, and some of them wrestle in other companies all over the world. It’s great to look back at that library of events. I definitely think it’s a value add for AEW and ROH to be aligned with media rights that are coming up for AEW in 2024. It’s going to be a very exciting time for AEW, and it’s great to have ROH there as far as strategic value,” Tony Khan said.

“As far as the TV rights, we’ve had a lot of interested parties. It’s definitely something I’ve been holding onto and haven’t had a lot of detailed conversations. I think CW is a great network, and we did have a visit. Dennis visited us at the Forum last year and was great. I have a lot of respect for Dennis Miller and the CW folks. The timing for us wasn’t necessarily right, but there is a lot of great, interested, people in the market place in both AEW and ROH. For 2024, it will be a really exciting time for pro wrestling, and ROH added good value going forward.”

Is there a world where Ring of Honor ends up on one channel or even just as a digital exclusive for a brand like MAX – hey TK, that's actually a pretty good idea – while AEW stays on TNT/TBS or even jumps to another channel? Maybe yes, maybe no, but at this point, until a deal is officially agreed to, fans will have to wait to see how things shake out.