AEW Rampage, also known as Friday Night Rampage or simply Rampage, is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), running from August 13, 2021, to December 27, 2024. It aired every Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on TNT in the United States, although major sporting events occasionally moved it to an earlier or later time slot the same day or the next day (as a special Saturday Night Rampage).
| AEW Rampage | |
|---|---|
 AEW Rampage logo (2024) | |
| Genre | Professional wrestling |
| Created by | Tony Khan |
| Starring | AEW roster |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 177 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Tony Khan (Head of Creative) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera setup |
| Running time | 60 minutes (including commercials) |
| Production company | All Elite Wrestling |
| Original release | |
| Network | TNT |
| Release | August 13, 2021 – December 27, 2024 |
| Related | |
Rampage was AEW's second weekly television show, following the premiere of Dynamite, and the second professional wrestling program to air on TNT since the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001. With the premiere of Collision in June 2023 (which subsequently became AEW's secondary flagship program), and the cancellation of AEW's YouTube shows (Dark and Elevation), Rampage essentially succeeded the YouTube shows by focusing on younger and mid-to-low card talent. The series came to an end on December 27, 2024, as the program was not included in AEW's media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery that took effect on January 1, 2025.
Episodes of Rampage were typically taped after the live broadcast of the preceding episode of Dynamite. On occasion, some episodes were also taped after Collision, while a select few episodes had aired live, notably those that aired back-to-back with the Battle of the Belts special.
History
editOriginal format (2021–2023)
editThe American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was officially announced and launched on January 1, 2019, and their weekly flagship television program, Dynamite, began airing on TNT that October.[1] On January 15, 2020, TNT's parent company WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros. Discovery) and AEW announced a US$175 million contract extension for Dynamite through 2023. As part of the new deal, it was also announced that AEW would be launching a second weekly television show.[2][3]
In May 2021, AEW revealed their second weekly television show, and fourth program overall, as AEW Rampage, which would begin airing on TNT on August 13 as a one-hour show on Fridays at 10pm Eastern Time (ET). During AEW's marquee event Double or Nothing on May 30, former WWE wrestler Mark Henry was announced to be a part of the Rampage commentary team as an analyst.[4][5] On August 4, Dynamite and Dark's commentators Excalibur and Taz and wrestler Chris Jericho, who had served as a guest commentator several times on Dynamite, were announced to join Henry as Rampage's four-man commentary team.[6] AEW President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Khan said that the commentary team would not always be all four men, as Henry would also have other roles on the show, such as doing interviews.[7] In September, AEW wrestler Ricky Starks replaced Henry on the commentary team, with Henry subsequently just doing interviews on the show.[8]
In an interview with PWInsider, Khan stated that while Rampage would air live for most episodes, some episodes they would pre-tape, depending on the city that the preceding episode of Dynamite was held in (although this would later shift to most episodes being taped in conjunction with Dynamite with only a few airing live). He also said that Rampage would serve as the go-home show for AEW's pay-per-view (PPV) events, due to the show airing two days before those events. Rampage in turn replaced that role for Dark as although Dark normally aired on Tuesdays, it would instead air on Fridays during the week of a PPV to serve as the go-home show.[9] Khan also said that Warner had asked him if he would rather expand Wednesday's Dynamite to three hours, but he rejected the notion, stating that he did not want to run Dynamite for that length as he highly preferred that third hour as a separate show on a different night. He also claimed that Rampage would not be a secondary show to Dynamite, and that it would be its partner or its equivalent. He further said that Dynamite and Rampage would be AEW's core properties, while their YouTube shows, Dark and Dark: Elevation, would be their peripheral properties, essentially their developmental programs.[10]
Rampage aired immediately following WWE's own Friday television program, SmackDown, which aired on Fox and then USA Network beginning in September 2024. Although Dynamite had run against WWE's NXT from October 2019 to April 2021, there was expectation that there would be no overlap between Rampage and SmackDown in nearly the entire country[a] unless SmackDown were to run over its scheduled endtime of 10pm ET, when Rampage began broadcasting.[11] Throughout Rampage's 2.5 year broadcast history, this only occurred once, which was on October 15, 2021. That night, SmackDown aired a special episode titled "Supersized SmackDown", which extended its runtime to 10:30pm with the additional 30 minutes airing commercial free, therefore directly competing with Rampage for its first 30 minutes. SmackDown had also aired on Fox's sister channel FS1 due to the MLB playoffs airing on Fox, which also decreased SmackDown's normal average viewership.[12] During the 30 minutes that the shows went head-to-head, Rampage beat SmackDown in the key demographic of viewers aged 18 to 49, drawing 328,000 views to SmackDown's 285,000 views.[13]
It was initially announced that both Dynamite and Rampage would be moving to TNT's sister channel TBS, also owned by WarnerMedia, in January 2022. However, on September 23, 2021, it was revealed that Rampage would remain on TNT while only Dynamite would move to TBS.[14][15]
The May 6 and May 13, 2022, episodes of Rampage were moved to 5:30 p.m. ET in order to accommodate TNT's coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. The May 20 episode was moved to 7 p.m. ET to make way for TNT's coverage of the NBA Western Conference finals.[16]
Final format (2023–2024)
editAs a result of an amended broadcasting deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, AEW added a third weekly program on Saturday nights called Collision, which premiered in June 2023 on TNT. The YouTube shows, Dark and Elevation, were subsequently canceled to make way for Collision, which was positioned as AEW's second main program, while Rampage shifted to focusing on younger wrestlers, essentially becoming what the YouTube shows were for the company.[17][18]
Due to the NCAA March Madness coverage occurring on March 22, 2024, on TNT, Rampage instead aired live on March 20 immediately after Dynamite, with both programs airing on TBS. This would be the only time for the program to air on TBS.[19]
During the tapings on December 22, 2024, Tony Khan announced that the December 27 episode, which was the New Year's Smash special, would be the final episode of Rampage as the program was not included in AEW's new media rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, which took effect on January 1, 2025.[20]
Episodes
edit2021
edit2022
edit2023
edit2024
editBroadcasting
editIn the United States, Rampage aired on Fridays on TNT at 10pm ET. The program was to move to TBS in January 2022,[21] but in September, AEW announced that while Dynamite would move to TBS, Rampage would remain on TNT.[22]
On September 25, 2019, AEW announced an international streaming deal with FITE TV primarily for regions outside of the United States and Canada via the "AEW Plus" package, which included live streaming and replay access of Dynamite in simulcast with its U.S. airing. This was expanded to include Rampage.[23]
Canada
editEurope
editOn July 3, 2021, WarnerTV Serie (known as TNT Serie until September 24, 2021) announced a deal to air Rampage on Monday nights in Germany.[25][26]
On July 6, 2021, Toonami (another Warner channel) announced a deal to air Rampage in France.[27]
On August 27, 2021, Sky Sport (owned by Comcast, which held rights to rival wrestling promotion WWE in the United States) and AEW announced that Rampage would air on Mondays nights in Italy.[28]
On January 1, 2022, AEW announced that Rampage would be broadcast every Tuesday night on ITV4 with repeats every Thursday night on ITV1 in the United Kingdom.[29] It was also available to view on their streaming service ITVX.
On February 10, 2022, Warner TV announced that they would air Rampage in Poland.[30]
In Spain, AEW announced that Rampage would air on TNT starting on June 19, 2022.[31]
Latin America
editOn October 22, 2020, AEW reached an agreement with the digital platform Pluto TV, broadcasting its repeat events (including past pay-per-views) with commentators in Spanish from Latin America. This would later include Rampage.[32]
On October 1, 2021, Rampage began airing on Space, a WarnerMedia International channel in Brazil and on Space's Spanish feed, available throughout Latin America on Saturdays.[33] On September 30, 2022, it was announced that AEW would stop airing on Space in Latin America on October 1, with Brazil following on December 30.[34][35]
Africa
editRampage began airing on TNT Africa on October 2, 2021, in Sub-Saharan Africa.[36] The show aired every Saturday morning at 10 AM CAT, one week after the U.S. broadcast.[37]
Asia
editIn India, Rampage aired on Eurosport starting on August 15, 2021, and later at the same time as the American airing from August 21, 2021, every Saturday 7:30 AM IST.[38] Eurosport was owned by Discovery Communications, which acquired WarnerMedia later in 2021 to become Warner Bros. Discovery. Rampage began airing on Premier Sports in the Philippines in October 2021[39] On April 8, 2022, it was announced that as part of the AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) working relationship that Rampage would air in Japan on NJPW World.[40][41]
Oceania
editRampage aired on ESPN2 starting February 18, 2023, in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Niue, Nauru, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Northern Marianas, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Wallis, and Futuna.
See also
edit
Notes
edit- ↑ Honolulu Fox affiliate KHON-TV aired WWE SmackDown at 7–9pm Hawaii time. TNT and TBS's West Coast feeds aired Rampage at 8pm in Hawaii during Pacific Standard Time and 7pm in Hawaii during Pacific Daylight Time.
References
edit- ↑ Maglio, Tony (October 3, 2019). "TNT's 'All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite' Debut Buries USA Network's 'NXT' in Ratings". TheWrap.com. The Wrap. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ↑ Otterson, Joe (January 15, 2020). "AEW to Expand to Two Nights a Week With New TNT Deal". Variety. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 15, 2020). "AEW Dynamite extended through 2023, WarnerMedia adding second show". Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- ↑ AEW Staff (June 1, 2021). "Wrestling Legend Mark Henry Signs Multi-Year Deal with AEW". All Elite Wrestling. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ↑ Lee, Joseph (June 2, 2021). "Tony Khan Says A 'Top Star' Will Be On Commentary For AEW Rampage". 411mania. Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ↑ Crowley, Liam (August 4, 2021). "AEW Announces Rampage's Broadcast Team, Title Match For Debut Show". Wrestling Inc. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ↑ Mutter, Eric (August 13, 2021). "Tony Khan Says AEW Rampage Will Not Always Have A Four Man Commentary Booth". Wrestling Inc. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
- ↑ Lovell, Blake (September 20, 2021). "Ricky Starks Permanently Replacing Mark Henry On AEW Rampage Commentary". 411mania. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ↑ Shrivastava, Arpit (June 17, 2021). "Tony Khan discloses interesting details about AEW Rampage". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ↑ Thomas, Jeremy (May 19, 2021). "Tony Khan Reveals New Details About Move to TBS, Says He Was Offered a Third Hour of Dynamite". 411mania. Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ↑ Casey, Connor (May 19, 2021). "Will AEW Rampage Conflict With WWE SmackDown on Friday Nights?". ComicBook. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ↑ Johnson, Mike (October 18, 2021). "SMACKDOWN VS. RAMPAGE - WHO WON?". PWInsider.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ↑ Fontaine, Paul (October 18, 2021). "WWE SMACKDOWN & RAMPAGE TIE IN DEMO, AEW WINS HEAD-TO-HEAD". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ↑ Staszewski, Joseph (May 19, 2021). "AEW Dynamite moving to TBS in 2022, new show revealed". New York Post. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ↑ Joe Otterson (September 23, 2021). "'AEW: Dynamite' Sets January Date for TBS Move, 'Rampage' to Remain on TNT". Variety. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ↑ Nick Tylwalk (May 11, 2022). "AEW announces early start times for May 13, May 20 Rampage broadcasts". WrestlingJunkie.USAToday.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
- ↑ Nason, Josh (May 3, 2023). "AEW Dark & Dark Elevation done for now due to new exclusivity deal with WBD". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
- ↑ Rueter, Sean (May 25, 2023). "Tony Khan on AEW vs. WWE, WBD deal, Collision secrecy, more". Cageside Seats. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ↑ Lee, Joseph (March 15, 2024). "AEW Rampage Will Air Live Next Week, No Collision Due To NCAA Tournament". 411Mania. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
- ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (December 22, 2024). "Tony Khan Confirms Final AEW Rampage 'For The Foreseeable Future'". Fightful. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
- ↑ Salvador, Joseph (May 19, 2021). "New AEW Show 'Rampage' Coming to TNT on Friday Nights". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ↑ Nason, Josh (September 23, 2021). "AEW DYNAMITE MOVING TO TBS ON JANUARY 5, RAMPAGE STAYING ON TNT". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ↑ "AEW Plus Subscription Debuts Exclusively on FITE". FITE.TV. FITE. September 25, 2019. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ↑ "AEW RAMPAGE IN CANADA UPDATE". August 9, 2021. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
- ↑ Hoffman, Martin (July 3, 2021). "Neue AEW-Show auch in Deutschland". Sport1 (in German). Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ↑ "AEW: Rampage kommt nach Deutschland auf TNT Serie" [AEW: Rampage comes to Germany on TNT Serie] (in German). August 11, 2021. Archived from the original on September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ↑ WarnerMedia France [@ToonamiFR] (July 6, 2021). "Nous sommes très heureux de vous annoncer que #AEWRampage sera bientôt diffusé sur Toonami en plus de #AEWDynamite ! 1h de catch supplémentaire chaque semaine avec @NorbertFeuillan et @AlainMist" [We are very happy to announce that #AEWRampage will soon be airing on Toonami in addition to No. AEWDynamite! 1 hour of additional wrestling each week with @NorbertFeuillan and @AlainMist] (Tweet) (in French) – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Il wrestling AEW raddoppia su Sky Sport: arriva anche Rampage" [AEW wrestling doubles on Sky Sport: Rampage also arrives]. Sky Sport (in Italian). August 27, 2021. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 1, 2022). "AEW Rampage to air on ITV & ITV4 in the United Kingdom". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
- ↑ "Warner TV pokaże All Elite Wrestling, walki nowej ligi wrestlingu". wirtualnemedia.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on September 8, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
- ↑ "AEW debuting on TNT in Spain". Pro Wrestling Insider. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ↑ "Exclusiva: Pluto TV tendrá noticieros en vivo, lucha libre y 'Misterios sin Resolver', para ofrecer 66 canales gratis en México" (in Spanish). October 21, 2020. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ↑ "Canal Space will broadcast AEW Rampage for Latin America if a condition is met". Superluchas. September 30, 2021. Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ↑ "AEW Programming Leaving Space Network In Mexico And Other Regions; Will Remain On Air In Brazil". www.fightful.com.
- ↑ "Fim das transmissões da AEW no Space Brasil". www.wrestlemaniacos.com (in Portuguese). November 11, 2022.
- ↑ "AEW Rampage comes to South African screens in October". September 22, 2021. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ↑ "TNT Africa". Turner Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
- ↑ "Eurosport India Strengthens Pro-Wrestling Roster with All Elite Wrestling (AEW)". lockerroom.in. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
- ↑ "TapGO". Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ↑ "AEW Dynamite and Rampage coming to NJPW World in Japan". Won/F4W. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
- ↑ "AEW and New Japan announce new deal". Pwinsider. Archived from the original on September 8, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.