WARNER BROS. Discovery-owned CNN has confirmed that WBD owns a minority stake in All Elite Wrestling, the American professional wrestling promotion majority owned and operated by Tony Khan, who serves as president and CEO.
The confirmation has come courtesy a recent CNN article looking at politics in professional wrestling, which read: “The embrace of contemporary issues is part of a larger, politically shaded rivalry playing out in the industry, between the 7-year-old AEW and the industry’s ruling juggernaut for generations, WWE (Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent corporation, owns a minority stake in AEW).”
The CNN report explored how the wrestling world lines up politically these days, highlighting the anti-ICE chants that have followed AEW’s Big Bad Brody King in recent weeks,
It is worth noting that King has raised money to support immigrants in Minnesota and has worn an “Abolish ICE” shirt in the ring. Then there is fellow AEW stablemate “Hangman” Adam Page, who gave a speech in Spanish during a show in Mexico City, reminiscing to the roaring crowd about working side by side with Mexican farm workers in the US and praising their values and work ethic.
In contrast, the CNN article details how US President Donald Trump is a long-time friend of disgraced WWE founder and former CEO Vince McMahon, that Linda McMahon (McMahon’s wife and also erstwhile WWE CEO) is the current US education secretary, and Paul Levesque (ring name Triple H) is the vice chair of Trump’s council on sports, fitness, and nutrition.
For the record, Levesque serves as WWE’s chief content officer, head of creative, and executive producer, AND is married to Stephanie McMahon Levesque, the daughter of Vince and Linda McMahon. Stephanie is a fourth-generation promoter in WWE, and has had various roles in the pro wrestling promotion.
Circling back to WBD, it bears noting that after AEW’s launch in 2019, it announced a deal to broadcast its weekly Dynamite program on WBD-owned global sportscaster TNT in the U.S. In January 2020, TNT replaced its existing agreement with AEW and drew up a new contract reportedly worth approximately $44 million (average annual value) through 2023.
In October 2024, WBD and AEW agreed to another extension with the addition of Dynamite & Collision being simulcast on HBO Max. The current deal runs until the end of 2027 with an option for an additional year.
