Cody Rhodes On AEW's 2022 Move To TBS: "It Truly Is An Expansion"

It was announced last week that AEW Dynamite and Rampage will be heading to TBS in 2021. Shows will continue to air on TNT until the end of 2021, as Dynamite has done since October 2019, but the shows will move to their new home next year. 

The company's move to TBS has largely been seen as a positive within and outside of AEW and Cody Rhodes described the switch as "an expansion" during a recent chat with Comicbook.com.

"Tony [Khan] was able to facilitate the best possible deal for All Elite Wrestling, and that means more money for the content, and then more importantly, the term that Brett [Weitz] at WarnerMedia used is the best term, it truly is an expansion. We're just expanding our brand on to TBS, that being Rampage, coming over to TBS, Dynamite itself, four specials, a la Clash of the Champions, our Saturday Night's Main Event. Those were kind of comparable. Having those on TNT, we're really all over, and just watching the upfronts for WarnerMedia to see our penetration and presentation, made me really proud that we've been such a nice success story," Cody said.

"So for me, I was excited. I'm always kind of the eternal... I'm very reserved in what I think, and so we put it out there on the medium, but it would be remiss if I didn't think of the fact that TBS has been a part of my life since I was a little kid. Tony Schiavone texted me that morning, and of course, he said, "We're going back to the mothership." And the mothership is what my father used to call TBS, for good reason, because they took that first chance on WCW and Jim Crockett Promotions. And now they'll have all of the wrestling and some familiar names, and a very unique bell-to-bell product. So I'm ecstatic. Plus I'm a psycho American Dad fan. Just to share the space with them and perhaps to do a little cross-promotion would be a really fun thing to do."

AEW's move to TBS came shortly after Turner Sports agreed a long-term deal with the NHL to air ice hockey on TNT through the 2027-28 season. Brett Weitz noted last week this was one of the reasons AEW is leaving TNT at the end of the year.