AEW has only been in business since 2019, and since that time, the Tony Khan-helmed promotion has become a force in the world of professional wrestling, providing competition to sports entertainment behemoth WWE.
Khan upped the game in March of 2022 when he announced that he had also purchased Ring of Honor, which had been facing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and had been on hiatus since the previous December. The purchase gives Khan ownership of not only the branding and control over creative, but also gives him access to the promotion’s massive video library, featuring early bouts in the careers of stars such as Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, and the ever-controversial CM Punk.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, All Elite Wrestling has proven itself to be immensely profitable, earning over $100 million in revenue for the first time in 2022 according to one source familiar with the company’s management.
That same source, who preferred not to be identified, indicated that the company is interested in getting into the streaming game, potentially looking to partner with Warner Bros. Discovery to showcase their ever-growing content library.
AEW Saw Plenty Of Controversy In 2022
As the company largely put the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic behind them, 2022 seemed to be a return to normalcy, but the year wasn’t without controversy for the growing promotion. Controversy struck most severely following the events of All Out, where CM Punk’s defeat of Jon Moxley to regain the AEW World Championship was largely overshadowed by the events after the pay-per-view went off the air.
At the media scrum following AEW All Out, CM Punk launched into a verbal tirade against his former friend Colt Cabana, ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, and though he didn’t call them out by name, AEW EVP’s The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, who he claimed “couldn’t manage a Target.”
Enraged by the comments, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega confronted Punk in his dressing room, and the situation escalated into a brawl that saw punches being thrown. In addition, Punk’s friend and trainer Ace Steel not only threw a chair at Nick Jackson, but also bit Kenny Omega in the melee.
Everyone involved in the brawl was suspended, and Ace Steel has since been released from the company.
After an investigation into the events concluded, The Elite returned to AEW programming at Full Gear, where they took on Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Champion they were forced to vacate as a result of their suspension. CM Punk’s future is very much up in the air with an AEW return looking doubtful.