Tony Schiavone says AEW’s commentators often find out about changes to the show at the last minute, and he credits the company’s ability to work on the fly for its success.
Schiavone said it on What Happened When with Conrad Thompson and guests Clark Connors and David Finlay of The Dogs.
“Yeah, a lot of times we find out things just like you guys do, kind of last minute. You just go with it,” Schiavone said. “I really think, and I’m sincere about this, I really think that’s one of the reasons for our success, because we have a lot of people that can work on the fly, and a lot of people that can pull together a great show with sometimes not that much prep. I’m proud of that, I really am.”
Schiavone has been part of AEW’s commentary team since the company launched in 2019.
NXT Could Go Head-To-Head With Blood And Guts
AEW’s next big Dynamite could have direct competition. NXT is expected to air on Wednesday, November 4, the same night as AEW’s Blood and Guts episode of Dynamite at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that NXT’s Halloween Havoc fallout episode will move from its usual Tuesday night because The CW is covering election night on November 3, and that too many local affiliates would pre-empt the show for election coverage even if the network kept it on Tuesday. Some TV listings already show that week’s NXT premiering on Wednesday, November 4. As of this writing, WWE has not announced the move.
Meltzer added in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that The CW made the call to move NXT to Wednesday, and that the show would also go head-to-head with WWE’s own Main Event and Evolve that night. NXT moved from Wednesdays to Tuesdays in April 2021.
Analysis:
Last-minute changes are not new. They happened often in WCW, especially during the company’s last few years.
In AEW, a lot of the last-minute changes we’ve heard about come from visa issues, injuries and other problems. Having a roster this big also means more moving parts.
The most recent example was the Dynamite in Pittsburgh, which Tony Khan turned into a tribute show for PAC. Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Khan “made the call to do no promotion, no angles for the pay-per-view,” and that much of the show was reworked. AEW has been very good at working on the fly.
As for Blood and Guts, it looks like it’s going to be an interesting night if NXT goes up against it, as has been reported. Blood and Guts is a pay-per-view caliber show being put on free TV, so it will probably draw a bigger audience than a usual Dynamite, but NXT may cut into that. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
