A wrestling company was close to landing on Paramount+ a little over a year ago until the UFC deal changed everything, according to Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer told the story on the post-Raw edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, as Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery cleared a major legal hurdle with Monday’s reported settlement with the states that had sued to block it. He did not name the promotion.
“There is a story that I was told that I did not know, that there was a company, a wrestling company, that was negotiating with Paramount+ a little over a year ago. And they did not have a written deal. They were confident in a deal,” Meltzer said. “They were negotiating with people at Paramount, top people, one of whom ended up losing his position in the Skydance merger, because people lose their position. One of them was still there.”
According to Meltzer, the talks fell apart once Paramount turned its attention to combat sports.
“The company was confident that they would get on Paramount+ because, at the time, there was no wrestling on Paramount+. And as it came down to the wire, they had nothing signed or anything like that, and then the UFC deal came in,” Meltzer said. “And once the UFC deal came in, all of a sudden everything got cold with them completely.”
The timeline fits. Skydance’s merger with Paramount closed in August 2025, bringing new leadership under David Ellison and turnover among existing executives. Within days, Paramount announced a seven-year, $7.7 billion agreement with TKO for UFC’s media rights, beginning this year. The deal moved every numbered UFC event and Fight Night onto Paramount+, with select cards simulcast on CBS, and ended UFC’s pay-per-view model in the United States. Paramount+ still carries no wrestling programming.
Meltzer also addressed what the Warner Bros. Discovery merger could mean for AEW, whose US media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery runs through the end of 2027, with Warner Bros. Discovery holding an option for 2028. He said Tony Khan and Ellison know each other through the NFL, and that Khan has been upbeat about the possibilities.
“I know that they’ve talked. Tony has clearly been very, very optimistic of the idea of, number one, getting this show in more homes due to getting on Paramount+, getting more backing,” Meltzer said.
Meltzer added that others in the business have floated ideas that go further than streaming.
“He has not talked of the potential of CBS, but other people in the business have talked about the potential of CBS, for a special or something, a one-time deal like UFC gets, and the idea of buying the pay-per-views like they do with UFC, which guarantees AEW the money and will put the pay-per-views in way more homes, so a lot more people will be watching it, which is probably better in the long run,” Meltzer said.
The model Meltzer describes is the one Paramount already runs with UFC. Instead of fans buying individual events, Paramount pays for the rights and includes the events in a Paramount+ subscription, with occasional network broadcasts on CBS. AEW currently sells its pay-per-views individually, including through HBO Max.
Khan has said publicly that he expects the merger to benefit AEW. On a Bloomberg TV appearance in May, he said Paramount and Warner Bros. coming together would be great for the company, and that combining HBO Max and Paramount+, which Ellison has said the merged company will do, would mean more buyers for AEW’s pay-per-views and more people watching its shows.
The UFC relationship has been the main point of concern, since TKO also owns WWE. Fightful reported earlier this year that a Paramount source said there is no exclusivity clause in the TKO agreement that would prevent the company from carrying other wrestling programming.
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