During a recent interview with TV Insider, AEW President Tony Khan stated that the plan for Grand Slam Australia has always been to be a television event rather than a pay-per-view.
The event is scheduled for February 15 and will broadcast on TNT and Max.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the challenges of running Grand Slam Australia: “It’s my first time going to Australia. I’m really excited about it. I’m excited to learn more about the fans, meet new people and have a great experience. It’s something I look forward to have AEW make its Australian debut in Brisbane for Saturday night, Collision, Grand Slam: Australia. I think it’s going to be a great event. We got huge matches, and I believe it will be one of the greatest Grand Slam cards in AEW’s history. It’s always one of the biggest events on the calendar. There are already some huge matches with “Timeless” Toni Storm returning to fight her protégé “The Glamour” Mariah May for the AEW Women’s World Championship in Toni’s home country. It’s a return and a homecoming. It’s an important chapter in one of AEW’s greatest rivalries unfolding before us now. The huge tag team match with Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay teaming for the first time ever in AEW to take on the AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita and “The ProtoStar” Kyle Fletcher, who is returning to his home country of Australia. This will be one of the biggest TV events of the year. This will arguably the biggest TV card of the year.”
On if it was always planned for TV: “Yes. Having this be a TV event has always been the plan. That’s something that the network wanted. It’s something the network brought to us recently as an opportunity to follow NBA All-Star Saturday. We saw it as a huge opportunity. It was a great vote of confidence for our partners at Warner Brothers Discovery. It will be one of the biggest nights of the year on TNT. It’s a great opportunity given the lead-in.”
On working with Warner Bros. Discovery: “I expect AEW and Warner Brothers Discovery will have a strong partnership for many years to come. We have a great relationship with management there. Since 2019, we’ve been proud AEW has been a part of the Turner Sports family. This is the greatest step in our partnership, the launch of AEW on Max. The simulcast has been a huge success for everyone involved. We’ve gotten a great audience Wednesday nights on TBS and Saturday nights on TNT. Now those shows are also streaming live on Max. It has made AEW available to a new audience. We don’t have all the numbers for the Max launch, but we’ve been told that AEW is one of the top sports leagues for Max for viewership. That’s really exciting. It bodes well for the partnership for many years to come.”