Dave Meltzer Provides Backstage On Reported WBD-WWE Negotiations

Last week, a rumor emerged stating that Warner Bros. Discovery was still actively involved in negotiations for "WWE Raw" broadcast rights, despite currently airing AEW programming on their networks. It's unclear exactly how close to a deal WWE and WBD are, but when asked on today's "Wrestling Observer Radio" if an agreement between the two companies is realistic, journalist Dave Meltzer offered his perspective.

"It's major in play," Meltzer said. "Absolutely in play, yes."

Meltzer also stated that the big reason why WBD might prefer WWE to AEW is that WWE is the top company in the industry, and many benefits come associated with that. However, it's a matter of whether the added cost for WWE is worth what the company would gain by airing "Raw." Even if AEW received a large increase in rights fees for their next deal, it would still be far cheaper than what the company would shell out to secure WWE's longest-running program.

As of now, AEW is still under contract with WBD. That deal expires sometime next year, and it's unclear what stage of negotiations AEW might be at, either with WBD or other media companies. However, AEW CEO Tony Khan recently said he's had "really good conversations" with WBD regarding the promotion.

News broke yesterday that WBD had entered talks with rival studio Paramount regarding a possible merger. If that were to go through, there's no telling what effect it might have on a relationship with either WWE or AEW in the long term, as corporate mergers tend to generate plenty of uncertainty. However, this current set of contract negotiations will be wrapped up by the time any merger is completed.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.