Tony Khan gives update on ‘AEW Shockwave’ status
AEW no longer has any plans to launch a new show called Shockwave.
In September 2024, a trademark was filed for the term “AEW Shockwave” — which was rumored to be the name of a possible new television series the promotion was hoping to debut on Fox. A partnership between AEW and Fox has not materialized to this point. And the Shockwave name became the subject of a trademark dispute between AEW and the NWA, who had a digital series titled “NWA Shockwave” back in 2020.
Tony Khan appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show this week and was asked about his plans for Shockwave. Khan said he does not believe he’s going to use that as a show name anymore. He had a good conversation with NWA President Billy Corgan and told Corgan that the NWA is free to use Shockwave however it wants.
“Well, it’s just an idea. I file lots of different names and ideas of shows and things like that. And that was a name that I actually at the time did not know anybody else had used,” Khan said.
“I’m probably not going to do it. I had a really nice talk with Billy — Billy Corgan, who owns the NWA. I like Billy. And even before I became a wrestling promoter, I had met him. And I think he’s just a great artist, and I like him. So when I talked to him on the phone, I said, ‘If that’s a show that you might do again… if that’s something you want to do and you did it first, then you can do that. That’s fine.’ And he said, ‘Oh, that’s great. I appreciate that.’ So that was nice.”
The trademark application for “AEW Shockwave” is listed as having been abandoned on November 17, 2025.
Khan and Corgan’s conversation was also in regards to the new AEW National Championship that was recently announced. Khan confirmed that the lineage of this title is intended to be separate from the NWA National Championship that already exists.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.