AEW Dynamite Passes WCW Nitro For Number Of Episodes

All Elite Wrestling Dynamite has officially surpassed WCW Monday Nitro to become the longest-running weekly primetime pro wrestling television show in Turner Network history.

The April 16 Spring BreakThru edition of Dynamite was episode number 289 in its run, overtaking the 288-episode run of the legendary Nitro, with WCW's flagship show running from September 1995 until March 2001. Ahead of Spring BreakThru, AEW President Tony Khan spoke glowingly of his affection for Nitro during a conversation with Sports Illustrated:

"I'm a big fan, and I grew up watching the shows, and Nitro was a huge part of my childhood," Khan said. "And long before Nitro, I watched WCW. And I wish I could say I watched it long after, but that was kind of the end of the run. And I certainly learned a lot watching those shows."

Khan continued: "I really, really, absolutely had so much respect for everything that it took to put Nitro on the air and keep Nitro on the air for all those years. And that's why I think this is a really important milestone. It's amazing what Nitro achieved. And to be on TNT for 288 weeks, I know how hard that is firsthand, it's really hard.

"It's a celebration of everything, and really all the wrestling. Looking back, over fifty years of wrestling on TBS specifically, and 30 years of pro wrestling on TNT, and now AEW is a huge part of that conversation. And this is a big milestone for TBS and AEW on Wednesday."

Despite having plenty of criticism for Khan and AEW as a whole, former WCW Senior Vice President Eric Bischoff extended his congratulations to Khan and AEW on the 83 Weeks podcast:

"I want to congratulate Tony Khan and his entire staff. This obviously means a lot to them, and congratulations. It does say a lot about Tony's commitment. Tony put his own money into this. You can judge the product. I can judge the product. I often have, I just don't watch it anymore. But the truth is, his vision, his dream, his money, his commitment. So congratulations. Because what he did isn't easy. No matter how anybody feels about the product, it wasn't easy and it still isn't. So congratulations for your effort and no, it doesn't bother me a bit. It doesn't mean anything to me. While it does to Tony and company, and I understand why. He put a lot of time and work and money, as I've just discussed. So good for them. But no, it doesn't bother me at all," Bischoff said.

H/T: Fightful

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