AEW filed to trademark two new names with the USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) on December 16.
The first filing was for the “AEW Dark” name, which is the name of the weekly YouTube series that currently airs on Tuesday nights. The “First Use In Commerce” date provided was October 8, 2019, which is the date of the AEW Dark premiere episode. The following use description was provided with this filing:
“IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services in the nature of development, creation, production, distribution, and post-production of wrestling programs and events; Entertainment services in the nature of live wrestling performances; Entertainment services in the nature of production of wrestling programs and events; Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing multimedia program featuring wrestling distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing series featuring wrestling provided through a global computer network; Entertainment services, namely, providing ongoing television programs in the field of wrestling via a global computer network; Entertainment services, namely, providing ongoing webisodes featuring wrestling via a global computer network; Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network. FIRST USE: 20191008. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20191008”
The second filing on December 16 was for the “AEW Elevation” name. The following use description was provided to the USPTO with this filing:
“IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services in the nature of live wrestling performances; Entertainment services in the nature of production of wrestling programs and events; Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing multimedia program featuring wrestling distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing series featuring wrestling provided through a global computer network; Entertainment services, namely, production and distribution of ongoing television programs in the field of wrestling; Entertainment services, namely, providing ongoing webisodes featuring wrestling via a global computer network; Educational and entertainment services, namely, a continuing program about wrestling accessible by radio, television, satellite, audio, video and computer networks; Entertainment services in the nature of development, creation, production, distribution, and post-production of wrestling programs and events”
There’s no word yet on what AEW has planned for the “Elevation” name, but it looks like this could have something to do with expansion plans that AEW CEO & General Manager Tony Khan hinted at during a December 1 media call.
Khan noted then that the company has talked about potentially making major changes to the weekly Dark series. He added that he has seriously considered splitting AEW Dark into two different shows.
Khan was asked about signing so many wrestlers during the COVID-19 pandemic and how he can add to the roster without eventually subtracting from the roster. He brought up the pandemic and said there are cuts he “could have and should have made” but he made the decision not to do so. He then noted that Dark has become a valuable program, but he’s thought about splitting it into multiple shows.
The idea, according to Khan, is that one show would be a developmental show of sorts, and the other would feature more established stars. Khan noted that he likes who AEW has added to the roster, and he feels that it’s really important to develop stars for the future, pointing to Will Hobbs as someone who has benefited from that. Dark matches currently include AEW talents who might not be featured on TV each week, along with some regulars, going up against enhancement talents and other up & coming wrestlers that may be close to getting signed.
This new AEW Elevation filing could be an indication of the direction that they plan on taking AEW Dark, but nothing has been confirmed as of this writing.
Stay tuned for more on the future of the AEW Dark series.
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