You wrestlers just keep doing what you're doing, I got deep pockets
When Ted Turner died at 87, the wrestling world paused in the way it always has for those who shaped it — with ten bells and silence. Turner had done something quietly consequential: he decided that professional wrestling belonged on national television, and then he spent decades defending that belief with his own fortune. All Elite Wrestling, broadcasting on the very networks Turner built, honored him not merely as a benefactor but as the man whose stubbornness in a boardroom made possible everything that came after.
- Ted Turner's death at 87 left a void felt immediately inside the wrestling world, which opened its Wednesday broadcast with a formal 10-bell salute rather than its usual fanfare.
- The tributes carried real weight — commentator Tony Schiavone has worked in Turner's orbit since 1985, and Sting lived through the Monday Night Wars that Turner's money made possible.
- Sting revealed the stakes Turner once quietly absorbed: CNN executives wanted wrestling cut loose because it ran in the red, and Turner simply told the wrestlers to keep going — his pockets were deep enough.
- AEW now airs two weekly shows on TNT and TBS, the same networks Turner built, making it the first wrestling program to return to those channels after WCW's collapse — a living continuation of his original bet.
All Elite Wrestling opened its Wednesday broadcast not with a match but with ten bells — the sport's oldest gesture of mourning. Ted Turner, dead at 87, had earned that silence by making a decision that seemed simple at the time and looks radical in hindsight: he believed professional wrestling belonged on national television, and he built the platforms to prove it.
Tony Khan addressed the cameras directly, naming what the industry had lost in Turner — the man who created TBS and TNT, who purchased World Championship Wrestling and gave it a national stage when few others would have. The ripple from that decision reached every wrestler and fan who found the sport through a cable box in the decades that followed.
Tony Schiavone, who has worked in Turner's world since 1985, drew the line from then to now with the quiet authority of someone who lived the whole arc. Because Turner put wrestling on TBS and then TNT, generations of fans knew where to find it — and wrestling, Schiavone said, still survives today through that inheritance.
Sting's appearance carried its own history. He had been at the center of the Monday Night Wars, part of the WCW run that beat WWE in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. He remembered Turner not as a distant executive but as an ally. When CNN Tower executives argued wrestling was always in the red and should be cut, Turner's answer was characteristically blunt: keep doing what you're doing, he told the wrestlers — he had deep pockets. That willingness to absorb losses and defend the sport in rooms where it had no natural friends made everything else possible. The ten bells honored not just a man, but the vision that outlived him.
All Elite Wrestling opened its Wednesday night broadcast with a 10-bell salute, the wrestling world's formal acknowledgment of death. Ted Turner, the media mogul who had died the day before at 87, had earned that honor by doing something simple and, in retrospect, radical: he believed professional wrestling belonged on television.
Turner had created TNT and TBS, the cable networks that would become synonymous with wrestling in America. He purchased World Championship Wrestling—WCW—and gave it a national platform when few others would. That decision rippled forward across decades, shaping not just the sport but the careers of everyone who stepped into a ring during that era. On Wednesday, AEW co-founder Tony Khan stood before the cameras and named what had been lost. "The man who gave us this platform," Khan said, "the man who created TBS and TNT and so many great television channels and so many great concepts in the field of television, the late great Mr. Ted Turner has passed."
Tony Schiavone, the commentator who had worked in Turner's WCW since 1985, spoke from the broadcast booth with the weight of someone who had lived the entire arc. He traced a line from Turner's original vision straight to the present moment: because Turner believed wrestling deserved national television, because he put it on TBS and later TNT, generations of fans around the world knew where to find it. "And therefore," Schiavone said, "we still survive today through the leadership of Tony Khan in AEW, through the leadership of Warner Discovery, wrestling still survives."
Sting walked out to the crowd's roar—the silver-haired legend who had become the face of what Turner's investment meant to wrestling. Sting had been there in the thick of it, battling through the Monday Night Wars of the 1990s, helping WCW beat WWE in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. He remembered Turner not as a distant executive but as a man who had fought for them. "Can you imagine having an all-in billionaire who absolutely loved pro wrestling?" Sting asked. He recounted a story Turner had told him: executives at CNN Tower wanted to cut wrestling loose, said it was always in the red, questioned whether it was worth keeping. Turner's response was simple. "You wrestlers just keep on doing what you're doing," Sting recalled him saying, "because I got some deep pockets."
That commitment—financial, personal, unwavering—had made everything that followed possible. Without Turner's willingness to absorb losses and defend wrestling in boardrooms where it had no natural allies, there would have been no TNT championship, no Sting, no Darby Allin, no Tony Schiavone at the microphone that night. There would have been no AEW, the first wrestling program to return to TNT and TBS after WWE had acquired WCW and shuttered it. The company now runs two shows a week on Turner's original networks, continuing the work he had started decades earlier. The 10-bell salute acknowledged not just a man, but the vision that had outlived him.
Notable Quotes
The man who gave us this platform, the man who created TBS and TNT and so many great television channels and so many great concepts in the field of television, the late great Mr. Ted Turner has passed.— Tony Khan, AEW co-founder
Can you imagine having an all-in billionaire who absolutely loved pro wrestling? I can't believe what he did for us. He was completely committed to us, devoted to us in every conceivable way.— Sting, professional wrestling legend
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a wrestling company open a show with a bell salute? What's the tradition signaling?
It's the wrestling world's formal language for death—the way the sport marks the passing of someone who mattered. Ten bells, one for each decade Turner lived, roughly. It's respect made audible.
But Turner wasn't a wrestler. He was a businessman who owned a wrestling company. Why does he get that honor?
Because he did something almost no one else would do. He spent his own money defending wrestling when everyone in his own company thought it was a losing bet. He believed in it when belief cost him.
Schiavone said wrestling "still survives" because of Turner. That's a strong claim. Does wrestling really owe its existence to one man?
Not its existence, but its survival on television. Turner gave it a home when it had nowhere else to go. He made it destination viewing. That's not nothing.
Sting mentioned Turner telling him to "keep doing what you're doing." That sounds like a casual comment. Why does it matter so much?
Because it wasn't casual. It was Turner choosing wrestling over his own executives' advice, choosing to keep funding something that was hemorrhaging money. That's the moment the story turns on.
AEW is on TNT and TBS now, the same networks Turner created. Is that intentional?
It has to be. It's the only wrestling program to return to those networks after WWE bought WCW and shut it down. They're literally continuing what Turner started, on his platforms, with his vision intact.