Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most AEW shows from March 2020 to June 2021 were held at Daily's Place, but these were not held as Homecoming events due to the circumstances. Additionally, AEW's returns to Daily's Place for their weekly television programs in December 2021, March and October 2022, and April 2024, were also not held as Homecoming specials.
After events in January 2020 and August 2021, Homecoming was on hiatus before returning in January 2024. The event originally aired as a special episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite on TNT, but in 2024, it was expanded to a two-part special, also encompassing Friday Night Rampage, with Dynamite now airing on TBS and Rampage on TNT. The January 2025 event was held as a one-night special of Saturday Night Collision on TNT, which was the first Homecoming to be simulcast on the streaming service Max. A second Homecoming for 2025 was held in October as a two-part special encompassing Dynamite and Collision, with the Dynamite broadcast simultaneously being the fourth Title Tuesday event, branded as "Homecoming: Title Tuesday".
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began effecting the industry in mid-March 2020, AEW held the majority of its programs from Daily's Place;[3] these events were originally held without fans, but the company began running shows at 10–15% capacity in August, before eventually running full capacity shows in May 2021.[4] Although held at Daily's Place, these shows were not "Homecoming" events due to the circumstances. In May, AEW announced that it would be returning to live touring, beginning with a special episode of Dynamite titled Road Rager on July 7.[5] Road Rager was also the first of a four-week span of special Dynamite episodes as part of AEW's "Welcome Back" tour, which continued with the two-part Fyter Fest on July 14 and 21 and concluded with Fight for the Fallen on July 28.[6][7] In early July, AEW scheduled a second Homecoming episode to be held after the conclusion of the "Welcome Back" tour, briefly returning AEW to Daily's Place on August 4. The event was promoted as the final event to be held at Daily's Place for Summer 2021.[8][9][10] AEW would then return to Daily's Place in December that year, but that event was held as the New Year's Smash special.[11]
Although AEW returned to Daily's Place in 2022 for episodes of Dynamite and their secondary program, Friday Night Rampage (which premiered on TNT on August 13, 2021), these were regular episodes that were not produced as Homecoming specials.[12][13] AEW did not hold any shows at Daily's Place in 2023, but scheduled a return to the venue in January 2024. The company in turn revived the Homecoming special with the third event held on January 10, 2024. Unlike the prior two events, the 2024 Homecoming expanded the show to a two-part special, with the first part airing live as a special episode of Dynamite on TBS (the program moved from TNT to TBS in January 2022), with the second part taped the same night to air on tape delay on January 12 as a special episode of Rampage on TNT.[14] AEW returned to Daily's Place in late April 2024 for episodes of Dynamite, Rampage, and its third program, Saturday Night Collision (which premiered on TNT in June 2023), but these were not held as Homecoming specials.[15]
The first Collision to be a Homecoming special was the January 2025 event, scheduled for January 25. This also reduced Homecoming back to a one-night event, following Rampage's cancellation at the end of December 2024. This was also the first Homecoming to be simulcast on the streaming service Max.[16] A second Homecoming for 2025 was scheduled as a two-part event in October, airing as the October 7 and October 11 episodes of Dynamite and Collision, respectively (Collision was taped on October 8 to air on tape delay). The Dynamite broadcast was also simultaneously the fourth annual Title Tuesday special, another one of AEW's specials of Dynamite that is themed around championship matches and is held on one Tuesday in October due to a scheduling conflict with Major League Baseball on TNT Sports channels. The Dynamite broadcast was in turn branded as Homecoming: Title Tuesday.[17]
Events
All AEW Homecoming events are held at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
The 2020 Homecoming was the inaugural Homecoming television special produced by AEW. The event marked the promotion's return to its home base of Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, following the company's debut at the venue during Fight for the Fallen in July the previous year. It was held on New Year's Day on January 1, 2020, and was broadcast on TNT as a special episode of AEW's weekly television program, Wednesday Night Dynamite.[2]
The 2020 Homecoming averaged 967,000 television viewers on TNT and a 0.36 rating in AEW's key demographic.[24]
The 2021 Homecoming was the second Homecoming television special produced by AEW. The event marked a brief return to AEW's home venue of Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, which is where they had produced shows through the majority of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 – June 2021), and came after the conclusion of AEW's "Welcome Back" tour, which celebrated the company's resumption of live touring. It was held on August 4, 2021, and was broadcast on TNT as a special episode of AEW's weekly television program, Wednesday Night Dynamite.[9] This was the final Homecoming special produced until 2024, as despite AEW returning to Daily's Place in December 2021 and then in March and October 2022 for episodes of Dynamite and their Friday night program Rampage, these were not produced as Homecoming specials,[11][12][13] and no shows were held at Daily's Place in 2023.
The 2021 Homecoming averaged 1,102,000 television viewers on TNT, with a 0.46 rating in AEW's key demographic.[27]
The 2024 Homecoming was the third Homecoming television special produced by AEW. The event marked the company's return to its home venue of Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida for the first time since October 2022, although it was the first Homecoming special since 2021. It was held on January 10, 2024. Unlike the prior two Homecoming specials, which only aired as a special episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite, the 2024 event expanded Homecoming to a two-part special, also encompassing Friday Night Rampage. Dynamite aired live on TBS while Rampage aired on tape delay on January 12 on TNT.[32][33] The event also paid tribute to Mr. Brodie Lee, an AEW wrestler and leader of The Dark Order who was a prominent figure during the company's time at Daily's Place during the COVID-19 pandemic from March to October 2020 before his death that December.[34]
The January 2025 Homecoming was the fourth Homecoming television special produced by AEW. Although the company held shows at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida in April 2024, this was the first Homecoming special at the venue since January that year. It was held on January 25, 2025. Unlike the prior year, which aired as a two-part special encompassing Wednesday Night Dynamite and Friday Night Rampage, the 2025 event was reduced back to one night and was the first Homecoming to air as a special episode of Saturday Night Collision. The special was simulcast live on TNT and Max, which was the first Homecoming to be simulcast on Max.[16]
The October 2025 Homecoming is the ongoing fifth Homecoming television special produced by AEW. This marked the first Homecoming to be held twice in one year, after the January 2025 event, as well as expanding it back to a two-part special, encompassing Wednesday Night Dynamite and Saturday Night Collision. The first part was a live episode of Dynamite on TBS and HBO Max, which was also simultaneously the fourth annual Title Tuesday special and branded as Homecoming: Title Tuesday, while the second part was taped on October 8 to air as the October 11 episode of Collision on TNT and Max.[41]
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