All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its weekly Wednesday night show “Dynamite” are on the verge of achieving a significant milestone in the professional wrestling landscape.

The episode airing on April 16 will be the 289th installment of “Dynamite,” officially surpassing the 288 episodes of WCW’s “Monday Nitro,” which aired on the Turner network TNT from 1995 to 2001.

“Nitro” had a profound impact on wrestling fans during its run, as noted by AEW president, CEO, and general manager Tony Khan in an interview with Variety. “Some of the real highlights of ’90s professional wrestling happened on that show,” he remarked.

Recognized as one of the most pivotal shows in wrestling history, “Nitro” played a crucial role in the Monday Night Wars against WWE and “Monday Night Raw” in the mid-1990s. Khan, a dedicated fan and scholar of pro wrestling, highlighted early “Nitro” storylines, such as the feud between “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Ric Flair, along with Lex Luger’s debut, as key moments that shaped the show’s legacy beyond the emergence of the NWO.

“A common misconception is that WCW really gained momentum only when the NWO started, but the company was already on the rise before that,” Khan explained. He emphasized that many matches on “Nitro” showcased a wrestling style that was relatively rare in the U.S. at the time, but its prominence on the show has inspired generations of wrestlers since.

“There were a lot of exceptional athletes, delivering some of the highest-flying, fastest-paced pro wrestling of that era,” he noted. “This style has evolved and risen to prominence, with today’s top wrestlers not necessarily being the 400 or 500-pound giants of the past.”

Although “Nitro” aired its final episode nearly two decades before “Dynamite” debuted on TNT (and later TBS), both shows share a significant commonality.

“There were so many memorable moments with Sting on ‘Nitro,’” Khan said. “Sting is a vital part of AEW, and long before AEW existed, he was wrestling on TBS and TNT for many years. Many of my favorite wrestling memories on those networks involve Ric Flair and Sting.”

This Wednesday, “Dynamite” will broadcast from Boston with a special “Spring BreakThru” theme. The lineup includes matches featuring AEW Trios champions the Death Riders (Jon Moxley, PAC, and Claudio Castagnoli) facing off against The Opps (Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and HOOK). Additionally, several matches will take place as part of the Owen Hart Cup tournament, including Hangman Page versus a Wild Card Entrant, Will Ospreay versus Konosuke Takeshita, and Athena versus Mercedes Moné.

AEW is also a few months into a new rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, which has allowed AEW programming to stream live on Max for the first time. Khan expressed his appreciation for WBD head David Zaslav, who personally conveyed his belief in AEW, stating, “I really want AEW here; I believe in AEW.”

“He’s provided us with the opportunity not only to celebrate this significant milestone this week but also to reach a new audience through Max, which I believe is a crucial part of our future,” Khan concluded.