– Ariel Helwani asks Tony Khan if he takes WWE counter-booking his shows personally, if he wishes WWE would just stop.
Tony Khan says no, he understands and expects the counter-booking. It’s consistent with WWE’s business practices regardless of ownership changes.
Khan says AEW business has not seen any harm from WWE’s practices, citing AEW All In Texas doing some of AEW’s best business ever in the face of WWE counter-booking.
– Khan commented on the recent WWE-TNA partnership, framing it as a strategic move rather than anything personal. He described the collaboration as “very interesting” and agreed with Matt’s assessment that “AEW is a very strong challenger brand. It’s not that unusual.” When asked if he saw the partnership as a compliment, Khan confirmed, “Absolutely.” He drew parallels to past wrestling history, recalling that “when WCW was starting to do better, and Smoky Mountain was running Georgia, Vince McMahon called Jim Cornette and sent a bunch of WWF wrestlers to Smoky Mountain.” Khan explained that this type of collaboration is part of the industry’s standard playbook: “I do think when you have a strong challenger brand, it’s not unusual to see the WWF collaborate with another company. I don’t take it personally. It makes some sense, looking at the wrestling playbook for the WWF.”
Source: The Ariel Helwani Show
1. It was 93. WCW was not starting to do better.
2. Again, 93. SMW was not running Georgia.
3. Vince initially didn’t send anyone to SMW.
4. It was Bruce Prichard who called Cornette. (To keep it factual, I know it’s irrelevant).
AEW is “a strong challenger brand” only because of the money behind it, not because of its popularity, not because of its profits, and definitely not because Tony and Uncle Dave see Tony as the next coming of Eddie Graham or Bill Watts.
What would happen to AEW if something happened to Tony Khan? Is there a line of succession to the throne?
@Luke
93 was a time when business was bad all around. This was also the time that WWE was looking to work with the Jarretts in Memphis. And let’s just be honest. WWE is an entertainment company that happens to put on a few wrestling matches and shows. AEW is an actual wrestling promotion.
@Disgruntled Jobber
Can you please elaborate what makes AEW an actual wrestling promotion? Because all I see is a rich boy living out his dream with a vanity project and a bunch of clueless morons with bruised thighs making wrestling look faker than it has ever looked before.
I’m sorry but this whole “AEW is an actual wrestling promotion” is laughable because you’re just buying into what they’ve been feeding you about their company being real wrestling. Both companies are the same. Only difference is that the WWE calls itself “Sports Entertainment”.
Is it possible that “AEW is an actual wrestling promotion” means AEW has more in ring action? I don’t watch it (or WWE anymore), so I honestly don’t know.
@art123guy
Action? Yes. Wrestling? No. If you call it an actual action promotion, I won’t say a word.
@Joseph @Luke
Sure, I’ll be happy to explain.
Luke, you mentioned “Clueless morons with bruised thighs making wrestling look fake”. Whereas WWE has paint by numbers production to the point you know when NXT and Smackdown are going to commercial. WWE is the promotion where a wrestler can have a chair used on them to take out their leg. Then two hours later, they are bouncing around like nothing happened. Not to mention it’s a company that just buried one of its top factions by having its leader get pushed around by a football player with a broken ankle.
@Joseph
You almost had it. WWE has called itself sports entertainment for 40 years now. That’s nothing new. What is new (or made worse), is that you now attend a show that last 3 hours or more, has two or three matches, and the rest of the time filled in by needlessly long promos, overuse of video recaps, or run ins.
Say what you will about AEW. At least when a wrestler gets over in AEW, they ride with it. In WWE, only a certain select group of wrestlers are allowed to be over. And if someone becomes a cult fan favorite, they get a teaser of a push, versus the push the fan response warrants. See prime examples, Zach Ryder and the late Bray Wyatt.
And I could help but laugh at the “buying what they are feeding you.” line. WWE has been openly mocking you for 20 years, and you all keep going back for more.
@Disgruntled Jobber
See, I was talking about AEW. Your whole reply to both me and Joseph is about WWE. Neither of us is defending WWE. I can’t speak for Joseph, but I pretty much agree with everything about them you just said. Thing is, who cares? WWE can literally go suck a dick, it still won’t turn AEW into “an actual wrestling promotion”. Not to mention a good one.
The one thing you did say about AEW. I’m not sure if getting a push in AEW is better than getting buried in WWE…
But seriously, the people getting pushed are friends with the right people. Some of them are over (with that crowd!), some of them are not. It’s nepotism at its finest.
Now, if you want to keep this going, can we please eliminate WWE from the equation? It’s not WWE’s fault AEW sucks.
Although you could make an argument that it’s AEW’s fault that WWE sucks, but that’s a story for another day.
@Disgruntled Jobber
In my post I was not defending the WWE. I wasn’t even critical of AEW in my post. Disagreeing with you about AEW being “real wrestling” doesn’t make someone a WWE mark.
@Luke
I have to disagree with you about AEW sucking. I don’t think they’re as good as AEW fans think they are but they’re also not as bad as some say they are. The WWE and AEW have both entertaining moments and moments where you question what they’re doing.
@Joseph
Personal opinion: right now both companies suck. Sure, both have their moments, but that’s usually thanks to the talent, not the creative. Also, AEW as a business is a complete failure. Businesses are supposed to bring profit, AEW only brings revenues.
But here I was talking about something else, that “actual wrestling promotion” thing. The AEW faithful are generally Meltzerites. Meltzer has conditioned plenty of people to believe that move after move after move after move (after move after move after move) is actual wrestling. He was an influencer way ahead of the time. Thing is, it’s not. It never was. Meltzer stars ≠ match quality. AEW never had a match as good as, say, Hogan vs. Andre at WM 3 or even Warrior vs. Honky at the first SummerSlam. When it comes to “actual wrestling”, AEW sucks.
Now, are people allowed to like things that suck? Of course. I like plenty of things that objectively suck, we all do. But let’s call a spade a spade. In the words of the immortal Simpsons: Don’t sell me an outhouse and tell me it’s the Taj Mahal…