SUMMARY
- Tony Khan is currently the president of AEW.
- However, there are three reasons why he might be the wrong person to run the promotion.
AEW, or All Elite Wrestling, is a Jacksonville-based professional wrestling promotion. It was founded on January 1, 2019. However, within the course of five years, AEW has emerged as one of the largest wrestling promotions in the world. Not to mention, it is owned by Tony Khan and his father, Shahid.
In AEW, Tony Khan holds several positions. This includes the positions of President, General Manager, Chief Executive, Executive Producer, and Head of Creative. He can often be seen making appearances on AEW television. Apart from that, fans may also get a glimpse of him during various interviews and press conferences.
AEW, with its talented roster, has emerged as one of the most prominent wrestling promotions. Meanwhile, there’s one question that has often popped up among the fans. They have often wondered if Tony Khan is the wrong person to run AEW.
In that regard, it is to be noted that AEW President Tony Khan might be the wrong person to run the Jacksonville-based promotion, and there are several reasons for this. Here’s a look at those reasons.
AEW wrestlers are reportedly unhappy
AEW has added several huge names to its roster. Meanwhile, it seems many wrestlers are reportedly unhappy under the leadership of Tony Khan. Previously, it was reported that Jay White was unhappy with AEW’s booking of his loss against MJF.
Apart from that, Britt Baker also previously expressed her unhappiness about not getting promo time on live television. In addition to that, Matt Hardy of the Hardy Boyz opened up about his unhappiness surrounding their booking. He expressed frustrations regarding storyline directions and creative decisions.
Also, Dave Meltzer previously reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that several AEW wrestlers were unhappy and wanted to leave the promotion. One such wrestler includes Ricky Starks, who expressed his unhappiness with the arrival of several former WWE Superstars into the company.
Another wrestler is Ethan Page, who earlier stated his disappointment at getting very little screen time on AEW television. Also, QT Marshall previously showcased a lot of frustrations regarding his position within All Elite Wrestling.
Thus, it seems several talents have already expressed their dissatisfaction with the promotion. However, Tony Khan has yet to comment on the matter. It is also to be seen if more superstars will open up about their unhappiness in the upcoming days.
Tony Khan takes unnecessary shots at WWE
A leader should be busy thinking about the advancement of their company. Meanwhile, Tony Khan is often busy taking unnecessary shots at WWE. As is known to all, WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world and is clearly the rival of AEW. With that, Khan has repeatedly taken shots at the Stamford-based promotion, whether as a joke or in a serious manner.
Fans have often criticized Khan and his company for booking midcard wrestlers in the main event or title matches. Meanwhile, previously, a match was scheduled on WWE television between Seth Rollins and Jinder Mahal for the World Heavyweight Championship.
A double standard:@730hook 28-1 career record, on winning streak calls out the Champ, a logical challenge sparks online outrage
Jinder has literally lost every single match he’s in for the past year, immediately gets title shot, where is the rage#AEWDynamite TOMORROW on TBS
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) January 9, 2024
This led to the AEW president taking shots at WWE. He pointed out that Mahal didn’t win a single match throughout the year, yet he was given a world title opportunity. In another instance, WWE previously released a number of staff and talents. This happened after WWE merged with the UFC to form TKO Group Holdings.
Meanwhile, Khan took this opportunity to take shots at WWE. During a conference, Tony stated that, whatever the circumstances, he would never lay off staff or talents. He further stated that he would do anything to protect the jobs of the people working there.
Also, previously, Khan took shots at WWE for moving the 2022 Money in the Bank from a bigger to a smaller venue. Thus, it seems Tony left no opportunity to take shots at AEW’s rival promotion. Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that these were pretty unnecessary shots and could have been avoided.
However, Khan continues to be vocal about his thoughts regarding AEW’s rival promotion. It is now to be seen what other opportunities he will get to fire shots at the largest wrestling promotion in the world.
Many backstage brawls took place under Tony Khan’s watch
AEW is quite infamous for its backstage brawls. Previously, during the All Out 2022 post-show press conference, CM Punk opened up about his feelings regarding Adam Page and The Elite. This resulted in a massive backstage brawl between CM Punk, The Elite, and Ace Steel. All the wrestlers got physically involved and were later suspended.
Apart from that, earlier, Christian Cage and Adam Copeland were set for an interview backstage with Lexy Nair. During this, Copeland made Cage wait, who was getting frustrated. However, suddenly Adam launched an attack on Christian. Meanwhile, security officials arrived to separate them. With that, after several attempts, the backstage personnel and AEW wrestlers were able to control the situation.
In another instance, previously, a three-way tag team match took place between Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus vs. Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland vs. Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks at the AEW Double or Nothing 2022 PPV event. With that, the outcome of the match saw Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus defeating the rest to become AEW World Tag Team Champions.
Meanwhile, after the pay-per-view event, a backstage fight took place between Ricky Starks and Swerve Strickland. It reportedly happened because of a botched spot during the match. However, later, it was reported that they resolved the issue between themselves.
Apart from that, after the AEW All-In 2023 PPV event, CM Punk was involved in a backstage altercation with Jack Perry. This even led to the termination of The Best in the World’s contract with the Jacksonville-based promotion. However, in addition to all that, several other backstage brawls took place at AEW.
Thus, it is evident that numerous backstage fights and brawls took place under Tony Khan’s watch. Keeping in mind all the reasons mentioned above, it is self-explanatory why Khan might be the wrong person to run the Jacksonville-based promotion.
Whatever the case, Tony Khan is currently looking after AEW. Also, the question remains: who might be the right choice to run the promotion instead of Khan? However, it is certain that if Tony continues his leadership, he will have to improvise all the disappointing factors surrounding WWE’s rival promotion, AEW.