MR. TITO: In Defense of Disco Inferno (Responding to AEW’s Tony Khan’s Personal Attack)

If you would have told me during 1996 that I’d be writing a “Disco Inferno Appreciation Column” during December 2023, my younger self would be impressed. A pro wrestler holding onto his heat for 27 years? That’s impressive… In case you missed it, the MAN-CHILD of an AEW promoter named Tony Khan took a personal shot at former WCW/TNA wrestler and personality Disco Inferno via his X/Twitter account.

Disco Inferno simply wrote “like the shows need a reset” when quote tweeting Tony’s post hyping AEW Collision. In response, here is what Tony posted:

• @TonyKhan – 12/17/2023 – 1:34am: The belief that you’re an irrelevant parasite unites the entire pro wrestling community.

“Irrelevant parasite”. Wow… Could you just imagine if Vince McMahon, Triple H, or Nick Khan would make such a tweet to bash a veteran wrestler giving his opinion of their shows? No, you can’t… Because it has NEVER happened before.

And by the way, this Tony Khan attack actually echoes another person calling Disco “irrelevant”, as Disco was called a “irrelevant little b****” by the person who has become the #1 wrestling news insider.

Again – Why is anyone in top positions showing a lack of professionalism or class towards a veteran worker of pro wrestling? And it’s not like Disco Inferno is offending anyone. He’s just stating his opinion online and sometimes, he has a little fun on Twitter. Nothing that I’ve read versus Tony or the insider was remotely offensive compared to the nuclear reaction he received in return.

But let’s just look at the extensive career of Disco Inferno…

Glenn Gilbertti broke into the wrestling business during late 1991 and worked his way through the Independent scene until landing a job at World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during 1995 to become “Disco Inferno”. He was exactly as advertised, like a late 1970s version of the Honky Tonk man with a great theme song, a disco ball that came down for his entrance, and he had tights that resembled bell bottoms. He looked very much like John Travolta…

But let’s be real here… Disco could work. You didn’t make it to either WWE or WCW without being a solid in-ring worker. Despite the gimmick, Disco made the best of the opportunity and gave WCW a well-rounded midcard wrestler to serve as a appetizer before the main course was served. That was his job! Not only that, but if you watched Disco throughout 1995, 1996, and 1997, he kept getting better and better inside the ring. While others will tell you that “he carried the NWO’s bags into the arenas”, I’d flip that on you to suggest that Disco actually LISTENED to the veteran wrestlers to get better. He clearly did, and from all indications, he was well liked backstage in a WCW that was very competitive.

The best thing, too, about Disco is that he did everything they asked him to do… At Halloween Havoc 1997, he lost to Jacqueline… To others, that kind of loss would harm his career, but to Disco, he was already over as a midcard act. Onto the next match because he was always entertaining in the ring. After losing to Jacqueline, he quickly rebuilt his trust with wrestling fans and would retain his TV Title just weeks later.

Disco (or later “Disqo”) just did his job and did it well as a midcard act from 1995 through WCW’s closing during March 2001. That’s consistent employment in a top promotion for over 5 years. How many other individuals could say that?

Then, throughout the 2000s, you saw Disco Inferno, using a variation of his real name, perform in TNA wrestling. More steady work… Why? Because he was a fully trained wrestler, reliable, safe, and dependable.

On top of that, Disco began to extend his abilities from the ring to outside of the ring. He was part of the Creative Team during 2000… You may bash that, given that WCW would closed about 9 months later, but WCW was a sinking ship long before Disco joined the team and actually long before Vince Russo joined WCW during October 1999. They started bleeding money during 1999 and just couldn’t relieve themselves thanks to the expensive production costs and wrestler contracts that Eric Bischoff put in place. Disco later tried his hand at booking later in TNA as well.

So, exactly how is Disco even referred to as “irrelevant” by a guy whose Trust Fund made him into a President/CEO of a wrestling start-up or anyone online?

And what was so offensive about Disco’s response to Tony about AEW Collision? That it needed a “reset”? So what? The entire show was built around CM Punk and ya fired him, Tony. Without the centerpiece of the show that Warner Bros. Discovery wanted in the first place to headline this Saturday AEW show, the show feels lost. So again, what is so wrong with a wrestling veteran simply suggesting that the show needs a “reset”?

What Tony should have doing is to (a) just ignore it or (b) publicly state “thank you for your opinion, Disco. If you’d like to talk more about it or provide any ideas, I’d love to hear it. Just send me a private message on Twitter and we’ll discuss“.

Simple as that… But Tony, however, took route (c) and that was to present himself as an immature child who goes ballistic online to any feedback that he misinterprets. That just looks BAD to any WCW/TNA veteran who knew and worked with Disco, along with any wrestler seeing how immature the AEW CEO/President really is.

The FACT is that Tony Khan would be irrelevant if he didn’t have Daddy’s money to buy an NFL or soccer club to help manage, let alone AEW. Disco worked his way up and EARNED his job with WCW.. What exactly did you earn, Tony? You just happened to be born into a family with billions along with a Dad who loves you enough to burn some of that money on a wrasslin’ promotion. Your Daddy’s money made you relevant in the wrestling business, because without it, there’s no chance you’re even trying to start a wrestling promotion. No chance in hell.

Calling Disco Inferno, a TRAINED wrestler who worked in TWO nationally televised promotions (WCW & TNA) as “irrelevant”… Come on! Tony, you sir, are a joke!

Notice who is criticizing Disco Inferno… It’s not his former WCW or TNA workers. Why? He was always polite backstage, did solid work inside the ring, and he NEVER hurt anyone. That’s right, Tony, Disco was a SAFE wrestler. He showed personality and charisma to get the character over before the match even started, and then when he began wrestling, the work was crisp and the wrestlers were always safe.

Can you speak to that, Tony? Do all of your workers work safely? Can you testify to that? I’ve witnessed plenty of injuries, wrestlers taking long extensive time off to heal injuries, and lots of violent stunts that were inches away from going wrong. Lots of blood, too… Disco hardly ever had to bleed or do high risk stunts because he worked SMART and SAFE while giving fans a good time. Furthermore, because Disco worked both smart and safe, Glenn can just sit back and relax at the age of 56 to enjoy a quality of life. So chill that he’s able to say harmless things on X/Twitter that causes marks and Tony Khan to lose their collective minds.

So screw you, Tony… Disco Inferno WAS relevant as a pro wrestler and IS relevant as a veteran commentator online. You need to listen to more veterans like him or else your little Daddy subsidized promotion is going to go bye-bye. Declining viewership, declining attendance, and declining merchandise sales since you terminated CM Punk… If only there was a population of retired wrestlers that you could lean on for advice! You know, guys like Disco or the many veteran folks backstage in your AEW promotion that you’ve repeatedly ignored. Tony – Start listening to wrestling veterans and stop trying to impress a small % of online marks on X/Twitter.

Keep being immature, Tony. The more you expose yourself and your immaturity to the public, the more people will find you and your AEW promotion as irrelevant. Maybe Warner Bros. Discovery may find you and AEW irrelevant, too.

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