MR. TITO: Nobody Cares about Jack Perry, Young Bucks, and Okada Attacking Tony Khan on AEW Dynamite

I’m just going to straight-up tell you that last night’s “BIG ANGLE” involving Tony Khan getting attacked by Jack Perry, Young Bucks, and Okada is not going to draw AEW more eyeballs or put butts in seats. Why? There is no animosity between any of the parties to fuel such an angle and everybody knows that behind the scenes, everyone participating in this angle is close in real life. You could argue that this angle is a victim of “kayfabe being dead”, but I’d point out that it’s more of a victim of bad storylines and putting together weak stables that nobody wants to see.

You can give me all of the comparisons to Stone Cold Steve Austin attacking Vince McMahon or the Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) attacking Eric Bischoff, but we just can’t compare Jack Perry attacking Tony and then Young Bucks/Okada joining in. Not even close…

For one, Tony Khan is highly over-exposed as being AEW’s President/CEO. Back during 1996 and 1997, there was still a mystery on Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff‘s role. Both never mentioned they were owners or top officials on screen, as both were commentators and often had figureheads acting in authority roles instead of them. It’s very clear who Tony Khan is, as he’s all over television and leading the media scrums. Plus, he’s all over Social Media, often to his detriment.

But let’s look at the other side of the ledger… Vince was attacked by Steve Austin, while Bischoff was attacked by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Tony was attacked by Jack Perry (low midcard), Young Bucks (tag team), and Okada (New Japan superstar, not as well known here in the states). That’s a HUGE difference. Hall of Fame ALL TIME GREATS attacking Vince or Bischoff, and not so much with this AEW stable of Bucks/Okada/Perry attacking Tony. Just a bit off in terms of impact.

Look at the characters, however… Scott Hall and Kevin Nash sold themselves as invaders and acting like they were illegally in WCW. They were portrayed as WWE wrestlers trying to disrupt WCW’s operations and humiliate them. Even when they later admitted that they weren’t WWE wrestlers, their personas still sold them as disruptive and agents of chaos. Then, they complete the New World Order (NWO) stable with Hulk Hogan, and they are really pouring gasoline on that revolutionary fire.

Same thing with Stone Cold Steve Austin. He came out of a BAD gimmick with the “Ringmaster”, so you believed he was legitimately pissed at the WWE for making him do that. Stone Cold Steve Austin was a rebel and didn’t care what was in his way. He was there to kick ass and take names later.

Austin, Hall, and Nash were rich characters who acted so well that it would cause fans to suspend disbelief and go on a journey with them. You’re NOT seeing that with Perry, Bucks, or Okada. You can give me the “it’s 2024 and kayfabe is dead”, but if your wrestlers are poor actors, it’s going to get exposed. Furthermore, if you’re build-up to the attack is poor, then the attack of a company owner won’t matter. We’ve had 2 weeks since we’ve seen the Wembley Stadium security footage of Jack Perry getting attacked by CM Punk. 2 weeks…

And yet, look at the hilarity of the angle… Jack Perry is supposedly mad at Tony Khan for not using him for the last 7-8 months… Yet, there is ZERO indication that Perry was suspended for this entire time. No, he got PAID his AEW base salary while getting to work for other promotions or just sit on his arse at home. FURTHERMORE, Tony Khan TERMINATED the person who attacked him in CM Punk. The person who physically assaulted Perry was removed from every being a threat to Perry again and it cost AEW millions upon millions in doing so.

While not performing in AEW was probably a bummer for Perry, still getting paid for 7-8 months was a great benefit while also not having to deal with CM Punk again in AEW was too.

The psychology isn’t there and the super-stardom just isn’t there like it was for Austin/Vince or Bischoff/Hall & Nash.

Nor was it there for other authority figure attacks:

(1) Dixie Carter getting attacked by the Dudley Boyz (or Team 3D). Well established that Dixie was in charge of AEW and worse yet, we’ve seen the Dudleys hit that shocking attack (top rope powerbomb through tables) with Mae Young before. Just didn’t click…

(2) Kevin Owens attacking Vince McMahon. Remember that? The big headbutt. Did that help his career?

And I could go on and on about the many, many Vince McMahon angles conducted after 1999 (getting stale during 1999, too). The many McMahon family angles, the many Triple H/Stephanie schemes during the 2010s, etc.

It doesn’t have the juice unless (a) the authority figure isn’t over-exposed and (b) if the wrestlers are over and great actors.

Tony fails (a) and Okada/Bucks/Perry are failing (b) badly.

Good job, though, by AEW on getting NFL to cover this angle and also “creating suspense” on of Tony Khan will be able to attend draft events with the Jacksonville Jaguars. THAT is good promotion… But nobody cares what truly happened on AEW, nor does anyone believe that Shad Khan was really concerned. If that was MY son getting attacked, I’d run to the ring as it happened and tried to fight those guys. No, he came out after the fact.

But let’s get REAL on Tony Khan… Who has sympathy for this man?

Why Eric Bischoff’s attack at WCW’s Great American Bash 1996 by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash was so effective is that WCW didn’t advertise who he really was. For as far as most fans knew, he was just a play-by-play commentator and that was his only role. Ditto for Vince McMahon getting the Stunner in MSG. Vince was just a play-by-play guy and not fully known as the owner. Thus, when both got attacked, the shock value went up because it appeared an innocent bystander was attacked.

AEW has already burned through their cards on Tony Khan, especially the MJF profanity filled “shoot” promo on Tony. Tony getting exposed on the CM Punk stuff always burned through a few of those sympathy cards, too.

And it’s hard to even get remotely sympathetic for Tony when his own EVPs, the Young Bucks, whom he signed to very lucrative contracts and retained them as EVPs during early 2023, are part of the stable attacking him. Jack Perry is a Young Bucks loyalist and was likely hired by the pair to join AEW in the first place.

THAT is the problem. There is nothing mysterious about why this happened, nor is there any concern for the well being of Tony. It’s clearly a wrestling angle and the “stars” involved are lesser known, too, to make any sort of impact.

It’s not going to matter one bit, especially when each of the 4 wrestlers who attacked Tony won’t be suspended or terminated, and that’s where getting Shad Khan to come down with concern really exposes things. Okada and the Young Bucks have major deals worth millions, which everybody knows about, and Jack Perry was never mentioned to be suspended or terminated from AEW despite him working elsewhere. Hard to call yourself a “Scapegoat” when you’re still fully salaried by AEW and Tony, while selling t-shirts with that nickname through AEW before you officially return.

For a storyline to work, you need FAITH by the audience… Faith that the attackers are legit stars and their attacks will draw a strong reaction, and faith that the authority figure can gain sympathy or heat by being attacked.

Neither situation has happened, and thus this storyline will fail…

BUT, it could be salvaged if Tony Khan can find 4 new developmental talents who can rise up and eliminate Okada/Bucks/Perry from the picture.

However, AEW doesn’t have any young talent in their system to unleash…

AEW needs new stars… Austin was a newly acquired star with something to prove, as was Hall/Nash. Go to late 2012, the Shield were 3 fresh stars that were unleashed on the WWE and all 3 guys have had serious heater runs for the last 10 years.

The Young Bucks are absolutely toxic and Jack Perry is a midcarder… Okada is still unknown with most fans (though he’s very talented, won’t deny that). Tony is too over-exposed as the owner and hated by many fans based on his treatment of certain talent and weakness as a talent manager.

Nobody is going to care… People will care if AEW could develop and present new talent well. Attempting shock value by attacking Tony for cheap sympathy won’t.

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