MR. TITO: Tony Khan Needs to be More Patient with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) or He'll Blow It

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A few weeks ago, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) held its “Grand Slam” edition of AEW Dynamite and built it like a Pay Per View. The show was in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City and had a stacked card featuring the first time AEW match-up between Kenny Omega and ~~Daniel Bryan~~ Bryan Danielson. AEW was hoping to actually eclipse WWE’s Monday Night RAW in TOTAL Viewership, as it has been tying or beating RAW in the vaunted 18-49 Demographic.

In the end, AEW did just under 1.3 million with that stacked New York City card while WWE RAW did just 1.8 million.

Weeks later, we’ll have another form of competition. Thanks to the Major League Baseball’s playoffs, WWE Smackdown will be on FS1 next week. In response, AEW Rampage will be LIVE on Friday Night in hopes of possibly beating WWE Smackdown on FS1. After all, last year’s FS1 bumped Smackdown show did just 881,000 viewers. In response to AEW going live, Smackdown has added 30 extra minutes to their show.

This prompted Tony Khan to tweet the following:

I saw you’re doing a half hour head-to-head with us. I can’t wait to finally beat your main show head-to-head. It’s been a long time coming. See you next Friday for #AEWRampage on @AEWonTNT! (posted 11:32pm, 10/8/2021)

He’d later add: I’ve never claimed I could physically best Vince, I just think AEW can put on a better wrestling show than them & I want people to know it.

You know what I like about Vince McMahon. You NEVER hear from him. He doesn’t do social media, as his accounts are just public ones for PR purposes. He doesn’t have post-show wrestling conferences. Once his Vince McMahon character has been over and done with, you never see him on television. In fact, the most you hear about him are the rumors posted in the Wrestling Observer. There’s a mystique about Vince and when he does appear on camera, it matters. It pops a number because when he appears, it’s revealing something important.

Tony is everywhere… He appears on AEW events, post-shows, Impact wrestling, and he’s addicted to Social Media. Little does he know that he’s over-exposing himself.

Years ago, I wrote a column entitled The Day that WCW Died… and I argued that WCW’s seeds of destruction were planted when Eric Bischoff joined the New World Order on the November 18th, 1996 edition of WCW Nitro. Before that show, Eric Bischoff was just the 2nd hour announcer and just did his job hyping up the show and calling the matches. Now, however, he became the mouthpiece of the nWo which was actually doing just fine without him. Joining the nWo was intoxicating for Eric Bischoff and he began focusing more on his on-screen character versus what was happening backstage. 1997 ran on the fumes of 1996 but by 1998, the wheels were coming off. Bischoff rode that nWo horse into the ground while not fully realizing that his company’s creative and talent structure was falling apart.

LESS IS MORE.

Tony Khan doesn’t realize how over-exposed he has become. That’s the product of just turning 39 years old while thinning yourself out by running AEW, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Fulham F.C.. Meanwhile, unless you are an effective on screen character, like Vince was during 1998-1999, nobody wants to see the behind-the-scenes stuff bleed into the main product.

Tony has to realize that AEW is LESS than 3 years old and growing a successful promotion takes time. Eric Bischoff took over an established WCW during 1993 and it took him 3 years get close to the WWE. Tony started from complete scratch.

Look, I know he is excited about running his own promotion and being almost 600,000 viewers away from overtaking RAW… It has to be exciting to convince Bryan Danielson and CM Punk to join your company, no doubt.

BUT SLOW IT DOWN…

What Tony Khan has to realize is this: TONS of damage was done to the Pro Wrestling Industry from SummerSlam 2014 through 2018. At SummerSlam 2014, the WWE decided to have Brock Lesnar SQUASH John Cena and therefore depush John Cena as the #1 babyface ever since. WWE pushed Roman Reigns HARD from 2014 through 2018 at the expense of quality, as Roman had bad matches with almost every top guy (Cena, Punk, Orton, Undertaker, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, etc), and also at the expense of every wrestler who was depushed to make way for Roman. The end result was a TV viewership decline from being just over 4 mllion viewers to struggling to get near 2 million viewers. Attendance declined by the thousands, merchandise sales consistently declined year over year.

YEARS of damage to the wrestling business has scared off many loyal wrestling fans and also discouraged any newer from trying pro wrestling. We’re in the same position as we were during 1995 when WCW Nitro began. The final peak of the WWE was at Wrestlemania 6 and it was all downhill after that with Ultimate Warrior as champion. From 1990-1995, the wrestling business did nothing but decline. It took Eric Bischoff YEARS to rebuild the WCW roster and then begin storylines that appeal to the audience he gained quickly among: College students. Even with WCW winning the ratings battle, it took them about another few months to really start pulling away from the WWE and growing their fanbase.

You cannot “shoot for the moon” when the wrestling fanbase in North America as become 2.5 million fans, at best.

What Tony Khan needs to do is simple… Take himself OFF of camera and making appearances. Stay behind the scenes and get of the way. Meanwhile, FOCUS on coming up with a long-term storyline that can draw strongly for AEW long-term.

Think about WCW during early 1996. Hulk Hogan was a stale babyface and Scott Hall & Kevin Nash were finishing up in the WWE. Let’s be totally honest about Hall (Razor) and Nash (Diesel). Hall was a reliable wrestler but topped off at the Intercontinental Title. Nash, meanwhile, didn’t do so well as the babyface WWE Champion. What WCW bought was 2 experienced guys but they weren’t exactly drawing strongly in the WWE. If they were, would Vince McMahon let them go to WCW? He saw no value in matching WCW’s offer and was willing to let them go.

If WCW would have kept pushing a babyface Hulk Hogan and have Hall & Nash just join WCW as wrestlers like their former WWE characters, WCW wouldn’t have grown. The FACT is that with the New World Order angle, it made Hulk, Hall, and Nash relevant. Hogan turned heel and Hall/Nash were attacking WCW wrestlers violently while totally disrespecting WCW as a brand. While the wrestlers executed it perfectly, the STORYLINE is what made them great together and drew.

Tony Khan HAS to realize that… He needs a top flight storyline to draw in viewers to complement the new ex-WWE stars that he has signed. You can’t just sign a bunch of former ex-WWE wrestlers and expect them to collectively draw. Ask TNA/Impact Wrestling about that one. They tried to sign anyone that the WWE no longer wanted to pay and they could never get above 1.5 million viewers on SpikeTV.

What Tony Khan needs to do is grab all of his wrestling veterans backstage (Jim Ross, Arn Anderson, DDP, Tully Blanchard, Jake Roberts, Billy Gunn, etc.), include the Executive Vice Presidents for experience, but also include key veterans on the roster (Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Sting). Sit them in a room for a multiple day seminar and discuss major angles. Draw from the veterans with experience in different promotions on major drawing angles. If you aren’t going anywhere, begin to consult some of the younger wrestlers for ideas.

What Tony Khan needs to realize is that he has TIME on his hands… TNT/TBS are committed for a while now and when the AT&T sale of the Time Warner channels is complete to the Discovery Channel, they are going to need drawing content. AEW will remain on TBS or TNT for many years to come, as long as they are receiving reasonable ratings (1 million per show works). AEW is less than 3 years old, too… Brand new brands take TIME to establish. And again, the Pro Wrestling industry is in a downturn and has been since 2014 with over 2 million North American fans walking away for good. Additionally, WWE’s declines aren’t finished yet… More viewership number pain is heading their way and they are seriously 1 Roman Reigns injury away from the complete brink of disaster.

Tony Khan needs to SLOW DOWN and utilize this time of stability to plan things out for the long-term. Since he doesn’t have a #1 major drawing babyface on the rise (sorry kids, but Hangman Page is NOT the guy… Go watch his 2018 “All In” performance if you don’t believe me), Tony will have to come up with a storyline to draw instead. AEW is too heel heavy and I’m starting to agree with AEW critics in that CM Punk is more of a natural heel than the babyface role that he’s trying. Bryan Danielson is nice, but he’s older… Cody Rhodes looks uncomfortable as a babyface.

With the absence of a #1 drawing babyface, he’ll have to come up with a reality based storyline instead.

THAT or he could build up his title belts. OH WAIT, he just introduced the “TBS Title” which shall be a secondary title for the Women’s Division. AS IF THEY NEEDED ANOTHER FREAKIN’ TITLE! Gotta have a GOOD division first with actual depth to begin adding titles.

You could try the whole “AEW Originals vs. Former WWE Guys” kind of deal, but we’ve been there and done that a bunch of times. NWO did it and TNA has tried invasion angles many times. AEW has already burned out the idea of a STABLE, as they have so many that it’s hard to keep up with. I suppose CM Punk could turn into a complete heel, but again, where are the babyfaces? Punk vs. Danielson has been done so many times and again, it’s ex-WWE guy vs. ex-WWE guy.

If you were asking me, good ol’ Mr. Tito… Here is what I’d advise…

Go look at WWE’s turnaround during 1997. What 4 specific things made the WWE turnaround?

(1) The hellraising, beer drinking, and cursing Stone Cold Steve Austin.

(2) The most cocky heel to ever exist arrived and he asked you what the Rock was cooking.

(3) Women dressed in next to nothing. Beautiful women between Sable, Sunny, Terri, and others to come.

(4) Degeneration X. This was a brand that teenagers loved and proudly did the hand gestures while wearing the merchandise.

What have we complained about for the past 10 years in pro wrestling? It’s TOO CLEAN and is PG RATED.

On AEW Dynamite now, they are allowed to curse… And we’re talking real curse words that are not getting bleaped, unlike the WWE over 20 years ago. OK, so if we’re allowed to curse, then we’re allowed to get a little more violent with angles and have many of the beautiful women on that roster come out in bikinis.

WAIT A SECOND, how dare you Mr. Tito with that misogynistic comment!

Oh really? Why don’t you log into each and every FEMALE wrestler’s INSTRAGRAM webpage for me? Are you kidding me? They are wearing bikinis, lingerie, and sometimes nothing! Thus, if the female talent are OK posting sexualized photos of themselves on Social Media which the entire public can access, then why are we not capitalizing on it for TNT? And don’t act like TNT has clean programming. I remember watching the DALLAS reboot and a threesome erupted between the John Ross, Pamela, and Emma characters.

Let’s get even more real about AEW Dynamite’s audience. From the very last AEW Dynamite show, here are the ratings:

Males (18-49): 0.53 rating
Females (18-49): 0.22 rating

Males (12-34): 0.26
Females (12-34): 0.14

Ratings wise, the vaunted 18-49 Demo sees more than DOUBLE the male audience versus female and almost double the male versus female viewers for the strange 12-34 demographic that Showbuzz Daily presents.

Thus, if the EXTREME MAJORITY of your AEW fanbase are males, then why not give them what they want?

(a) Hot Women
(b) Adult Themed storylines
(c) Male wrestlers coming with many “dates” on their arms.

Much of your AEW wrestlers, today, are presented as kind of dorky outside of the ring. They are bragging about their video game habits or streaming on Twitch, which is something they shouldn’t advertise doing. Pro Wrestlers need to appear as “Larger than Life” personalities and not resembling their fanbase’s habits. You have an image problem because we KNOW too much about your wrestlers. How can I believe that Miro is a legitimately tough wrestler when he’s streaming video games? What we should see in the public about Miro is how hard he trains to hurt people and how he has a beautiful wife and the fans do not. Simple as that… Then you have Adam Cole who wants to present himself as a wrestler tougher than his smaller physique but he’s streaming video games too.

Tony Khan needs to do some work to button up the image of his promotion and wrestlers if he wants to really start growing. He should not allow any of the wrestlers to casually talk about storylines and results of matches on Social Media or YouTube. He needs to sell, to the wrestlers, that they should NOT tell the public how scripted pro wrestling is and present their profession as if they were real combat sports. Until the presentation of AEW can be improved as appearing like a legitimate sport, the difficulty increases on pushing a storyline.

Short-Term, the answer could be improving the stock and value of your Title Belts. Sorry, but I NEVER and I repeat NEVER want to see another promotion’s titles appearing on AEW. I don’t care what NWA, Impact, AAA, New Japan, or other promotions are doing. AEW needs to be concerned with itself and making sure that its titles are credible.

But they aren’t…

Remember the promise of building rankings and ensuring that wins & losses matter? “Sports based wrestling” is the phrase that we kept hearing.

Britt Baker is a good champion, but look at the sludge that she had to walk through to get to that title. The champions before her were AWFUL and she really doesn’t have much to work with in AEW’s women’s division. The TBS Title will only hurt things, much as the undefined TNT Title has underwhelmed without any true definition as to what it is or who fights for it. The Tag Titles have been underwhelming, particularly as AEW hypes itself to be great on tag wrestling. They do have good matches, but the “sense of urgency” to get those tag titles is not there. And then the AEW Title. The Kenny Omega stuff with collecting titles and being incorporated with Impact Wrestling has been LAME. There’s just zero sense of urgency to buy a Pay Per View or drive to an arena to see Kenny Omega. All of those years of “Match of the Year” candidates and we really haven’t seen that much of that yet in AEW. Closest we’ve seen is his match with Bryan Danielson at Grand Slam and the Red Dragon has made everybody look great.

I guess you could try turning CM Punk heel, but I worry that his almost 43 year old body and gray hairs is presenting him differently to new AEW viewers and long-tiime wrestling fans. The Honeymoon of that first night is over, but what is the next step. LUCKY for AEW, CM Punk is still the best talker in the business. And with that and TNT allowing AEW wrestlers to curse, you’ve got your perfect scenario of a HEEL CM Punk who is allowed to cut completely unfiltered promos.

But again, who is the babyface who shall be opposing CM Punk?

I just hope that Tony Khandoesn’t start his “Corporation” like gimmick to form a stable of wrestlers who try to enforce AEW’s policies. Been there, done that.

What Tony Khan and crew should look at is the world around them. Create characters who are polarizing based on politics, social status, race/gender, etc. Look at how heated we are about politics right now, especially. Could you imagine a wrestler coming to the ring in a MAGA hat? Could you imagine a wrestler getting mad at AEW Security for racially profiling them? With lots of women backstage and being associated with male wrestlers, the possibilities are endless whether it’s relationships, workplace issues, or just downright disrespect.

Right now, the world is trying to scrub everything and make it become politically correct. Be the opposite of that. Piss off the Twitter Mob who tried to cancel Max Caster by having Max Caster on more often with more insane raps to say. Be the OPPOSITE of the WWE who is still stuck with a PG rating and is very controlled by Comcast for content. THAT is what WCW did during 1996 that caused them to become the #1 wrestling promotion in the world. They did things entirely different from the WWE with the storylines, presentation, airing live, removing colorful gimmicks, etc.

HERE is the real risk with Tony Khan and AEW… With AEW crossing the 3 year finish line, they have MANY contracts coming up during 2022. If AEW cannot present a long-term plan to its wrestlers or see any legitimate growth in their numbers, then 2022 might see the beginning of AEW talent actually jumping ship to WWE. Worse yet, one of the guys who would be a serious helping hand to Tony, Jim Ross, has his contract expiring during 2022 as well (unless he renewed recently). Could you imagine if Jim Ross returned to the WWE to rejoin Talent Developmental or just act as a scout for new talent nationwide? What if someone like MJF, Hangman Page, or others just feel like they are lost in the shuffle and want to try WWE?

And then you have the Fab 4 Executive Vice Presidents. Reportedly, Tony Khan further diminished their roles for Creative. What if Kenny Omega wants to try and make it in the WWE? It almost happened but the allure of becoming an EVP caused Omega to join AEW instead of WWE. There was a serious bidding war and becoming part of the management group appealed to Kenny. Having that stripped away, however, could cause Omega to maybe look at the WWE if or when his contract comes up. Then again, as an EVP, he might be under different rules, especially if private shares of ownership were exchanged.

If Tony tries too hard in the short-run, it shall underwhelm. See the AEW Grandslam Event.

However, if he presents a long-term plan to the crew on the Creative Direction of AEW, the wrestlers might join in supporting him.

Tony has a great roster, a great TV deal, and financial backing… Take your time, as we’re already excited for what AEW has to offer so far. You brought CM Punk back… However, the Pro Wrestling fanbase lost OVER 2 million fans from 2014-2018 and it’s an uphill climb to either get them back or create new fans.

Push more adult themes, have hot chicks on screen, and create cool brands (like DX) that catch the attention and imagination of casual fans or teenage fans.

But sit down and plan it, Tony… Come up with a storyline that rocks the foundation of the Pro Wrestling business that maximizes the talent roster that you’ve signed. On top of that, identify 5 wrestlers that could be the real future of the business and start building their blocks of a future push.

And Tony… If you ever want to get serious, here is my calling card… titowrestling@yahoo.com. In addition to my weekly columns, I’m ready, willing, and able to work with you for FREE as long as you are serious about my contributions to your process.

Overall, I would say SLOW DOWN and GET OUT OF THE WAY. Don’t try to win now and just let the WWE self-destruct in about a year. Furthermore, stop putting the spotlight on yourself and place it on the wrestlers. Don’t follow the same path that Eric Bischoff took when he was placing himself on television way tooo much. Oh, and stay off Social Media. You are a 39 year old company President now.

You can defeat the WWE… But you just need to be patient. They are slicing their own throats right now because they refuse to evolve their Creative.

Just a little patience, Tony… Yeah…

Here is the IRONIC thing about all of this. AEW is being very patient in building up CM Punk. Instead of him sweeping in and instantly having matches with the top guys, he’s just chilling with the midcarders and enjoying it. Yet, what Punk is doing is helping with the long-term because AEW could have quickly burned him out by working with the top guys immediately. They are actually being patient with his build while already burning through matches with his old buddy Bryan Danielson. Internet fans are savaging AEW for having Punk wrestling midcarders yet they get upset when an ex-WWE wrestler is rushed to the top.

It’s just not a consistent viewpoint presented by the Internet Wrestling Community about CM Punk, but par for the course for them. Be careful who you listen to, Tony!

So just chill… Until the next episode!

Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments.

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MR. TITO: Tony Khan Needs to be More Patient with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) or He’ll Blow It