The Fall of Tony Khan: The biggest reason AEW has lost the luster it had

For those who ask why AEW is not doing well just look at its owner and it explains everything. Owner/CEO Tony Khan of All Elite Wrestling has been the biggest reason the company has lost the luster it had. What once was a company that had WWE concerned about being rival competition has become lackluster at best, an embarrassment at worst.

And all because of Tony Khan.

In the last few weeks Tony has gone full nutty with his tweets that range from snide to full on emotional. Its gotten to the point that even people in AEW and WBD are hoping that someone takes away his phone.

The worst part of all this is that it is scaring the most important people to AEW; advertisers and TV executives. These are the kind of people who do business and value professionalism. Image is everything, perception is reality, and they often want to associate with a brand that they don’t view as cringe worthy.

You know who else doesn’t view this in a positive light, NFL Owners and executives. Otherwise known as Tony’s peers and associates as Tony Khan is also the Chief Football strategy officer for the Jacksonville Jaguars. And you can bet they are watching this and thinking how embarrassing he is coming across.

This is not Tony’s first rodeo as he has a history of getting involved in feuds with fans and football players. In April of 2020, Khan and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue got into a Twitter spat involving Ngakoue’s contract. It was a testy exchange that ended up with Ngakoue getting traded to Minnesota.

Several NFL podcast hosts/insiders I have talked about how Tony is often viewed as a “Spalding Smails”. For those who don’t know who have never watched Caddyshack, that is the idiot grandson of Judge Smails who often whines and complains about small things.

That is Tony Khan to a lot of folks who don’t drink the AEW Kool-Aid.

I understand that Tony is under a lot of pressure; I understand its tough running a business let alone be part of three business. I also understand having a sick mother and being terrified of her health. And I do believe that Tony Khan is a great guy who loves his family and loves pro wrestling.

But that still doesn’t do anything to disprove the fact that he is unfit to run a wrestling company or any company. In fact if anything thing, all these signs show that Tony Khan just shouldn’t be in charge. He is too emotional, doesn’t stand up for anything and isn’t a leader in the face of adversity.

You can love or hate Dana White or Vince McMahon but both men are smart enough to have high level people to help them with the business. When Vince had WWE at its highest point, he had a wealth of senior officials who could advise and help him. Guys like Pat Patterson, Jim Ross, Gerald Brisco and Paul Heyman who knew the business inside and out.

To date, Tony has nobody older than him helping with the booking of the show. And don’t start with the “he has Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega” line as its fact that active pro wrestlers SHOULD NOT be part of the booking committee. They are too close to the situation, have too much at stake with their own careers and most of the time not enough experience in BOOKING a show.

All of this continues to drag the show down and its becoming proof that Tony refuses to change.

When you look at any successful business, you often find that if things aren’t working the leaders or owners do two things. They show immense self-awareness and maturity, and they make big changes around them to improve the business.

Tony Khan has done none of that and he continues to make the same mistakes. The roster is full of too much talent; Tony continues to sign more wrestlers even though there is not enough room. Production mistakes continue to happen weekly and nothing is done to rectify them.

Right now, Tony needs to take a good look in the mirror and realize what his father did after the Jacksonville Jaguars imploded under Urban Meyer. Step aside, hire a real experience expert to run the day-to-day operations and just stay out of his way. His father literally gave the blueprint for him to follow.

But at this point I don’t think Tony will do that as he is too busy being a fan boy and getting into Twitter spats. Its becoming more and more apparent that AEW is like a runaway train with Tony Khan in charge of it.

Sad part is that it will be the AEW wrestlers and staff who will pay for Tony’s crazy antics.

You can check out more interviews with athletes and sports reporters on www.lastcallpodcast.com or Follow me on Twitter.com/LastCallwChrisC