AEW President Tony Khan has a lot of passion for professional wrestling and no one doubts that whatsoever. However, his reputation has taken a hit over the past year or so.

The AEW All Out media scrum ended in chaos after CM Punk went on a scathing rant on Colt Cabana, Hangman Page, and The Young Bucks, verbally decimating everyone involved.

Even after that, other backstage issues ensued, including ones with Sammy Guevara, Eddie Kingston and Andrade El Idolo. BTSport.com’s Ariel Helwani called his interview with Tony Khan “one of the most frustrating” of his career as well.

While speaking on his podcast, former WCW star Konnan talked about the situation and advised Tony Khan to get his head out of the sand.

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“I think what Tony’s problem is, you know, he’s gotta get his head out of the sand. He’s too busy hoping nobody talks bad about them. The honeymoon period is over, bro. You know, at the beginning, you were new. You were hiring all these people. It was a fresh product. But, you know, you can’t go around with rose colored glasses.

This is a cutthroat business and you got a lot of immature people in your business. You got a lot of toxic people in your dressing room. They were mad at me because I had wrestlers tell me, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t have said what you said.’ Well, I wasn’t wrong, and Tony didn’t like it. I mean, there’s a problem in the dressing room. I wasn’t wrong, address it. I don’t think it does any good for you to go out there and say no comment, no comment.

I know there are some legal issues because I actually asked Kenny Omega if he could send me a video for TripleMania, whoever wins between Vikingo and Phoenix because, you know, he’s the number one contender, and he goes, ‘I still can’t because of legal issues’, so there is something legal going on. Tony should have said at the beginning of the interview, ‘Listen, if you ask me anything about Punk, if you ask me anything about The Young Bucks or anything like that, I can’t.

We’re going through legal issues and until that recourse is settled, I can’t’, but you can tell Ariel what you were thinking. He’s so polite about it, but at the end of the day, it’s very rare for Ariel, who is very professional and very credible, to say what he did. He said it was one of the most frustrating interviews he’s ever done.”

“What’s it gonna hurt you to say, ‘Well, you know, I don’t think what Punk said he should have said, but what could I do? He said it, you know, or whatever, but, you know, no comment. I can’t comment. I’m sorry, my friend, I can’t comment.’ It’s almost like these guys that go in front of Congress and they’re like, ‘I can’t remember and plead the fifth.’ Then what the f**k did you come here for if you can’t remember.

Even if it looks bad that people go back to WWE, big deal. It’s better to take the toxicity out than keep it in there. Either that or you’re just gonna have to sit a lot of people home and not let them in the locker room. It’s not a good look, dude. You’re the head of the company. Man up. I like Tony, but I don’t gotta keep saying that all the time. That’s besides the point.” 

We will have to wait and see whether Tony Khan will eventually get better at handling various situations such as this and help the company in the end.

h/t WrestlingNews.co

Tags: Tony Khan
Subhojeet Mukherjee

Subhojeet, a professional wrestling fan for over 20+ years, found his passion during the Monday Night Wars. With expertise honed over decades and a broad spectrum of interests including TV, movies, anime, novels, and music, he offers insightful analysis and coverage. Respected in the industry, Subhojeet keeps fans informed and engaged with his knowledge and perspective.

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