Tony Khan has spent months talking about how excited he is for the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger and what it could mean for AEW. Eric Bischoff doesn’t blame him for feeling that way, but he thinks the real work starts after the deal is done.
Speaking on 83 Weeks, Bischoff said Khan handled the situation exactly the way he should have. In his eyes, publicly supporting the incoming leadership was simply good business and the right way to introduce yourself to the people who could eventually be making decisions about AEW.
“First of all, great statement by Tony. That’s greasing the skids. And he did a great job greasing the skids. I don’t blame him for doing it. It wasn’t a shot, but it was also obvious.”
Once he got past Khan’s comments, Bischoff turned his attention to AEW itself. He argued that the company has been able to avoid the kind of financial pressure most promotions deal with because it hasn’t been forced to prioritize turning a profit.
“The only thing that’s keeping AEW alive right now is the fact that they don’t need to make any money. That’s it. They have a bottomless pit. There’s no financial pressure on them, and Tony loves it and his father’s willing to support it.”
That’s why Bischoff doesn’t think ratings are going to be the biggest talking point when the new executives eventually take a closer look at AEW. As far as he’s concerned, they’ll care far more about whether the company is bringing in enough revenue to justify its place in the portfolio.
“The only thing that matters is the dollars that it delivers to the bottom line. The only thing that will really matter at the end of it all is the math.”
Bischoff also believes AEW hasn’t shown enough growth over the last few years, at least based on the numbers available to the public. He did acknowledge that outsiders can’t see every part of the business, so there may be areas performing better than ratings and ticket sales suggest.
“If you’re growing… you’re either growing or you’re dying. AEW hasn’t been growing. Not only are they not growing, they probably have been losing consistently. I know they have in ratings. I’m sure maybe the other parts of the business are growing and it’s just not obvious.”
Later, Conrad Thompson asked Bischoff what he’d tell Khan if he had the chance to sit down with him before the merger goes through. Bischoff said the first thing he’d do is build a clear roadmap for where AEW is headed instead of waiting for new management to ask difficult questions.
“I would have a believable, plausible plan for how I’m going to grow this brand over the next three years.”
He also doesn’t think that plan should revolve around keeping the internet wrestling community happy. Instead, he believes Khan needs to show how AEW can reach new viewers and grow beyond its current audience.
“You’ve got to have a plan, and it can’t be… a wrestling internet community plan based on what wrestling fans like because that’s what gets the reaction on the internet.”
“That’s part of the problem that they already have, is they’re satisfying a group, an audience that is not ever going to be significant enough to sustain or grow the brand long term.”
If Khan gets that meeting with the incoming executives, Bischoff wants him walking in fully prepared instead of reacting to whatever gets thrown his way. He also thinks that plan needs to put a much bigger emphasis on storytelling than AEW has in the past.
“Go in freaking loaded for bear with a real plan and point out why this plan is going to grow your brand in ways that previous efforts didn’t. I would make sure that plan talks a lot about story and not Tony Khan’s version of a story because I don’t think he understands what a story is, to be honest with you. I would look for somebody that understands story and wrestling to help you come up with something that is plausible and doable and take your best shot.”
For Bischoff, it all comes down to being proactive. He said Khan shouldn’t wait to hear what the new leadership thinks of AEW—he should already be walking into those meetings with a plan in hand.
“If your numbers are not there, Tony, as your friend, get a plan. Get ahead of it. Be in control of things and not wait for meetings or conversations. Put the plan together and ask for the meeting before you get the bad news or the good news.”
Bischoff made it clear he’s only judging AEW based on the information that’s publicly available, and there could be parts of the business outsiders simply don’t see. Even so, he believes the merger won’t change what really matters: whether AEW can show the new leadership a convincing path to long-term growth.
Do you agree with Bischoff’s advice for Tony Khan, or do you think AEW is already headed in the right direction? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
