Jonathan Coachman Calls Out AEW for Hurting Its Brand with Poor Media Promotion

Jonathan Coachman is calling out AEW for dropping the ball on media opportunities—and he’s not the only one.

On the Off the Ropes podcast, Coachman and podcaster Whip both shared stories about trying to book AEW talent for interviews, only to be turned down or ignored altogether. Whip explained that despite running a local radio show and reaching out while AEW was in town, he couldn’t get a single wrestler to appear—even after being told someone would follow up.

“I have a small radio show, but let me tell you what AEW did. I reached out to them since they were doing something local and wanted to do a show. A media guy told me, ‘I’ll get back with you,’ but he couldn’t get one talent to come on. He called me back and said, ‘I’m sorry, Whip, I can’t get anyone for you.’”

Coachman said he ran into the same wall—despite knowing AEW’s media contact personally from their WWE days. He made it clear that even wrestlers at AEW told him every interview needs to be cleared.

“I have been working for the last week to get AEW talent on this show, especially myself, because I want people to know we talk about everyone and support everybody. But what I get is, ‘Ah, I gotta check here.’ The guy who runs media at AEW, I worked with him for 10 years at WWE, and no one has an answer.”

“Even my buddies who wrestle there are like, ‘Coach, we have to get clearance for everything we do.’”

Coachman believes AEW’s tight grip on talent appearances is doing more harm than good—especially when fans and media personalities want to support the product.

“They should be saying yes right now, even if they don’t like the show or the person on it — they need the attention! AEW, you can come here. We’ll take you — public cry, call us. It’s hurting your brand and your talent.”

He finished by saying AEW needs to recognize it’s still building and that accepting more media requests could help push it closer to mainstream success.

“AEW, I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’re still the underdog, and there are people out there who want to support you. It’s not always an us vs. them situation. Let us help you.”

AEW’s creative might be strong, but if the company doesn’t loosen up its approach to publicity, it risks missing out on broader exposure and long-term growth.

Do you think AEW is too restrictive when it comes to media appearances? Should Tony Khan allow more flexibility for talent interviews? Drop your thoughts in the comments and join the conversation.

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