Tony Khan was given the chance to call out wrestling media for being biased against AEW, but he didn’t take the bait.
During an appearance on The WHIP Show Podcast, the AEW President was directly asked whether he believes wrestling media treats his company unfairly. The host pointed out that Khan is constantly promoting AEW himself and suggested that he has to push the brand harder when others won’t do it for him.
Instead of accusing anyone of having an agenda, Khan focused on AEW’s position in the wrestling business. He said the company is still young, still fighting for space and still operating as a challenger brand.
“Well, I think that there’s a great opportunity for AEW. You have to remember the company is only about seven years old, and we’re a challenger brand.”
Khan argued that AEW has already built a strong reputation despite not having decades of history behind it. He also made it clear that he believes the company has earned a place near the top of the wrestling industry.
“Even though we haven’t been around the longest, we’ve built a great reputation with many fans as the best wrestling promotion in the world.”
Khan then pointed to AEW’s weekly television product and live atmosphere as the best response to any criticism surrounding the promotion.
“I keep going out there, and every week we put on great shows. Like this week in Detroit, you can see firsthand that AEW has the best wrestling, in my opinion, and that we bring great energy. Everyone tries their best to put on great shows here.”
While Khan avoided directly saying the wrestling media is biased, he acknowledged that building a challenger company into a major force is never easy.
“I think we’ve built a great reputation as a top promotion in the world in a short time, and doing that as a challenger company in any space can be a really hard thing.”
Khan closed by giving credit to the people who helped AEW reach this point, including the talent, staff and audience that continue supporting the company.
“So, I think AEW is doing great, thanks to the fans, the wrestlers and everyone who works here.”
Khan may not have accused the wrestling media of working against AEW, but his answer made his position clear. He sees AEW as a young company fighting from underneath, and he believes the promotion’s best defense is continuing to deliver strong shows and letting the product speak for itself.
Do you think wrestling media treats AEW unfairly, or was Tony Khan smart to avoid directly calling anyone out? Leave your feedback in the comments.
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