The worst bad faith analysts will tell you that AEW is in a state of systemic dysfunction, and that Tony Khan lacks the spine and the leadership to fix it.
They’d be…half-right, sadly.
Tony Khan is fickle, or can be fairly accused as much; the identity of his promotion seems to shift depending on who is applying the most pressure at any given time. If the fans are in a state of despair at the sports entertainment overtones, Khan will book something like the Continental Classic as a PR move. Conversely, if a certain wrestler – let’s call them Chris J…no, that’s too obvious, let’s say C Jericho – wants to do more sports entertainment-leaning angles, you’ll see a sports entertainment angle that week.
Khan deserves a bit more credit than that; he, for example, brought the fight to Warner and gifted fans the wonder that is Mark Briscoe: major cable television star. Still, there’s a sense that ‘Mid-South Tony’ could do with using a bit of the old Bill Watts discipline.
The following performances were very compelling for those addicted to the wrestling backstage drama cycle, but, ultimately, were very far from ideal…
CM Punk actually praised Hangman Page during the Double Or Nothing 2022 post-show presser – which took place, obviously, after Page had buried him in a promo segment designed to build the match.
It was only when Punk broke his foot on the subsequent episode of Dynamite that his mood seemed to darken. He was venomous even by his standards upon returning, very shortly after which he called out Page, labelled him a coward, and demanded a public apology.
In what was surely a premeditated rant, Punk, infamously, created the 21st century equivalent of the Montreal Screwjob at the All Out press conference: a company-defining event after which nothing was the same.
Despite Dave Meltzer and Sean Ross Sapp each clarifying in the aftermath that they’d never discussed the rumour with a single member of the Elite, Punk unleashed a furious (and frankly unbelievably compelling) rant. He said that Elite were children who played games with the media in a bid to discredit his name, and that he was not responsible for Colt Cabana’s near-exit from AEW/Ring of Honor. Countless AEW sources are adamant that he was, but Punk’s conviction is such that he could convince you that the earth is flat.
Punk, granted, probably wasn’t to know that you’d all still be talking about this almost two years later – but he knew what he was doing. With this wild, selfish outburst, he dragged AEW into disrepute. He portrayed the promotion as a complete sh*t-show. The stigma remains.
AEW, the gossip cycle, hell, pro wrestling itself: nothing has felt the same since.