Booker T appalled by AEW's booking of 41-year-old star: "I wonder if these guys are gonna become legends"
The recent Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Street Fight on AEW Dynamite had the wrestling audience talking. They took particular note of the spot that had Kota Ibushi ride a cycle and hit wrestlers until he was himself downed by one of them.
The spot was one of the several unique and brutal ones in the match, but all weren't impressed by it. Wrestling legend Booker T revealed his thoughts about the spot on the Hall of Fame podcast.
"I wonder if these guys are gonna become legends, the reason I say that is because I watched a minute of AEW last week, a minute. All it was was one minute, and it was the minute when I saw Kota Ibushi coming down on a 10-speed bicycle binking guys and binking guys and binking guys and then getting hit with a clothesline and knocked on the back of his head."
He went into some detail as to why he didn't like the spot.
"Now if I was a fan watching wrestling for the first time and I saw a guy riding down on a 10-speed bicycle with a pipe in his hand, binking guys on the head, and they're flopping for it, and then he gets knocked totally out pretty much with a clothesline backflip right on the back of his head." he said [h/t Wrestlingnews.co]
The audience has already reacted to that spot, it remains to be seen what the other veterans of the business have to say about it.
AEW is devising individual match sponsorships
Tony Khan is using his business acumen to make more money for his Jacksonville-based brand. The concept of companies signing in for a single match is unique, and Khan has pulled it off at least twice. He first did it with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre-themed match, a match that promoted the videogame of the same name.
He worked out a money-making solution for this street fight and made a six-figure amount out of it. With such financial aspects working out, there's always the possibility of multiple companies sponsoring different individual matches on a pay-per-view or even regular TV.
What do you think? Is Tony Khan's acumen at work for AEW? Tell us in the comments section.