"He took it a little hard" - WWE Hall of Famer believes AEW boss Tony Khan is "thin-skinned"
Eric Bischoff and AEW president Tony Khan have traded barbs in recent months, leading the WWE Hall of Famer to believe the Jacksonville Jaguars boss is a little thin-skinned.
Tony Khan has often likened his roster and product to the heydays of WCW when the Turner Network company did the impossible by beating WWE in the ratings during the Attitude Era. Eric Bischoff believes the comparisons were misfounded and Tony Khan's company has a long way to go.
Bischoff spoke about this on his new Strictly Business podcast on AdFreeShows.com during WrestleCon. He said:
“I’m a fan of AEW. I’m excited about AEW. I want them to succeed. I see a lot of great things. I said that long before our little dust up. You know, Conrad [and I] we talk about Dynamite on 83 Weeks podcast and I would point out the things I enjoy about AEW more than the WWF. But at the same time, if I’m asked a question, I’m gonna be honest in my critique of that, but it’s not meant to be a shot. It just gets interpreted as that and I think Tony’s a little thin-skinned and he took it a little hard.” (h/t: WrestlingNews.co)
Thank you all who watched #AEWDynamite last night! We ranked #2 on cable, up from #3 last week, great news for us + our amazing partner TBS. To beat 1/2 of the billion dollar doubleheader is a big deal, we’re grateful for every viewer, it’a a win thanks to wrestling fans like you https://t.co/nQ1SACoDzh
Eric Bischoff revealed AEW boss Tony Khan once angered him with previous WCW comments
Eric Bischoff continued and revealed that he was angered when Tony Khan compared his company to WCW, particularly when the latter mentioned Ted Turner's booking of the Atlanta-based promotion.
“What really bothered me was when Tony Khan said, ‘Well, if Ted Turner knew as much about booking as I do WCW would have never failed.’ That pissed me the f**k off. That was so disrespectful. And I gave an honest response to an honest question. And that honest response kind of created an opportunity for Tony to feel his need to respond, which I understand. I don’t hold him against it for that. But that’s where it kind of escalated. But it doesn’t have anything to do with my feelings about AEW.”
Eric Bischoff:“What really bothered me was when Tony Khan said, ‘Well, if Ted Turner knew as much about booking as I do WCW would have never failed.’ That pissed me the f**k off"
wrestlingnews.co/aew-news/eric-… https://t.co/cJieh3Ed4b
All Elite Wrestling has done very well in its first three years of existence. Year-on-year ratings have improved, while pay-per-view buys have seen numbers not seen in non-WWE companies since the late '90s.
While overtaking WWE is unlikely to happen, AEW has undeniably become the second biggest wrestling promotion in the world.