"He is not that smart" - WWE veteran explains why Paul Heyman may have been better equipped for AEW's problems than Tony Khan
WWE legend Paul Heyman might be better at managing AEW than Tony Khan, according to a wrestling veteran.
While Tony Khan has been quite successful in building a promotion to rival WWE's monopoly in the pro-wrestling business, he is yet to surpass the latter's popularity. Furthermore, AEW has been quite turbulent over the past few months in terms of ratings and viewership since the infamous 'Brawl Out' incident involving CM Punk and others.
In a recent episode of The Jim Cornette Experience, Jim Cornette compared Tony Khan to Paul Heyman.
"I don't think anybody is going to accuse Tony of being a crook or a manipulative, you know, like a Paul Heyman figure that's manipulating everybody from behind the scenes for his own selfish purposes. He is not that person, he is not that smart. That's why he is where he's at because he came into wrestling thinking all these guys were going to be his friends because he is giving 'em jobs and everybody's going to be happy with each other because everyboy enjoys each other in the wrestling business." [13:40 onwards]
Cornette further stated that Tony Khan would have to be much more assertive if he wanted to bring Punk back to the Promotion. As of now, it remains to be seen what he plans to do next.
Jim Cornette also spoke about how CM Punk may return to AEW
Given the rift between the Second City Saint and the Elite at the moment, Jim Cornette believes an apology is in order for Punk to return to AEW.
In the same episode of The Jim Cornette Experience, the veteran stated that The Elite needed to apologize to Punk. He also emphasized how much Punk was necessary for Tony Khan's company.
"I don't believe he's gonna come back or that he would come back and continue to do what he did for the company which was TV ratings and million dollar pay-per-view gates etc., unless Tony sits down with his EVPs and says, 'You guys need to go mend some fences. There needs to be some kind of apology, settlement, agreement to move forward amongst you guys, because we need this guy.'" [3:50 onwards]
One of my favorite starts to a match. The Eddie Kingston & CM Punk Backfist Encounter - AEW Full Gear (11.13.2021)https://t.co/RlX2PvB2S3
With Punk currently healing from an injury, only time will tell what the future holds for him.
What do you make of Jim Cornette's words about the AEW President? Sound off in the comments section below!
If you use any quotes from here, please credit the original source and add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.