Tony Khan shoots back at criticism surround AEW's musical segment
The musical segment featuring Chris Jericho and MJF during their Dinner Debonair segment on AEW Dynamite was one of the most hotly debated topics in the wrestling community for some time. Members of the wrestling community, including Jim Cornette, were extremely critical of the way that AEW booked the segment.
Talking about the segment during a recent interview with PW Insider, the AEW President Tony Khan commented on what the logic behind booking the segment was.
Tony Khan on AEW Dynamite's Dinner Debonair with Chris Jericho and MJF
Tony Khan revealed during the interview that AEW officials had expected the segment to be as polarizing as it was. He went on to say that due to that segment, the Town Hall segment between Chris Jericho and MJF brought big numbers as well.
"I expected it to be a very polarizing segment and it was very polarizing and I expected it would create a lot of conversation and then the next week, those guys would pull a big number and that's what happened. I think it worked out well to do the Town Hall segment coming off it because the Town Hall segment was probably more in the context of what people have come to expect from Max and Chris. so I thought the Town Hall was more conventional and probably that's why I thought it was, you know...obviously it did a really strong number but also made more sense to go closer to the pay per view for the next show."
Tony Khan went on to talk about why he felt that the segment was logical to begin with and said that it was sports-oriented.
"I thought it was pretty logical, man. I think that segment is sports-oriented. Like when I watch the ESPYs or when I watch...you watch music videos, it's not unusual to see a big athlete in a musical number, and the key thing to me was that it wasn't done in an unrealistic context because the idea that we ended up settling on to me was a very realistic idea. Chris Jericho and MJF are like two of the biggest showboats in wrestling, they're really cocky guys and of course they would love to sing their own praises and go out and do this hammy performance together because they're both egomaniacs and of course like the ambiance and the whole thing is very on brand for the two of them."
While the AEW segment was definitely divisive, it was also something that no professional wrestling fan expected heading into the show. Thus, the segment remains original, despite not being something that too many wrestling fans might relate to.