WCW veteran accuses Tony Khan of inflating rumored AEW-WBD rights numbers - "This is not being a hater"
Tony Khan is reportedly set to finalize his AEW's media rights deal with WBD. However, a wrestling veteran accused the promotion's president of inflating the rumored media rights numbers.
WCW legend Konnan is the latest to comment on the rumored AEW-Warner Bros. Discovery numbers. Ever since its launch in 2019, All Elite Wrestling has managed to hold its own and grow despite the changing wrestling landscape. They were even able to navigate the COVID-19 era and survived.
Over the years, the company's roster has grown and gotten more impressive with each passing year. However, the promotion's viewership and attendance have gone down which is a bad sign given that the Jacksonville-based company is working on a new deal with WBD.
Although not much is known about the deal, Tony Khan once mentioned that this deal would make AEW the "second most profitable wrestling company of all time". Recently, reports surfaced that the company is close to finalizing its deal with WBD and the announcement could be made as soon as next week. It was also reported that the deal could be at $170 million a year for four years.
Konnan addressed this on his Keepin' It 100 podcast claiming the AEW President would add some of his own money to inflate the numbers so he doesn't look bad.
"They got a little bit more, right? I'm sure that's not what they were looking for and on top of that, I still stand by my statement and I could be absolutely wrong and this is not being a hater... I wouldn't doubt if they gave him 120 million, Khan didn't put in some of his own money so he wouldn't look bad." [From 02:58 to 03:20]
Bill Apter didn't like controversial spot from AEW All Out
All Out concluded a couple of weeks ago. The pay-per-view has become one of the most controversial events in the company's history.
One talking point was the controversial ending to the Unsanctioned Steel Cage match between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page which saw the latter inject his opponent with a hypodermic needle before hitting him with an unprotected chair shot.
During Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine, Bill Apter mentioned that he didn't like the spot with the hypodermic needle.
"And then, what did it for me? I've seen this in the Indies, and I didn't like it, but for a pay-per-view that anybody could watch, to have the hypodermic needle in Swerve Strickland's mouth ended it for me; [it] ruined the whole pay-per-view. Disgusting!" [From 05:53 to 06:51]
It will be interesting to see whether Tony Khan's claims about this deal with WBD are true when he finally announces it.