WWE Hall of Famer urges Tony Khan to release several AEW stars
Since founding AEW in 2019, Tony Khan has worked to present an alternative product for the wrestling market. While the young promotion has found plenty of success in its first five years, there are also many things critics would like changed about it.
WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has been a staunch critic of the Jacksonville-based promotion and often offers his opinion on how to improve both the product and the business. On a recent episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, the former WCW EVP discussed several measures Tony Khan could take to make his company more successful.
His first order of business seems to be the release of several stars on AEW's roster. Bischoff claimed that Khan needed to re-evaluate the roster and cut down on his company's payroll:
"Re-evaluate the talent roster," Bischoff said. "Get rid of the people that there's just no reason to have around. Thin out the herd, because the roster's too big and what's the harm? ... I don't know what [Tony Khan's] payroll is, but it's got to be massive with the amount of money he's paying people."
The WWE Hall of Famer further explained that having so many stars on the roster and not enough time to feature them all is a waste of money and a hit to the company's morale:
"They're getting a check every week, and that's a good thing, but there's a lot of talent there that shouldn't be on that roster," Bischoff continued. "It's a morale issue. When you've got 30, 40, 50, 60 people under contract that haven't seen a television camera in months, or in some cases longer, what do you think they talk about when they talk amongst each other?" [H/T WrestlingInc]
Booker T believes that Tony Khan's booking is not growing AEW's audience
The focus on wrestling matches and sports-centric booking is one of the central foundations AEW was built on, but many believe it's not a good fit for the American wrestling market.
After decades of domination by WWE, critics have argued that fans in the US gravitate more toward entertainment than wrestling matches. This argument was brought up by former World Heavyweight Champion Booker T on a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast:
"That show is not doing anything to grow their audience. They really aren't. They're bringing in talent, signing a lot of guys, but I really don't think the bulk of the wrestling fans watch wrestling just for the wrestling matches. And I think that [the] company is wrestling-heavy all the time. It's about going out and having five-star matches. And I just don't think the true wrestling fan is sitting around waiting to see a five-star match because wrestling is entertainment. It's always been entertainment," Booker T said.
All Elite Wrestling has been enduring a slump in ticket sales and ratings for several months as WWE continues its hottest streak in years. Whether Tony Khan will change up his company's style – and whether that will have any impact – remains to be seen.