"WWE doesn't do that" - Tony Khan called out for repetitive AEW tactic by wrestling veteran (Exclusive)
A wrestling veteran has called out AEW CEO Tony Khan for a potential issue and claimed that the Triple H-led WWE doesn't make that mistake. The name in question is none other than Vince Russo.
Tony Khan never shies away from hiring top free agents and has signed many talents ever since AEW arrived on the scene in 2019. Most of his signings came from NJPW, as he recruited Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, and more. However, Khan has also signed former WWE stars like Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, Samoa Joe, and Mercedes Mone.
In an exclusive chat on Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Coach & Bro Show, Vince Russo questioned how Tony Khan kept handing lucrative contracts to wrestlers. Russo also mentioned that Khan had given creative control to Mercedes Mone and wondered what he paid to the rest of the performers in his company.
"Bro, he's adding huge dollars to that payroll on a weekly basis. WWE doesn't do that. Bro, that is the only card Tony Khan plays, a new signee, and how does he keep that up, bro? He's signing someone new every two weeks. And when you're given Rebecca De Mornay [Mercedes Mone] creative control, when you've given her that kind of power, bro what are you paying these other people? I would love to know what the payroll of that company is." [10:14 - 10:55]
Jonathan Coachman also shared his thoughts on Tony Khan consistently signing talents to AEW
On the same episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Coach & Bro Show, former RAW general manager Jonathan Coachman explained how Tony Khan was seemingly not doing smart business by spending huge money on talents.
Coachman compared the situation to Saudi Arabia and noted how the AEW CEO was spending money despite not knowing how to earn it back.
"I'll go in on all the idiots who, you know, attack me and all of them have AEW on top of their fan page and they all have like 31 followers and they're usually each other. So, I'm thinking to myself, they're like, 'Coach, it's a private company, why do they have to release the numbers?' Because they're in a public space and if they do that then they're a lot more transparent. But he doesn't wanna do that because he knows they're operating just like some of the Saudis are doing. Let's just throw money at it, and get all the big names. But that's not doing business, doing business is getting all that money back." [10:56 - 11:46]
Tony Khan recently signed former WWE star Ricochet to All Elite Wrestling. It will be interesting to see which other stars Khan hires in the future.
If you use any quotes from the article, please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling.
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