WWE veteran slams Tony Khan for lacking "vision" in AEW
AEW President Tony Khan has found himself on the receiving end of a lot of criticism since founding his promotion in 2019. One of his biggest critics, Eric Bischoff, recently slammed him for his product knowledge and booking decisions.
While many fans have praised the stars signed by Tony Khan, even some of the most hardcore supporters of the promotion have criticized Khan's handling of them over time. Notably, many of the names that are set to feature on AEW Collision were some who had their runs criticized the most.
During his recent interview with Ariel Helawni, wrestling veteran Eric Bischoff criticized Tony Khan for his handling of All Elite Wrestling.
"Tony [Khan] just doesn’t have the vision. Tony doesn’t really understand the television business, he doesn’t know how to produce. I don’t know that he’s capable of recognizing that, and allowing people that do know how to do it – because he’s surrounded by people that do know how to do it. But Tony wants to be the ‘Booker of the Year’ and be recognized as a creative guy, but he’s not. […] Tony’s a big fan of wrestling, but that doesn’t make him a wrestling producer." [From 14:55 onward]
WrestlePurists Booker of the Year 2022 as voted for by Fans & Media/Critics:
1 - TONY KHAN (50.95%)
2 - Paul Levesque (25.2%)
3 - Rossy Ogawa (16.75%)
4 - Sanshiro Takagi (4.55%)
5 - Gedo (2.55%) https://t.co/LmXZCDkD5C
Vince Russo recently commented on Tony Khan's intentions with AEW and boldly claimed that he only intends to compete with WWE and is simply not trying to make a profit since he doesn't have to.
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Bischoff believes that AEW is simply a well-funded hobby for Tony Khan
Khan is notably worth billions of dollars, and other than All Elite Wrestling, he also owns and runs the Jacksonville Jaguars as well as Fulham F.C. This means that the 40-year-old not only has a lot of time but a deep passion for sports.
Earlier in the same interview, Bischoff accused Tony Khan of using the promotion to live out his hobby:
"They have all the money in the world, which is a nice thing to have, but without vision and without a true understanding of the industry it’s just a really cool hobby. And that’s what AEW is for Tony Khan. It’s a hobby. It’s a really, really, really well-funded hobby that we all get to watch and participate in on television." [From 10:12 onward]
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If Khan's intentions with AEW have simply been to live out his childhood hobby, it would explain his booking missteps over the years. However, considering all the real lives involved with running the promotion, it's unlikely that this is how he's handling everything.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Ariel Helwani and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.