Major television network shutting down likely to affect AEW in the long run – Reports
AEW's viewership ratings are a weekly topic of discussion amongst the Internet Wrestling Community, and many believe they will cost the promotion its Warner Bros. Discovery deal. According to reports, with Showtime Sports shutting down, this could be dire for the promotion if the aforementioned scenario happens.
All Elite Wrestling has had a difficult few weeks in terms of ratings recently, especially after Dynamite lost to NXT last week. Additionally, Tony Khan went on a social media tirade, which left many worried about the show's future with Warner.
During the recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer pointed out that Showtime could have taken AEW on if their deal with WBD fell through. Additionally, he revealed that Showtime was an original option for Tony Khan to establish the promotion.
"Because when AEW first started, the two people who were willing to jump on board with AEW unseen as a product because of the success of All In - Tony Khan had a connection also obviously at TNT with Kevin Riley and that was a lot of it - but the other one was Showtime."
"And if something was to happen with WBD, in theory, they (Showtime) probably could have been a place to go. But they’re not gonna be because Showtime’s out of the sports business." (H/T: WrestleTalk).
Missed out on last night's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results right here.
Vince Russo believes that Tony Khan wants to be the face of AEW
Khan's recent social media spat turned many heads for all the wrong reasons. Even after the ratings revealed that NXT had more total viewers, Tony Khan still took shots at The Undertaker and John Cena and even accused WWE of contract tampering.
During the recent episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws, Vince Russo addressed his antics and criticized Khan for making things about himself.
"He needs to take a chair in the back. He needs to take a Triple H/Shawn Michaels/Vince McMahon role, and he needs to put his talent in the forefront. This guy does every interview, is on every show, is addressing everybody on social media – meanwhile, that’s where you have to utilize the talent!" (01:45 onward).
Chris Jericho recently commented on the controversy and shockingly dismissed it as simply something "billionaires" do. Only time will tell if Tony Khan's social media antics affect his company or not, but if stars like The Ocho are not bothered, then the roster will probably largely feel the same way.