"Feels like a knee-jerk reaction" - WWE Veteran points out Tony Khan's recent attempt to beat Triple H (Exclusive)
Tony Khan trying to one-up WWE is no secret, and he even said that Triple H taking over creative control is a good thing for wrestling fans. The AEW President has taken numerous shots at WWE over the last few years. However, former writer Vince Russo criticized Khan's recent decision as a "knee-jerk" reaction against his rivals.
Russo was referring to the decision to put CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley on an episode of Dynamite rather than having it as the headliner for AEW All Out.
Dr. Chris Featherstone asked the former WWE writer on Writing with Russo if Tony Khan intentionally put the match on free TV to pop a rating and try to one-up Triple H. Vince Russo claimed that it was a "knee-jerk" reaction from Tony Khan to one-up WWE and criticized his decision to do so:
"When WCW was kicking our [WWE's] backsides, we never booked that way. We worried about our own house. Because we knew that if we wrote a good, solid show every week, eventually they were going to tune in. I think it was a definite knee-jerk reaction. All the talk, all the positive talk right now is on the WWE, and a lot of negative talk on the side of AEW. It definitely feels like it was a knee-jerk reaction." (2:47-3:21)
He went on to state that even if the AEW Dynamite rating drops from 1 million to 950,000 viewers, the shocking Jon Moxley vs CM Punk match will have accomplished nothing:
"They went over a million viewers for the first time in a long time. I've always said this bro, you've got to be able to sustain that. If they're back at 950 [thousand viewers] next week, then what did it accomplish?" (3:22-3:39)
You can watch the full video below:
Is Triple H trying to fire a shot back at Tony Khan?
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It seems as though Tony Khan trying to gain the edge over Triple H won't be a one-way fight. It was noted that NXT Worlds Collide was announced on September 4, which is the same day as AEW All Out. The World's Collide show will serve as the end of the NXT: UK brand.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider believes that the decision to hold the third edition of Worlds Collide on the same day as AEW All Out 2022 was one made by Triple H to fire a shot at Tony Khan and AEW.
"I definitely think he [Triple H] did. We hadn’t word one about the show and suddenly, there it was. I think it’s a brilliant move. Tony Khan has taken a lot of victory laps along the way at WWE’s expense to turnabout is fair play to me. He tried to hurt HHH, and did, so it’s time for H to fire back," via PWInsider.
Johnson described it as "fair play" as Khan has taken several "victory laps" at WWE's expense.
As the promotional rivalry between WWE and AEW unfolds, time will tell what happens next.
If you're using these quotes, please provide a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed Writing with Russo from YouTube.
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