Subhojeet Mukherjee on October 6, 2022
AEW has certainly come a long way since its inception back in 2019. The product has undergone many changes since then, but quite a few improvements can still be made.
AEW President Tony Khan is very passionate about pro wrestling and that is without question. However, Khan has the tendency of saying very odd things from time to time.
The company has certainly taken many shots at WWE over the years, including Tony Khan as well. Khan recently insulted WWE for their crown jewel show. While speaking to Ariel Helwani, Tony Khan addressed whether he considers WWE to be competition. He then claimed that Warner Bros Discovery’s corporate philosophy is why AEW takes constant shots at WWE.
“I’ve said it before, I consider all wrestling as competition. Some people ask me why I’ll talk about other wrestling companies, especially WWE, and I’ll tell you. It was literally a book handed to me over three years ago before the launch of [AEW] Dynamite by Warner Media at the time before it was Warner Bros. Discovery.
“It was telling me what our place [was] already because Dynamite hadn’t launched, but we had carved out a space in the Pay Per View business.
“It was literally a book handed to me over three years ago before the launch of [AEW] Dynamite.
They handed me a book. It was [about] how to be a challenger brand. This is what you are. A challenger brand I learned then, three years ago, is not the industry leader, but it is also not a niche brand. It is not that. It is a big company. It is Pepsi [to Coca-Cola.] It is Burger King [to McDonald’s.]
What will get Burger King marketing? What is Burger King marketing? Basically a lot of it is ‘hey McDonalds sucks guys.’
So for AEW, it’s just part of what we are. We’re a challenger brand. There’s no reason to pretend we’re not. That’s what you are. Embrace it. So it is literally a corporate philosophy handed down on high to me by my boss [Warner Bros. Discovery.]
It is unlikely that AEW will stop taking shots at WWE anytime soon, even though fans feel it is simply detrimental to the overall product. If anything, it will sure give fans something else to talk about every time TK allows a shot at WWE during his television shows.
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October 6, 2022 6:51 am
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