Tony Khan Urged to Hand Over Creative Control in AEW

AEW President Tony Khan, known for his wrestling passion, faced a Twitter controversy impacting his reputation earlier this year. That’s not all the criticism he has faced lately as many feel he is inadequate as a booker. In fact, Khan has been urged to hand over creative control in AEW.

If it wasn’t clear already, Eric Bischoff isn’t the biggest fan of AEW. He doesn’t even believe AEW is contributing anything to the world of professional wrestling, unlike what WWE does.

While speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff urged Tony Khan to let Jen Pepperman take over creative control in AEW. Instead of focusing on individual storylines, Pepperman should be responsible for building a new creative system and managing it. Bischoff believes that Tony Khan should step away from the creative side and focus on the business side, which is where his strengths are.

“If I were Tony, I would sit down with Jen Pepperman today, before the sun goes down, and say, ‘Jen, I want you to build the new AEW creative system. Not just work on storylines or come up with hot angles—build me a system. Oversee the development of that system. You get to hire; we’ll start off with two people that you feel you could really have fun collaborating with and come up with great stuff. And if I were Tony, I would give Jen complete creative control over the entire process. Tony needs to stay out of it.’

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Tony needs to focus on the things that Tony’s good at. Tony needs to focus on building out the business side of the wrestling business. Clearly, his family has had some success in that area. Focus on the things you do well, Tony. Run in the other direction from things that you are not good at, that you don’t have experience in, or that you don’t have an instinct for. It’s okay. It doesn’t make you a bad person; it doesn’t make you any less than Vince McMahon or Paul Heyman or anybody else you want to compare yourself to by recognizing your strengths and leveraging those strengths in a way that benefits your goals and your business. More importantly, recognize—I don’t want to call it a weakness—just because you’re not good at creative doesn’t mean it’s a weakness. You can be good at a thousand other things that matter way more. It’s not a weakness; it just is what it is. Acknowledge that, acknowledge your strength, and put the right people in charge.”

Bischoff points out that recognizing what Khan is good at and letting others handle areas where they excel doesn’t make Khan any less capable. In fact, it would benefit AEW by allowing Pepperman, who is loyal and talented, to create better storylines that could help the company grow its audience.

“Jen Pepperman is so loyal. If you’re ever worried, Tony, about giving the keys to someone who might not have your best interests at heart or who doesn’t want to make you look good, know this: Jen and people like her, once you bring them in and develop that relationship, their job will be to make you look better. Hiring them will make you look better. It will make the talent look better because now they’re involved in stories that are compelling. And dare I say, at the end of all that, with everyone feeling better and looking better, you’ll probably be growing your audience. It’s right there, Tony, in the palm of your hands. The evidence of your ability, your knack for creative—the evidence is there. You don’t have that, but you’ve got so many other things. So why focus on the thing that you’re not good at? Is it your ego? More than likely, I’ve got one too. Sometimes it’s really freaking healthy, sometimes it’s not. It’s human nature; we’re all the same. Nobody’s perfect, but don’t let your ego get in the way.”

Bischoff also mentioned that if Warner Bros. Discovery is concerned about AEW’s ability to attract more viewers, giving Pepperman full creative control would be a smart move. He emphasizes the need to hold Pepperman and her team accountable with clear goals and ways to measure success, rather than just relying on personal opinions about the shows.

“You’ve got the assets right now. Jen Pepperman is your solution. She is your solution. And I’m going to take it a step further. If there’s any concern on the part of Warner Bros. Discovery about AEW’s ability to grow an audience, what better way to make a big move than to give creative 100% control of that process? Yes, you have to hold her accountable. You have to hold her team accountable. There has to be a plan in place, a way to measure success beyond your emotional reaction to what you see and whether you like it or don’t like it from your perspective as a wrestling fan. That’s not how you operate a business or produce a television show, by the way. So hold her accountable, but give it to her. She’s right there.”

Tony Khan was also urged to fire several talent in AEW in order to compete with WWE. Khan is also confident that AEW will become profitable and successful company after securing the media rights deal. Nonetheless, we’ll have to see if Tony Khan will pay heed to Bischoff’s advice in the end.

Do you believe Tony Khan should hand over creative control in AEW for the company’s benefit? Sound off in the comments section below!

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