WHY NOBODY’S WATCHING AEW and it’s TONY KHAN’S FAULT

[@StunnedByWrestling]

Discuss Tony Khan being useless and everything else on our Discord server: discord.gg/eJTz2Yb4Ua

[@Mr3DPrintWizard]

@@StunnedByWrestling so you promote this nonsense? Pathetic. All for KZbin views because your numbers are getting worse.

[@SuperGeon]

​@@Mr3DPrintWizardWhat did you expect? The comment section is filled with negative nancies repeating the same thing over and over again.

[@imsljr420]

🤦‍♂😒 Hey doofus that shot at 1:23 it's on purpose. AEW purposely doesn't try to fill the whole arena and will close off half the arena. I remember when they came to the city next to mine it was in July but tickets started back in April so 3 months early and since April they already had it set up so only half the arena will be filled.

[@WalkingCowboy]

Saying that about TK after completing a renovation for AEW that many made fun of was not going to happen... I think the useless idiot is another person

[@JourneyDestination]

“Obvious choice is Paul Hayman” Didn’t he have his own promotion and it failed. Wasn’t it doing that extreme stuff, too. All of these know it all with tons of “experience” will surely get the job done. Perhaps hiring Shane! Let’s a watch the self destruction unfold. Enjoy the decline

[@Real-qk6pm]

The worst thing that ever happened to AEW was Vince getting removed from WWE

[@nicholasbintner4677]

It had plenty of problems before that but yeah

[@israeloagiledintlhe4166]

You're absolutely right, cause people all of a sudden act like TK'S booking got worse all of a sudden, but that's implying that it got any better, his booking from the beginning has been 90/10, 10% good and 90% going through the motions except there was more fanfare cause the greatest heel in pro wrestling history Vince McMahon was still in charge of the WWE, What led AEW to where it is now is that from 2019-2021, it was a "no criticism zone" and when you criticised it you were called an e-drone or a hater🤷🏾‍♂️, and now the WWE post the HHH takeover is going through the same indoctrination where it too has become a "no criticism zone" where if you criticise anything they do you're met with " you're just a hater" or "if you don't like it don't watch" and as a result you're starting to see a drop off in viewership from 2.2 mil viewers in the first half of the year to 1.4 mil viewers as the new norm, and I'm only using SmackDown viewership cause it's the no 1 wrestling show on earth and it's pulling abysmal ratings, IMO for wrestling to have an actual boom, it needs actual wrestling fans (not AEW and WWE tribalists) who watch it objectively based on whether it's good or bad, not based on who's booking and whether we like or hate him/her, which makes up majority of the fanbase today🤷🏾‍♂️...

[@KingMetto]

In​@@nicholasbintner4677You're obviously too slow to get what he is actually saying smh.

[@noelportillo8633]

Adam Page single handedly destroyed aew. No one takes them seriously after that CM Punk/Page incident. That made them seem like they can't control their locker room.

[@hermesjr.branzuela5271]

Yeah it just exposed how terrible aew actually was and is. I honestly had high hopes for aew at the beginning tho…

[@rmcdudmk212]

I don't dislike Tony but the dude needs to hire someone to book his shows.

[@Zero8880]

But that defeats the purpose of his daddy spending millions of dollars for him to have friends.

[@bdr113080]

Yes, he does and to be clear. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional hard-core match but when you have like six a month they aren’t special anymore. It’s the same psychology in Y. It’s a bad idea to have a hell in a cell PPV when you should just wait for the right feud that calls for a cage match. Like the last in a cell match that I really thought had me invested was Triple H vs Mick Foley. since then, it just feels like they’ve been looking for reasons to have them so no WWE isn’t perfect either but compared to AEW they are light years better

[@ATX-ps5ss]

Someone get Vince Russo on the line

[@BlackOrder007]

i love aew those early days. but when he announced he will book both roh and aew and his existing job at jacksonville i feared that shows will be worst. also the cm punk shenanigans

[@TravisBeckMusic]

👋🏻 I’d do it for him!

[@Notoriouswrestlingfan12314]

How can you go from beating NXT 4 years ago only to get beaten by them in 4 years later 😂

[@Blaze0071]

Weak insult but I agree with you

[@KruglugBadax]

Tony has neither the presence, gravitas, charisma and that little devil that Vince had. Plus, he looks like Rick Moranis (no offence to Rick. Love his movies).

[@noneedtoknow-yv2tu]

​@@Blaze0071not really weak considering NXT not only the third show it's the developmental brand and it beat all their shows in one night. It's pathetic. Literally buried them like they were Stevie Richards against 03 reign of terror Triple H.

[@jimbo_1312]

​@noneedtoknow-yv2tu don't think you can keep calling it a developmental brand if they're pulling out all the big names when the programmes go head to head.

[@Nightwinghandsome204]

Because one show is on free tv and the other on cable

[@noneedtoknow-yv2tu]

Tony khan airing the shoot footage of punk choking out taco jack was really their fingerpoke of doom.

[@vonVile]

It was firing CM Punk. AEW went downhill from there.

[@Thefufflylord]

@@vonVile Punk arrival was the beginning of the end.

[@david-p8e6o]

@@Thefufflylord more like the truth

[@WalkingCowboy]

TV/STREAMING DEAL ARRIVED AFTER THAT IDIOT

[@victory7763]

​@@vonVileYep, AEW was seeing record attendance with Punk, ever since they suspended him it went down, and then when they fired him it got even worse. I'm still rooting for them though

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

I want AEW to succeed. The WWE needs competition. Competition makes everyone better. IMO AEW has good talent but the Bucks and Tony are holding the company back. The Bucks are self centered drama class kids and Tony is a very nice guy. That mix cannot create an interesting show.

[@fridayborn75]

100%

[@jjohnson4013]

TK was stupid enough to pay Mone all that money and give her control over her matches a person that never was a draw and can't cut a promo

[@fridayborn75]

@@jjohnson4013 I have to agree with you. When. Mercedes goes on the mic... I have to turn my TV down! Giving her all that money and control, will come back to bite him

[@TERMINATOR101-b8j]

Nailed it! The Bucks never seem to lose and it's frustrating. They refuse to put talent before themselves and it's pissing off fans.

[@markv1274]

See elsewhere for my explanation as to why Khan is not a nice guy. WWE doesn't need AEW as competition. I always find this odd when people say that AEW needs to exist as "competition" for WWE. It's not like people choose between just two wrestling companies for their entertainment, and if neither delivers, they watch nothing. WWE is competing with the NFL, the NBA, movies, other television shows, you name it. I like pro wrestling, but if WWE sucks (which it does), I'm not going to watch AEW by default. Wrestling was big in the '80s because the promotions were seen as worthy to the casual viewer. They were seen as competition to football, basketball and so on. Pro wrestling these days is largely the domain of people who are deluded into thinking that computer games count as art--you know the types that I mean. Same people who think that Kenny Omega is the best wrestler ever--when they only started watching wrestling 15 years ago, and stubbornly refuse to watch old matches.

[@christhornycroft3686]

The sad part is, Tony seems like a really nice guy. Hell, he donated to Dutch’s GoFundMe when he and his wife were very ill. But being a good guy and loving wrestling doesn’t make you a booker. Ted Turner loved wrestling and as long as he had control, the company stayed in business through ups and downs because he knew he couldn’t book wrestling. He hired questionable people, but his ownership lasted 13 years because he was hands off on the booking. Tony can’t even do that. He should just be the owner and hire an experienced booker as well as some on screen authority figures who can get heat.

[@theunbeatable6598]

Aw hell nah hes an uptight ba5tard. Ive met him and my goodness a 🗑️ human No wonder aew will fall

[@bdr113080]

Exactly I think Ted Turner was the only one that understood that. And sometimes he would pick the wrong person. See Jim Herd. But while Ted knew he didn’t know how to run a wrestling company he could tell when someone was doing a good job or a bad job. If he wasn’t pushed out of his own company in 1999 Vince Russo would’ve been fired. I feel like Tony was like a 14-year-old during the Monday night wars and he remembers the highlight reels, but he doesn’t really understand why those moments were special . And I think Tony is a good guy. I will never say I scumbag or anything like that but it’s really clear he does not understand wrestling psychology half of his roster doesn’t understand wrestling psychology. I would be willing to bet $100 Tony and half of his roster thinks being a good worker means you do 300 moves in a match and 150 of them at the very least need to be high spots. It’s sad that he is open to listening to people, but the only ones he’s open to listening to our Dave Meltzer, Kenny and The Bucks. All of those guys fall under the category of “the more moves in a match means you’re a better worker”.

[@vonVile]

Nice guys finish last.

[@Morbos1000]

Do you mean the one from last week? The largest donation, which is anonymous, is $5,500. That is pocket change to someone like Tony. He could have easily given the full $100k they asked for without breaking a sweat. Even if he was the guy that donated $5,500 it would be equivalent to me donating $5. So I'm sure Tony is a nice guy, but this example doesn't mean much of anything.

[@JinMugen]

Being a nice doesn't really make you a good boss.

[@sonofbelz]

TK is what happens when you get someone from the IWC who thinks they know everything about running a wrestling company and booking, give them an unlimited amount of money, and tell them to run a show. Turns out it doesn't work in the long term when you do things their way and let the smart marks and talent run the show.

[@Redesign24]

Tbf he's done a lot better than Herb Abrams 😂

[@deductivereasoning4257]

Many have tried to start another brand and all have failed. The reason is Gen X fans and older have moved on and it has nothing to do with any decisions any brands have made. It was just time to move on...

[@ittybittyboat9017]

Tony is from Florida

[@WalkingCowboy]

Even if you don't want to accept it, AEW has actually done better than the dozens of attempts to create a wrestling promotion

[@narlabegins]

​@@WalkingCowboyNot only that, but they're practically guaranteed to live more than WCW, and even more after that.

[@mushroomsamba82]

Hardcore matches should be a special feature and not on practically every single TV show.

[@UltimateHibz]

Yup, like the cm punk drew feud, they didn't start with a rope match or hell in the cell. They built up to it.

[@erinpilla]

Exactly. I felt that Moxley bleeding every week was, too much. I kinda worry for his mental health if he kept juicing

[@Jorgen.mp4]

@@erinpilladon’t forget Dustin almost bleeding all the time

[@ghobot21]

6:47 Those awkward hugs from TK shows that he is better as a fan, not a booker/producer

[@libertines24]

Aew isn’t doing anything to grow their audience anymore. When they decided it was better to side with two small wrestlers who can’t draw a dime over cm punk it was over. They lost Cody and punk who are both probably in the top 5 of most over wrestlers at the moment

[@Hunkzilla]

They had Leila Gray ,who is a cheaper and sexier alternative to Mercedes and they still wasted millions signing Mercedes.

[@jjohnson4013]

I agree TK was stupid enough to pay Mone all that money a person that was never a draw and can't cut promo had to be carry to made her look good in the ring

[@Jorgen.mp4]

⁠@@jjohnson4013she was a star in wwe and for her short stature in njpw

[@kennycai8695]

Gray is not one of the coveted "Four Horsewomen of NXT", though. Mone is, and Khan gets to flip WWE a proverbial middle finger in a "look who I got" manner.

[@Tym16]

Mercedes is the best wrestler out of all the four horsewomen

[@Del_S]

*Dave Meltzer is typing...* Have no fear, I'm sure having the CostCo guys on the show will turn it around.

[@MideonProductions]

It's on the preshow.

[@Del_S]

@@MideonProductions Wow, even worse, they're not making good use of a man who was seen as the greatest wrestler in the world for a while? KHAAAAN!

[@MideonProductions]

@@Del_S ooooook....

[@sourishsaha8067]

calling Tony Khan an idiot is an insult to all the idiots

[@randomramblings2325]

WCW in 2000 was doing better from a ratings standpoint than AEW is doing now

[@CesarDuran-qp8dr]

Even 2009-2012 TNA.

[@DarkScorpionPete98]

Some numbnut will still say that AEW has a better roster than the WWE. 🤣

[@TERMINATOR101-b8j]

They have some great talent, but WWE is still in a league of its own in terms of memorable roster.

[@saschafeld5528]

They have a lot of great talent but almost never are able to lift someone up. When you were a star outside of AEW you are a star there too. If not you bounce randomly throug the midcard.

[@casedem]

aew is just a place for old wwe stars to go to skim money off tony and have the run they MOSTLY never got

[@jay17764]

Ur a guy that women dm to get free attention from and never give ass to lol

[@GeeCoach35]

That's why I call AEW the WWE vacation resort. They'll enjoy a lighter schedule, huge payday, and creative control then they'll return back home to finish up

[@erinpilla]

​@@GeeCoach35and now some of them are going back to WWE

[@tercial]

Pretty much.

[@tercial]

When Cody came abck i knew it was over

[@KruglugBadax]

The main problem I have with AEW is that almost all of the roster look like middle school children. Just the visual of a bunch of 5'8 150lb wrestlers turns me off and it doesn't feel like I'm watching real wrestling but some backyard trampoline federation. All the big guys they do have are there just to put over the smaller wrestlers on the roster and to make them look good. When I watch AEW, I don’t feel I am watching a fight but some sort of “which person can dish out the craziest move” and that’s it. It is like a bunch of teens doing their shit to show off to the hottest girl at school vibe. How is this a fight? The man who did it the best was Stone Cold Steve Austin with his raw intensity. Those guys can’t even provide half of what Austin gave. Go watch his stuff and you will see what I mean. Essentially, I feel like AEW is kinda going through an identity crisis.

[@R3FORM3DSNN3R]

I feel what your saying completely and I agree 💯 percent Stone Cold Steve Austin intensity is unmatched to this day and that goes for both the.WWE roster especially the AEW roster. Sure guys nowadays are some amazing athletes that can put on phenomenal performances. Austin was simply and raw his intensity and energy just made you believe. Austin was a perfect fit at the perfect time WWF with Austin on top 97ish till about 2001ish was culture back then. WWE might be doing well now but nothing will ever compete with the late 90s frfr

[@R3FORM3DSNN3R]

Think about what would happen if 98 Austin came pulling up on a current episode of AEW Dynamite. Austin just walking thru the backstage area headed to the ring would have more energy than the whole roster and fans in attendance combined

[@dranzerjetli5126]

Exactly besides Samoa Joe, all big men were terribly booked. Big bill, archer, cage, bear country, gates of agony, wardlow, Hobbs, Brody king, that bray Wyatt type tag team was even buried by a one legged mjf ffs.

[@markv1274]

That's not even the biggest problem. I'll keep saying this until someone develops a brain and listens. It doesn't matter what the wrestlers _look like_ if their _names_ are dreadful. You can have, say, a wrestler very similar to Hulk Hogan in his prime in your company, yet if he's billed as Chumley Wigglesworth, who's going to pay to see him? Sight unseen, which sounds better: The Acclaimed, or The Road Warriors? Small wrestlers aren't the problem. WCW had no problem getting several of their cruiserweights over, including Rey Junior, who was 5'3" and 140 pounds. The difference is he had a name that was appealing. Then when you saw him, a masked wrestler, the name matched his look. Then you saw him wrestle, and you wanted to see more. Yet if you're going to talk looks, well, Seth Rollins is 6'2" and 225 pounds, yet I don't think he looks like a wrestler. He reminds me of some overly polite metalhead. He doesn't look like a wrestler. Dean Malenko, on the other hand, was much smaller, yet he looked like a wrestler. British wrestling was amazingly popular in the 1970s, and a lot of them weren't very big. Yet a lot of them looked like you wouldn't want to mess with them. Still, it goes back to having good names. You could have the best restaurant in the world, but if you call it The Slop Shack, nobody's turning up. Names are important in marketing, and Absolutely Embarrassing Woefulness has a bunch of awful names for their wrestlers.

[@Kain_R_Heinlein]

@@markv1274 agree, and I have been noticing that a lot in modern wrestling. All the forgettable wrestlers use their name or very close to or have shitty names. Like no one cares about your name, try to add some adjectives or tagline! At least even shitty named wrestlers were memorable. Like who the fuck cares about Tegan Nox? If you would have called her Lady Kane and started playing to that gimmick she would be a lot more over than her current blandest of vanilla self.

[@Rucker1980]

I'll always appreciate AEW for repairing the issues between CM punk and WWE

[@85wastedyears]

you spelled "hypocrite sellout" wrong. Punk should have just retired again after the AEW disaster. Going back to WWE after everything he said about them was pathetic.

[@brood1316]

​@@85wastedyears it's ok bro

[@JoseGarcia-qb3tz]

​@@85wastedyearsdont cry bro, heres my shoulder

[@85wastedyears]

@@JoseGarcia-qb3tz I rather use your girlfriends shoulder.

[@Hunkzilla]

Il say it again ,if AEW didnt make a habit of people bleeding every episode ,Mariah May 's heel turn could have easily been one of the most shocking moments in the history of pro wrestling .

[@Sabu8000]

I am not watching it because the production looks exactly how I do NOT want a wrestling production to look.

[@eldiablo3794]

Weird camera angles too because they don't want to show how empty the one side of the building is..

[@Sabu8000]

@@eldiablo3794 Wrestling looks the best when it looks like an event for the audience with TV just being present (and the wrestlers catering TO the audience) and it looks terrible when it looks like a show for TV with just people happening to sit in the arena. I do not need these super bright lights and LEDs and more than 1 big screen and all that garbage.

[@RonWeassly]

@@Sabu8000 That’s what I loved about all the sets WWE made for PPV and TV. Each show felt different and looked like a phenomenon. I have no problem with TV style segments lately. Lucha Underground did it and was successful for it.

[@Sabu8000]

@@RonWeassly I really think wrestlers should be looking at each other and at the audience, not at the camera except if during entrance or promo or interview.

[@RonWeassly]

@@Sabu8000 Well it’s not like actors look at the camera when talking to each other. I don’t mind the tv or movie style promos we’ve gotten over the past four years. My only problem with most of them is that WWE doesn’t make them look like a good tv show or a movie. Not even a straight to home video release. It’s just inferior quality. College students can shoot better film quality on an I-Phone.

[@ELPIRATA14BERT]

The problem with AEW is the Elite .... they suck and nobody wants to admit it 😂😂😂 TK wants to stick by his guns

[@ksdnsdkumar1375]

They are doing WFH.

[@AbuIhsan-c6g]

Attitude Era was a product of it's time. Ppl moved on.

[@RonWeassly]

@Abulhsan It’s not the content that made the WWF successful back then. It was the writing, booking, and a thread in each show that kept you watching, is what made it successful. They gave you reasons during every commercial break, not to change the channel. And back then, matches were shorter and we got cliffhangers during or the beginning of segments.

[@ForLorNVuLgaR]

Imagine Paul Heyman booking AEW… I would watch that

[@ayhamahmad2277]

Or Erin both are better booker than Tony and they act like professional and they don't cry on twitter

[@BadLuckGino]

But Heyman would never do that because as he said in his HOF speech, he will forever be a Paul Levesque guy.

[@corrinnelindsey6568]

@@ayhamahmad2277Eric is witnessing what’s happening with AEW and he’s not even in the company. He had ECW and TNA flashbacks and called out the company countless of times so he would be insane to go there

[@corrinnelindsey6568]

He’ll be better than Tony that’s for sure

[@ayhamahmad2277]

@@corrinnelindsey6568 eric is great is he perfect no he surly made mistakes and he tried to warn tony to not make same mistake like he did and guess what he didn't listen and look what happened with aew sometimes listing to veteran's is not a problem it's a great like eric who nearly beat wwe and Vince

[@criminalmindsgirl2936]

And yet, Mercedes Mone and Jon Moxley aren't making the ratings high. Plus, you had Tony and AEW taking unnecessary shots at Vince and WWE. Those comments were turning fans away from watching AEW. And it's sad how AEW's KZbin clips have gotten more views than their actual TV programs. All of this is proof that when you're starting a wrestling company. Don't go for the bigger company like WWE. Stay focused on yourself. And stop hiring past wrestlers from WWE and WCW from 20+ years ago!

[@waxmandr]

It's easy to hate these days, but AEW in 2019 was cracking and the reason why I got back into Pro Wrestling.

[@callofdoody21]

comparing aew in 2024 to aew in 2019-2022 are extremely different things

[@b.g.6560]

Why are they not "cracking" now huh? They never cracked shit to begin with. They honeymoon is long gone and it's showing.

[@waxmandr]

Ok hater. If you say so. Bit sad of you being on an AEW-related video tho, huh?

[@callofdoody21]

@@waxmandr keep crying bud 🤣

[@waxmandr]

Weren't crying in the first place, pal. I just made a fair comment. Sorry if I offended you.

[@sg-zd8eb]

I didn’t have much hope for AEW to begin with.

[@christerry1611]

Me either. I think some fans wanna alternative so bad that they're STILL trying to make fetch happen with this company

[@TrialzGTAS]

I only watch the Hurt Syndicate segments because I like them

[@mgb4692]

90 SECONDS

[@Pierrepaule]

8:26 when I saw The Mr. McMahon Documentary on Netflix I found really interesting the words that Triple H said to Vince when the Curtain Call incident happened, When The Curtain Call Incident Happen Triple H said « the World is Change and we are gonna have to Change with it » I think that’s what Tony Khan and AEW needs to do they need a Change in the AEW product.

[@Cooljohn760]

2,000 to 3,000 for a weekly show tapings, yikes 😬

[@skyatollah2skyharder276]

The fuck do you mean "yikes"? That's a good number. The problem is the size of the buildings they're using being 10,000+ capacity.

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

​@@skyatollah2skyharder276No, that's not a good number.

[@skyatollah2skyharder276]

@@perceivedvelocity9914 Yes, it is. For AEW's size, it shouldn't be, but as a general, it is.

[@tribalchief91567]

​@@skyatollah2skyharder276 good number if your company is in a bingo hall or random show It's AEW,the second biggest wrstling promotion How is 2000 a good number while Wwe is getting over 100k on daily basics.

[@Nightwinghandsome204]

@@perceivedvelocity9914 tna and nwa would be dying for those weekly attendance numbers

[@Not_Sal]

AEW is always damned if they do damned if they don’t with everything they do

[@PassDaMethod]

As a fan in his late 30s who cut his teeth during the glorious Attitude Era, I have to be brutally honest and say that from the outset I always thought AEW was fake and gay. It felt like a caricature of pro-wrestling created by a spoiled rich kid who had zero concept of what made the business resonate with regular working-class people in the first place, rather than an actual pro-wrestling promotion. Turns out, I wasn't wrong.

[@brandeno919]

Exactly it’s the main reason I don’t watch

[@UnderScoredd]

True. I can see how younger fans were fooled at first though. But yeah, if one knew better, that's a pretty spot-on description of what it appeared to be.

[@thevoid99]

i WAS a fan of AEW and i was enjoying what they were doing but this year has been SHIT. i haven't watched AEW in months (partially because spectrum has blocked TNT/TBS for some odd reason). they still put good matches but there's no depth to the matches. there's no stakes out there. the lack of build has hurt some big-time matches. the booking SUCKS. the elite (aside from okada) are a bore to watch. i don't care for the adam cole/MJF stuff. i hate what has happened to malakai black. i love mercedes but she's become a bore. jericho is now someone that if he's on youtube, i remove it from my recommended and subscription feed. i blame the bucks and khan for what has happened. ever since cody rhodes left AEW, that's when things went bad. the bucks got into hangman's ear and went after punk and it became a mess. no one there is special right now. i'm also sick of these AEW stans as they're just even more insufferable than the WWE stans.

[@fridayborn75]

One thing they have to start doing is, give others a chance. They have got in the vortex of booking the same old, week after week. At least freshen things up. Also it's no coincidence that most of there wrestlers end up on the shelf for ages, with the madness that is allowed there.

[@dranzerjetli5126]

When punk left. Cody Rhodes sucked ass especially with Brandi and qt

[@ZeitenSchlechte-v5s]

Aew stans getting the smoke after 4 years of being smug.

[@JSI82]

The injury rate is a major part of the problem. Just as people are building momentum or hitting their stride they’re out for months. Plus, they’re majorly short on proper babyfaces. They’re mostly recent heels who did terrible things to people! Home invasions, screwdriver stabbings, I could go on!

[@flannelkitten9509]

Honestly AEW can be great, this is such a great time to be a wrestling fan, but the constant shit talking about WWE kills it…they need to do their own thing…stop trying to be WWE and stop talking about WWE…

[@corrinnelindsey6568]

And hiring the same people who used to work there also kills it. Like WWE hall of famers, and all the people who quit or got fired

[@dranzerjetli5126]

Terrible stories and people who look like joke kill it.

[@TERMINATOR101-b8j]

​@corrinnelindsey6568 so WCW 2.0

[@markv1274]

Right now is a *horrid* time to be a wrestling fan. I've been watching for roughly _forty years._ What's your point of reference? Wrestlers want to go to WWE. That's where the money is. If they don't make it, they go to AEW. Both companies are dreadful. WWE micromanages everything. AEW doesn't manage _enough._ Neither company finds that middle ground. I can't even depend upon Japanese companies these days. Male versus female matches? Count me out. Wrestling asks people to suspend disbelief. I can't suspend disbelief when I see a skinny J-pop girl whipping the tar out of a heavyweight wrestler. The '80s were a good time to be a wrestling fan, ditto the '90s. This century? Wrestling has been rolling downhill for close to a quarter century. Wrestling these days is pretty much the shits.

[@Not_Sal]

@@markv1274so why are you here

[@ecymbura31]

The worst part of all of this is how the whole roster is making 6-7 figures. You’d expect people getting paid that handsomely to be putting asses in the seats and boosting the ratings. I completely gave up on AEW

[@narlabegins]

The worst part is being paid well for doing your job? We found HHH's side account.

[@dhenderson1810]

Funny how people were watching WWE, yet Vince McMahon still got blamed for all its faults.

[@Hellwolf36]

Khan isn't inherently evil, but the guy is incompetent and let the inmates run the asylum. It also doesn't help that the smarks are running this show to the ground. He seriously needs to hire competent people to do his job better than him and the apologists need to stop defending this and hold him to a higher standard.

[@joyboy_3165]

NXT beating them in ratings explain why I stopped seeing Meltzer post these numbers after every single show.

[@SuperGeon]

Yet they used the ECW originals,not their so called homegrown talent.

[@3km143]

By the fast way fans switched back to WWE once Vince started to lose power in the company, you can tell nobody actually wanted AEW, nobody actually wanted or wants a WWE alternative, they just wanted WWE to be better, to improve and that's it, we weren't holding onto AEW because we may have liked it, we were just doing it because WWE was real bad at the time

[@Mikuru_Kun]

AEW was supposed to save us from the big bad evil WWE machine, (TK's claim not mine) yet it brought about the death of Ring of Honor and the slow and painful drop in quality in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

[@5deadspace]

Damn I'm surprised to not see one "Moxley got colour watching this" joke in the comments as of yet.

[@vladpootin5973]

Plus, there is no pressure on Tony to make adjustments and Improvisation from anyone, because he is basically squandering his own / family‘s money on AEW, so the online one that could give him a serious word is basically his father. The talent will keep quiet and simply collect checks weile they can for as long as Tony writes them. 🤔

[@erisi236]

Not only could TNA never stop talking about WWE, WCW could never seem to shut up about WWF back in the day. Nobody ever seems to learn from anyone else's past failures

[@jeannin.wallace2795]

This is why you dont have kids become CEOs. This is why you dont become a ceo by not working for it to get there, *referencing his fathers wealth to allow his son to pursue various avenues such as buying an entire Football Team* This is WHY you dont have Ceos who are hostile to the entire industry. I thought vince was bad. But as least Vince had a buisness mindset. Tony, only books dream matches, hires Ex WWE people, and then forget about them afterwards.

[@David-fanboy]

It’s weird though. Dynamite’s attendance has dropped, the PPV attendance is great.

[@Gabrielle-Golds]

I will never be into AEW for that reason; I don't want to see violence, watch a blood bath, or see anyone getting hurt, so that puts me off ever tuning in. That's why I love WWE; you get the wrestling but also the storylines (namely the Bloodline saga), which is a draw for me and brought me back to WWE; I'm invested. Accidents may still happen on WWE from time to time, but generally the stars wrestle safely and lookout for each other in the ring. I never want to see any wrestler injured in the ring.

[@mikeshadez]

All Tony khan has to do is hire a creative team that can do longer booking feuds and storytelling doing it by yourself affects the products in a bad direction, he needs a hard split of brands the roster is bloated with belts being all over the place with them not mattering, It's a matter of organizing AEW, till TK Does that the ship's going to keep sinking.

[@Makoto03]

Great video. I could never get into AEW. Even back when it was 'cool'. It doesn't even seem like WCW to me. WCW had big ratings. AEW is more in line with TNA as far as i'm concerned, but even less entertaining.

[@christhornycroft3686]

And they’re doing arenas of 16-20,000 and filling 3000. So no matter what they do or how they shoot it, it’s going to look stupid. They basically have to dim the main lights and have another light only illuminate the ring and first few rows. It’s crazy. I watched when Punk was there and he had good matches with everyone, but it just exposed how weak the rest of the roster was. They made me not care about Danielson.

[@RonWeassly]

Peak TNA was better than AEW. Because at least even TNA knew that characters and stories mattered.

[@ivaneurope]

IMO Bryan Danielson should be at the helm when it comes to booking/creative decisions. Yeah, hiring Heyman will be like hitting the jackpot, but at this point he seems WWE-lifer and doubt he will stab them to join AEW.

[@Pierrepaule]

Tony Khan is the New Vince McMahon there I said it. I’m not scared to say it.

[@enigmaticbeing666]

Vince had the physique of a bodybuilder and was willing to get punched by Bret Hart Tony saw a small brawl in front of him and feared for his life

[@Nightwinghandsome204]

Tony khan is not a sex pest

[@jimbo_1312]

@@Pierrepaule vince is a sexual deviant. TK is likely a virgin. Vince ruled with an iron fist, tony rules with a limp wrist. These 2 things are not the same.

[@fridayborn75]

​@@enigmaticbeing666😂😂

[@fridayborn75]

I have to agree...

[@albertosnchez98]

lmao who cares about numbers when we have wrestling to watch?

[@shampookenn]

As a fan you're right. But in the end wrestling is a business, and in business numbers speak. The numbers don't lie, but I hope they don't spell disaster for AEW

[@namesurname7172]

Who cares about wrestling when it is a bore fest instead of being exciting and gripping?

[@Not_Sal]

@@namesurname7172different strokes for different folks

[@kelsoRulezz]

Tony seems to be a kid with daddy's checkbook and he gets to play with a wrestling promotion like a toy. Put trust in veterans of the industry and let them slowly take over creative control.

[@Undying3001]

It's uninteresting to me.

[@DeathMetalDerf]

The honeymoon phase ended rather quickly, and it's been exposed for what it truly is. It's unwatchable, the roster is absolutely bloated with guys that could lose a match to my cat, the women's division is abysmal, and I couldn't possibly care any less than I already do about any storylines or whatever going on over there.

[@dranzerjetli5126]

Its not even the fault of the women. Shida hayter nightingale statlander may etc are very good but the booking is extremely bad and most of the women dont get involved

[@StevenB]

The sad part is AEW has great wrestlers but tony doesn't know how to run a wrestling show. He's a fanboy trying to run a company and he doesn't know how to do it

[@snakekingblues3017]

Losing cody Is hurting them For sure

[@jimbo_1312]

Not really, the fans turned on him to the point he was getting go away heat. They wanted him to go heel. He didn't want to, so he quit 🤷‍♂️ as long as he is doing what he thinks is best, then that's just fine.

[@Jslaw3355]

I remember how awesome AEW was when it first launched. Took some time away cause, ya know, life. Came back recently and I just don’t understand it. Swerve is facing Bobby at full gear right after he came to AEW. Why not let that story build. I personally think that story could be a really good one if you let it simmer. Or Adam Cole vs MJF. You could’ve done something with how it would be undisputed brothers facing each other at the end to see who faces MJF. I’m not a pro booker and maybe my stories would be crap. But least they would be a story. Not just you face you. You attacked you so now we face on PPV. Idk give me something to sink my teeth into. And please force Jericho into retirement 😅

[@Hunkzilla]

And now they just fed Shelton to freaking Swerve . And they wasted Anna Jay vs Mariah May as well on Collision.

[@fridayborn75]

Agree with what you say. Don't just book a match, build it. And what happened to Wardlow, the guy has just vanished?

[@dranzerjetli5126]

​@@fridayborn75remember those bray Wyatt type people who got buried by mjf too.

[@fridayborn75]

@dranzerjetli5126 I don't remember that....

[@Cloud121D]

I have been a WCW guy my entire life, and as much as I was excited for AEW initially.... My god.... WCW at it's worst (which parts I stilll proudly defend like The Natural Born Thrillers) still drew better ratings than AEW nowadays.

[@Nightwinghandsome204]

Cable is dying dude

[@jimbo_1312]

@@Cloud121D I mean wrestling was never more popular than during the attitude era. Even wwe's attendances and ratings suck compared to what they drew during the attitude era. So this point is kinda moot.

[@RonWeassly]

@@jimbo_1312 Don’t forget about the 80s boom period. That was just as mainstream as the attitude era. Cyndi Lauper, Captain Lou Albino, MTV, WrestleMania 1. That stuff was the perfect storm.

[@dranzerjetli5126]

​@@Nightwinghandsome204aew lost viewership at a higher rate than the loss of cable subscription

[@djpooh2177]

Stunning by wrestling Good Rants Video and Aew not greats show in 2024

[@SuperFata]

I was a huge AEW fan (former WWE, NJPW and indie wrestling fan), the first two years were awesome. WWE being terrible and stale at that time helped AEW a lot. Great points made in this video! It´s strange being in the situation where you truly love pro wrestling, but just cannot watch it anymore.

[@Black-Circle]

The level of wrestling is low level

[@meatwad376]

Watching the youtube clips of dynamite is all you need to do cause there isn’t any storyline during the actual show to be engaged in

[@citam2023A]

I’m dead at 4:11, when he said “Tony still jerks himself dry…” 😂

[@WrestlingCompilations]

Who knows if things will pick up for AEW in the next year or two.

[@greyalien3121]

im from australia they will never match wwe if they dont air internationally

[@VeryStupid4547]

#ever

[@jimbo_1312]

@@greyalien3121 they do air stuff internationally even on the prison rock that is aus.

[@markv1274]

@@jimbo_1312 Australia isn't even in the top 30 worldwide in terms of prisoners per capita. The United States is in the top ten. The early prisons in Australia were located on islands not connected to the mainland. So much for your "prison rock" nonsense.

[@jimbo_1312]

@@markv1274 it's a joke darling, calm down.

[@seekthevisceral]

I have a very limited perspective of wrestling. I've only started watching a year ago, but I can't afford cable. So all of my exposure is on the internet. Now, WWE has always been a staple, but they seem to just show what wrestling is now. No room for taking chances. AEW is the show that gets me excited, because for the first time, I'm watching people have fun. I'm watching what wrestling could be. The roster, the commentary, and seeing all the die hard fans. It's helped me understand more about this sport: New Japan, Luchador, etc.

[@jimbo_1312]

Im fed up with this "hiring ex wwe guys" claim. Wwe had a monopoly on the business for 20 years, you'll be hard pushed to find non ex wwe guys at this point. It's a weak argument and detracts from the legit criticism

[@suleymanshah-uv3ig]

as opposed to, i don't know, finding new unknown talent and trying to make them into stars? aew has tried to buy its way into the mainstream. and its failed. look at jericho man he looks terrible on camera

[@jimbo_1312]

OC, Darby, MJF, Nick Wayne, danny garcia, to name a few, but yeah, they don't try and build their own guys at all, no siree

[@suleymanshah-uv3ig]

@@jimbo_1312 out of a roster of like 100 people LOL

[@kennycai8695]

It's more in the "F U, I got him now" sort of way that AEW hardliner fans use to flex and posture over everyone else. It's why they put so much stock on guys jumping ship from WWE to AEW. The obvious reason is to flip their former employers a middle finger (which I don't agree with doing; even if you part on bad terms, the golden rule is never crap talk your former employers). Plus, if the signing actually turns out to be much better in AEW than in WWE, the latter gets embarrassment via proxy for wasted potential, and another reason for these hardliners to do what they do best: flex and posture over the supposed superiority of AEW's product.

[@suleymanshah-uv3ig]

@@kennycai8695 kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3KTZX2Gqrudbas no one is becoming a star at AEW bro

[@pablotolosa4362]

It is undeniable that Aew has many problems to solve, but it strikes me that there is no criticism of WWE's current product. Smackdown has lost a million people since January in audience and raw has no interesting stories to the point that they have had to reinforce the main story of the bloodline (another endless feud). Apart from night 2 of wm, summerslam and the punk and drew feud, what is so good that wwe has offered this year?

[@dragonballradiant2744]

Mercedes we should treat you like crap, just because you used to be a WWE superstar. So that you immediately leave. Makes sense. 4:43 people are still on that, oh yeah CM still talks about it for some reason. But nobody criticizes him for it. Just AEW for some reason. It’s like having somebody consistently spit in your face. But you can’t, hit them back

[@TheRealDeal_81]

You pretty much nailed it on the head - AEW was a breath of fresh air when Vince was still making terrible booking decisions in WWE. That’s now been mitigated by the organizational changes there. More than that though, Tony’s main problem is his acting like a petulant child. If he’s not having outbursts on X, it’s his hoarding of talent for the sake of hoarding so that they don’t show up on WWE programming. He’s pretty much like the kid who brings his ball to the field, doesn’t like the way the game is played and so he picks his ball up and goes home. The talent signed to AEW might be getting big paycheques, but it’s quickly becoming a place where careers go to die with nobody watching them.

[@dranzerjetli5126]

Big men and women definitely lose their future in aew. No shit jade left so did vaquer. The booking of big men like hobbs wardlow archer cage big bill etc and women in aew like shida hayter rosa etc makes it sure that anyone who wants a huge career would never choose aew.

[@blacknapalm2131]

02:28 All of your 'empty arena' photos show the arena AFTER the show has finished (Like when Adam Copeland came back out to talk) It's pretty easy to tune in to Dynamite or Collision LIVE and see the arenas still have a great attendance mate.

[@JeremiahJohnson-l8h]

Tickets distributed and sold in recent months proves your statement wrong.

[@bapzishere]

They got great creative minds in Bryan Danielson , Adam Copeland, Christian Cage and Chris Jericho, they can easily help Tony backstage running creative, if allowed a big if.

[@stuartwilkinson7615]

With Brian Danielson moving to a part time role in the ring this would be a great time to give him the book. The boys respect him and the goodwill he would get from the fans would bring in lapsed fans. TK should instead focus on the Linda McMahon role instead running the business side of things

[@cd4playa1245]

I was at Pittsburgh when Tony said they renewed their TNT/TBS contract. I’m sure it’ll take off eventually.

[@justiningram6640]

Price of cable started killing the blue collared man, take that into consideration as well. And 2 inflation on travel, tickets and merchandise has also caused a lot. Why wwe is moving to Netflix in january

[@andrewrowe3084]

Went from 6.99 to like 14.99 in Australia and I was like nope I’m not paying that

[@RonWeassly]

⁠@@andrewrowe3084 You guys don’t have a $6.99 tier in Australia? That’s the tier with commercials. Here in the US, the commercials on Netflix aren’t intrusive and sometimes, they reward you with no commercials. RAW is gonna have commercials on Netflix.

[@KrimsonKB]

AEW peaked at Adam Page vs Kenny Omega. The ending to that story with Page finally winning the belt was perfect.

[@riden1234567]

Would it be better off if Tony sold AEW? Idk who'd be a good enough booker to run it though

[@Antonicane]

It's one of the biggest frustrations to be an AEW fan because their talent roster - much like TNA back in the day - is AMAZING. But you can have the hottest acts in the business, and it doesn't matter if the booking isn't good. It just means that top tier talent gets wasted. So now AEW feels like it's just stuck in the same patterns of failure of TNA and WCW, and tbh, WWE before them because the leadership isn't equipped to book a product that draws. I would love to see them turn it around because, as we've seen for years post-Monday Night Wars, monopolies lead to stagnation that kills interest. WWE is a better product now for having to compete with AEW. It's just a shame that - for whatever reason - Tony Khan can't learn from the mistakes of the past to make AEW anything more than the doomed pipe dream of another money mark. You have to book the product that sells, not the one that appeals to your own self-indulgent power fantasy.

[@SuperGeon]

People like you are the reason why i avoid WWE. You think that the product is oh so hot,but it's still the same boring, repetitive and overproduced PG garbage.

[@Melle_Mel_624]

AEW THA FAILGUARD

[@corrinnelindsey6568]

Eric Bischoff is probably having TNA flashbacks every time someone asks him about what he thinks of AEW. Paul Heyman for sure is having ECW flashbacks

[@stutheironman]

Everyone outside of Swerve feels like they're in the exact place they were 5 years ago. It feels like there is no progression. People who don't want WWE absolutely don't want WWE, but no American company can seem to break the habit of coming another WWE-lite

[@AlJonVT529]

Tony needs to be in the ring and fight to the wrestler, same with Vince before.

[@d.o.a9236]

Let’s face it why people are not watching AEW : 1) WWE product Biased even with games The AEW game is what fans wanted in terms of style and it flopped just because it’s the name of AEW (it’s not my type of game but the ps2 wwe games were not also) 2) People saw the newest hyped show , the hyped diminished they left like any other battle Royal outside Fortnite for example 3) Too much shows per week and because no brand extension that means you need to follow 3 shows to see how a storyline moves on Because my problem you are talking like Raw is super great whereas Raw is the worst version we have in 4 years , Smackdown yes Is great (Wembley number drop doesn’t count because a First Time ever show after all the hype WILL ALWAYS HAVE BETTER NUMBERS Than the second one)

[@lithamshumpela3293]

Warner Brothers? With a wrestling program? When has that ever gone wrong? *Cough* WCW *Cough*

[@JenMistress]

I know I gave them a shot when they first started. And watched it up until the dinner and dance segment. To me, that was jumping the shark, so tuned out, not watched it since. They nearly won me back having Punk there, but we all know how that turned out. 😉

[@alancarter1626]

I think since aew lost cody it has went downhill quick not saying he was the best on the show but definetly helped

[@dranzerjetli5126]

Losing punk hurt them way way more

[@diegomoraga53]

Tony Khan's obsession with CM Punk was the same that Eric Bischoff used to have with Hulk Hogan back in the day, which played a major role in WCW's demise.

[@dranzerjetli5126]

You mean the guy who made them money and is the only one who still does 😂😂

[@jerrygrenadier6067]

He needs to hire a McMahon

[@SamuraiSilverhand]

They’re also making the same mistake that WCW and TNA did in scooping up a tonne of established talent from WWE.

[@William180-s9e]

The Fact That Tony Khan has 180Million Side Stream Revenue is beyond Madness. For a Person who hasn’t got a clue Sadly

[@athleticgeek8997]

The thing that’s going to to upset the aew fans (if there are any that will watch this as most die hard aew fans won’t watch a video like this as it doesn’t portray aew as a perfect and pristine company) isn’t the criticism but the fact that you said the first all in London show drew 72,000 people. I still see plenty of aew fans insisting that they drew the 85,000 & that it’s the right number because “Tony Khan has the receipts” 😂

[@dranzerjetli5126]

72265 😂

[@athleticgeek8997]

@@dranzerjetli5126 still not 85,000

[@muhammadasad729]

When AEW started, it offered a majority of stories that pan out over time. Nowadays, I don't know, if any match is of any importance whatsoever. It's just filler; which is a shame considering the potential of locker room of AEW.

[@MIloszKluski]

Wait, if nobody's watching, how is it the second most viewed pro wrestling promotion? It doesn't make any sense.

[@Blue_blur1994]

WCW goes through 83 weeks of beating RAW but failed cause of their obsession with WWF AEW is failing because of Tony Khan's obsession with WWE and Timecop

[@cinemagamster]

Literally Tony Khan was given a lot of opportunities to catch the ball whether WWE fumbles. Basically gift wrapped to him but instead he wastes it and ends up giving WWE the upper hand when they were successful with Wrestlemania 40

[@GratefulPrimate]

Tony Khan is NOT gonna fire himself, so expect more of the same until the end of AEW

[@MikadoYuma]

If the rumor that HHH is being replaced is true, then WWE will lose quality again and give AEW another opportunity.. if they improve their booking anyway.

[@PendaMercia655]

It's a very fair assessment, we all want a second company and even a good second place rival. The booking is dreadful end of, to the point is near unwatchable-new wrestlers brought in and either forgotten or pushed for two weeks and jobbed. I certainly don't mind some of the smaller wrestlers but Hobbs, Lance Archer and most big guys they have killed, the dropped ball they did with many others probably Wardlow the worst. I've seen Anna Jay win a few matches, sure she's not great but young and could get over, since been jobbed out, two years without Penelope Ford she came back wrestling superbly, won once and jobbed out twice. Their are plenty of wrestlers you can get over hugely, House of Black? Big Bill ? And many more instead we are seeing Wheeler Yuta , Daniel Garcia and Jack Perry, none of whom will ever get over every episode, so much dross on that roster I mean- Brandon Cutler, Peter Avalon, Dark Order, Abadon, Luther et al.

[@elleni-41]

Dam aew is in the 🚽🚽..😂

[@fridayborn75]

It's a damn shame... They came with so much expectations too.

[@elleni-41]

@fridayborn75 ..yes I know, and now they're tanking..

[@fridayborn75]

@@elleni-41 I hope that someone can put some sense into Tony, for the good of the fans. I was at the first All I last year and the atmosphere was amazing. Went this year and you could tell the spark for AEW had gone

[@elleni-41]

@fridayborn75 ...u can tell the fire is almost out.. that's cool u went to the show..no one can ever surpass wwe..

[@fridayborn75]

@elleni-41 I'm yet to go to a WWE show... But think it's time to