Tony Khan Was Right: AEW Is Under Constant Attack

AEW's 'crowd filler' accusations read like an off-base PR exercise.

by Andy H Murray
AWE Daily's Place
AEW

Tony Khan's December 2023 assertion that "... to be AEW is to be under constant attack" continues to be proven correct in 2024, with the latest example stemming from Jacksonville, FL's Action News Jax.

Ben Becker's report dropped before last night's AEW Dynamite in the promotion's home city, Jacksonville, and accuses the promotion of using "crowd fillers" to populate the 5,500-seater Daily's Place arena. It reads:

All Elite Wrestling, once the darling of the Internet Wrestling Community, has received heavy scrutiny in recent months for its creative direction and now appears to need help filling the stands in its hometown.
Action News Jax has obtained an internal City of Jacksonville email from the Military Affairs and Veterans Department which says they are “looking for 50 people per night to attend as ‘fillers.’”

Conveniently, given the article's slanted focus on Tony Khan's AEW booking history, the writer ignores that widely accepted definition of a 'crowd filler'. Sports and entertainment organisations routinely use fillers to sit in empty, on-camera seats when the occupant has stood up to go to the bathroom, get snacks, etc. When the occupant returns, the filler moves on. Both AEW and WWE do this constantly. It isn't new, and it isn't news.

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AEW's Dax Harwood has noted that the tickets Becker refers to were distributed to veterans:

By WrestleTix's latest counts, AEW had set Daily's Place up for 2,459 seats, distributing 2,224 tickets as of yesterday afternoon:

Last week, Voices of Wrestling's Joe Lanza's excellent work highlighted the power of WWE's indomitable PR machine, and the anti-AEW cottage industry it has created. The market leaders hold an immense advantage over their closest rivals in the war of public perception. This twisted 'crowd fillers' report is the latest example.

Curious, too, that this should drop amidst new developments in the Janel Grant/Vince McMahon lawsuit. It's almost as if somebody doesn't want you to talk about that.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.