What WWE REALLY Thinks About Tony Khan
Notes on WWE's perception of the AEW boss ahead of SmackDown vs. Rampage tonight.
There's a perception within WWE that Tony Khan's spending habits will lead to AEW losing money in the long run, writes Dave Meltzer in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The report comes in the wake of Khan's comments on WWE SmackDown running ad-free for 30 minutes tonight, going head-to-head with AEW Rampage for the first time. AEW's founder and president told The New York Post the following:-
"I’ve coined a phrase which is WYW, watch your wrestling. Whatever people [want] to watch, I want them to watch it. Unfortunately, if we are on at the same time it’s harder for people to watch their wrestling, at least live. We can take the commercials out of it. If you want to take the commercials out of it, I can do that too. It doesn’t seem very civil but I have more money than they do so I can afford to do that longer than they can. But that’s how we make money at the end of the day, so I was surprised when they took those out."
Meltzer writes that some within WWE have downplayed what Khan has achieved with AEW thus far, believing he overspent to enter the wrestling business. On a similar note, comments like “we beat Ted Turner and Ted Turner is smarter than Tony Khan" are apparently prevalent - and in Vince McMahon's ear.
Khan has previously claimed that if not for the funds put into AEW's upcoming video game (due for release in 2022), the promotion would be turning a profit right now. This will likely be the case soon anyway, as the estimated $44 million AEW receives for Dynamite's TV rights fees each year is below what would be expected for its television ratings, meaning the company should see an increase following the next round of negotiations.
WWE SmackDown and AEW Rampage go head to head for a half-hour starting at 10 PM ET tonight.