10 Biggest Missed AEW Opportunities

5. Turning Down Los Angeles Times Coverage

Cody Rhodes AEW World Champion
AEW.com

You know it's bad if even Dave Meltzer is calling AEW out on something...

With All Elite Wrestling making its Los Angeles debut with the 1 June 2022 edition of AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan's promotion purportedly passed on getting themselves major exposure in the Los Angeles Times.

The LA Times is a huge outlet with a vast reach, and more importantly it's an outlet that's based out of the same Los Angeles area as some of the significant higher-ups at Warner Bros. Discovery - as in, the owners of the networks which carry both Dynamite and Rampage in the US.

As Meltzer explained in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter shortly after that Dynamite offering from Inglewood's Forum, the Los Angeles Times had interest in doing a story on AEW. By all accounts, Khan's organisation opted not to even respond to this approach from the Times.

From the Observer:

"AEW isn't in the position to not work with media at that level. A part of this story that's even more important is that many significant decision makers in WBD are based in Los Angeles, and while the value of the local newspaper is small compared to the past, the Times is still one of the prestige papers in the country. WBD if they would see a positive article on one of their properties in that newspaper for the non-wrestling fans in the company, which would be a large percentage, it would make them feel it's a bigger and more positive part of their television inventory. And having that happen this year would be more important than any year in company history."

Given how Tony Khan is no stranger to appearing on smaller podcasts and YouTube channels, it's pretty nuts to see him pass up an opportunity to feature his promotion in such a well respected outlet - especially when that outlet and the sway an appearance in it would bring, has a chance to woo the executives who he'll soon be discussing a new TV deal with.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.