10 Burning AEW Criticisms Tony Khan MUST Ignore
3. "AEW Needs An Onscreen Authority Figure"
They really don't.
The onscreen authority figure worked once or twice. It worked spectacularly well; the Austin Vs. McMahon saga was a deliriously entertaining money-printing machine, but it only worked from a character and not a format perspective. McMahon was the hypocritical, evil d*ckhead hiding under the fake veneer of a Mom n' Pop operation; Austin the uncouth man who saw through and exposed his bullsh*t.
Beyond that, with no real meaning, the device became an insufferably tedious contrivance and an easy go-to format. It was, as WWE descended into a bastardisation of the wrestling form, a hyper-convenient way of making matches removed from an actual competitive, sporting purpose.
Now, AEW could do with a Jack Tunney-like figure who only surfaces very occasionally to lay down the law. This shouldn't be Khan, who is not remotely suited to perform on TV, but perhaps Arn Anderson representing a fictional governing body à la the IWGP. There are too many f*ck finishes in AEW, and a plot hole has widened. Khan set a precedent with the Young Bucks at All Out 2022. This "systematic cheating" is unfair, and AEW knows it. Or knew it. It's wrestling - there has to be a bit of it - but it's gone too far now.
But a full-on "General Manager", who exists to make matches onscreen?
Absolutely not. The illusion of a sporting entity is what sets AEW apart, and the base isn't into the idea. Look at the reaction Saraya got for making a lumberjack match on the fly.
It's not some secret key to success; WWE's incessant use of the formula coincided with their commercial decline.