5 Ways AEW's Tony Khan Is A Great Wrestling Booker (& 5 Ways He ISN'T)

The Wrestling Observer Awards are in - but is Tony Khan REALLY worse than Triple H?

by Michael Sidgwick
MJF Jay White Cutter - Full Gear 2023
AEW

AEW is the most scrutinised and debated professional wrestling promotion of all-time.

That it was the first serious competitor to WWE in decades almost fated this to happen. WWE ultras, threatened and with no awareness that wrestling could be done in a different way, were always going to hate it (and vehemently). Similarly, anti-WWE rhetoric was so toxic, and the promotion's 2010s output so antagonistic, that AEW day one fans were always going to support the promotion through its defiance alone.

It was also a fascinating, totally unprecedented thing: a brand new arena-sized entity that dominated the pro wrestling discourse from the jump. There was no long, daunting history to tackle. It was all anybody wanted to talk about. The conditions were ideal - that is almost definitely the wrong word, but you get the idea - for everybody to become a subject matter expert.

AEW encouraged this with its bold, puffed-chest rhetoric. The promotion promised that it would be the anti-WWE: everything you've missed about wrestling throughout the 21st century, done right.

People were desperate to either believe - which scorned WWE fan didn't want to believe? - or to knock these smug braggarts off their perch. As part of this story, Tony Khan's credentials have been - in bad faith or otherwise - called into question over the last 1500 days and change.

This article seeks to determine the answer: is Tony Khan a good booker or not?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!