5 Ways AEW's Tony Khan Is A Great Wrestling Booker (& 5 Ways He ISN'T)
3. IS - He Inherited Paul Heyman's Throne
"Accentuate the positives, hide the negatives."
That is an ancient wrestling maxim, but it was Paul Heyman who articulated it and - looking at the state of half that '90s ECW roster - perfected it. Not every wrestler should be an all-rounder - in fact, that's half the problem with the form in 2023, over half of them try to be - and those who aren't should be protected.
Jeff Jarrett can still go to a remarkable extent, but few want to see him work back-and-forth matches. Khan might have dragged out the fun a bit too long, but for a while, the knowing, hyper over-booking was deliriously entertaining midcard fare that played with Jarrett's rep as a carny.
The run has bombed overall, sadly, because Keith Lee isn't the specimen he once was a few years ago, but even a disappointment yielded one of the most emotional and unexpectedly fantastic tag team matches ever (Swerve In Our Glory Vs. the Acclaimed, All Out 2022). Khan recognised Lee's limitations and, for a brief time anyway, worked around them superbly.
At long last, he somehow got a tune out of the profoundly broken down Kota Ibushi: his performance in the triumph that was the Like A Dragon Street Fight evoked memories of the unhinged creative genius of old.
Khan's treatment of the Sting character and the 60 plus year-old man who plays him might well be his greatest achievement. In allowing Sting to go undefeated and show his mischievous side - in astonishingly well thought-out party matches with carefully laid-out high spots and opponents who can create movement for him - Khan has positioned Sting as both loveable elder statesman and invincible ageless badass. Khan has made fans feel like awe-struck millennials watching their childhood hero without feeling like they even grew up.
The run is literally magic.