50 Worst Wrestling Moments Of The 2020s (So Far)
11. Tony Khan Gets Physical
Tony Khan made a lot of promises early in his career as a promoter.
It would be pedantic to expect him to honour every last thing he ever said - plans change, ideas evolve - but fans were reasonable to expect strong, unwavering core values. Khan had insisted that he learned lessons from the failure of WCW, and would apply them to All Elite Wrestling: much-needed competition to WWE and its excruciating Vince McMahon quirks.
On the April 24, 2024 Dynamite, Tony Khan, glorified General Manager, put himself front and centre when he said he’d never do it. He took a Jack Perry punch to the gut and a Young Bucks Meltzer Driver. With this pathetic publicity stunt, AEW - the sports-oriented alternative! - became every bad and hokey U.S. promotion ever.
Khan’s selling was laughable; the idea crushingly familiar to those bored by cable TV wrestling.
This sparked a “power struggle” storyline. The Bucks mounted a hostile takeover, which amounted to booking the exact same show that Tony, who could have managed Dynamite remotely, would book. Adam Copeland, running through a House of Black gauntlet before getting his hands on Malakai at the pay-per-view?
Khan would never dream of such a thing!
The New Elite feuded with wrestlers representing AEW in matches with nothing at all on the line. They weren’t fighting over “the soul of AEW” because nothing would have happened if the Elite won. Nothing happened when they did, at Double Or Nothing. AEW’s answer to the nWo was thwarted by Christopher Daniels whenever they tried to do anything - which was always on Dynamite, and never Collision.
The Bucks wanted to “change the world”. A lofty aim. Surely you have to work on Saturdays to accomplish that?