Tony Khan Has Been More "In The Weeds" Creatively In AEW Lately (AEW News)

A new report suggests that Tony Khan may have become more hands-on with AEW creative recently.

Fightful Select stated in a catch-all post published yesterday, 26 January, that Khan is "said to have been more in the weeds creatively of late." This came on the back of Saturday's special 'Homecoming' episode of Collision, which AEW were "pumped for" and "felt did really well."

Saturday's Collision was well-received by fans and critics, with AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Katsuyori Shibata headlining, Angelo Parker returning after five months away, Toni Storm returning to her 'Timeless' character opposite Mariah May, and Powerhouse Hobbs and Big Bill brawling across the building.

While there's no word on the extent to which Khan has been "in the weeds" or when this started, it'll be interesting to see what changes, if any, this brings to AEW's creative output.

Opinion: Tony Khan Taking Back AEW Control Would Be A Good Thing

When a wrestling audience feels it isn't getting what it wants from a product, blame is typically apportioned to the booker. This is understandable. Tony Khan ultimately has the final say on what does or doesn't make it to AEW television. If something is happening on Dynamite or Collision, it has likely gone through him first.

But the idea that he writes everything doesn't stand up to scrutiny. At the All In: London post-show media scrum last August, Khan stated that "There's like 27 people involved in the [creative] process." He added that he is pitched "hundreds and hundreds of ideas a week, and I can do less than half of them."

There is a far cry from AEW's early days, when Khan was supported by a small crew featuring Dean Malenko, QT Marshall, Jerry Lynn, and a handful of others, including his EVPs Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega. That old, smaller system quickly went south, culminating in the now-infamous 18 December 2019 episode of Dynamite. So harmful was that show's show-closing Dark Order angle that it prompted Khan to take a firmer hold of AEW creative.

Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

“Regarding the booking which has come together better over the last three weeks, Tony Khan took more control after the negativity from the Corpus Christi show and you can see more seeds of long-term planning and layers in storylines, like in the four team tag match and other angles. But that’s also related to all involved.”

Weeks later, AEW was running through one of its most acclaimed runs of television to date - the build to Revolution 2020.

The idea, in 2019, was that Khan had too many voices in his ear. The team is now exponentially bigger and he has "like 27" voices in his ear.

Granted, AEW now produces four weekly hours of original programming vs. two in 2019, on top of Ring of Honor, and Khan remains in high-power roles at Fulham FC and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is a busy man who likely can't do this alone. But when the evidence runs contrary to common belief and suggests AEW is in better creative shape when Tony is in the weeds, Fightful's report can only be positive.