Tony Khan Responds To Criticism That AEW Isn’t ‘Sports-Based’

All Elite Wrestling President and CEO Tony Khan has responded to critcism that AEW isn’t living up to its billing of being a ‘sports-based’ product.

Before the launch of Dynamite, a big deal was made about how the show was going to feel like a legitimate sports show. However, especially recently, many have called that into question.

The segments with Chris Jericho and MJF recently have been the subjects of a lot of this criticism. Speaking with PWInsider about the Dinner Debonair, Khan said:

“I thought it was pretty logical, man. I think that segment is sports-oriented. Like when I watch the ESPYs or when I watch…you watch music videos, it’s not unusual to see a big athlete in a musical number, and the key thing to me was that it wasn’t done in an unrealistic context because the idea that we ended up settling on to me was a very realistic idea. Chris Jericho and MJF are like two of the biggest showboats in wrestling, they’re really cocky guys and of course they would love to sing their own praises and go out and do this hammy performance together because they’re both egomaniacs and of course like the ambiance and the whole thing is very on brand for the two of them.

“It was also key to me that it was not something behind an invisible camera where these two guys were just having a dinner and they weren’t aware they were being filmed and they just broke into a song. They were looking into the camera, they were singing to the camera, it was for the fans. Clearly they were doing it for themselves as these characters but it was very much for the benefit of the fans. So it’s like to me, in their minds it was for the benefit of the fans. So to me, it’s very much…it’s still a realistic segment. I don’t think it’s…people talk about a sports-based feel but I’ve seen athletes do tons of musical numbers and you know, the Super Bowl Shuffle? Was the Super Bowl Shuffle not real sports? Because that’s about as real sports as I can remember. That’s an era when sports felt very real and that’s the throwback era that all the people complaining about are probably fondly looking back at. So, if you’re going to take an honest look at it, look at all the times athletes that have sang and danced in music videos.”

Furthermore, on the Town Hall that came the week after, Khan added:

“They’re very different from each other. I don’t know how you can compare those two segments and say like, ‘These two things…’ The Town Hall and the musical number, the Dinner Debonair, are apples and oranges to me. It’s interesting that people take those two…I think the Town Hall is a much more conventional wrestling segment.

“It takes place in the wrestling ring, you know, does that make sense? I think the Town Hall…and the Town Hall did a great number, it was the highest rated segment last Wednesday in all of wrestling and I think that it shows that there’s a lot of interest in the match, because they came out with Dinner Debonair and the Town Hall posted a huge number and it was probably more what a conventional wrestling fan is looking for because look, not all wrestling is just wrestling, talking in the ring about wrestling as long as it’s not somebody just stroking their own ego talking about themselves for 20 minutes, wrestlers talking in the ring talking to each other about wrestling is some of the best stuff about wrestling, and when you get MJF and Chris Jericho in the ring – these two great wrestlers, talking about a wrestling match, that is great wrestling.

“So Dinner Debonair was a variety segment, it got people talking, absolutely as we expected, and Dinner Debonair was sandwiched in a show with so much in-ring action. Dinner Debonair took place on a show where you had Penta versus Phoenix and Wardlow versus Jungle Boy and the tag match and all these great in-ring matches, so I think that for me, they’re very different segments, so it’s almost like comparing apples and oranges to compare the Dinner Debonair to the Town Hall because the Town Hall I think was a pretty conventional wrestling segment in a lot of ways – wrestlers in the ring talking about wrestling and other wrestlers asking questions. And I’m not surprised that the Town Hall came back and did a good number because clearly, not only do Max and Chris traditionally move ratings in a major way, they’re two of our biggest needle movers when it comes to ratings particularly in the demo, but to put them back in that context, where it’s not the Dinner, they’re back in the ring, in live action, and anything can happen and there’s potential for physicality, I see that as more of what people have come to expect from a talking segment in a wrestling ring, if that makes sense.”

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• dinner debonair
• chris jericho
• tony khan
• AEW

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