Every few weeks or so, it seems that AEW President Tony Khan has a major announcement. Sometimes it turns out to be huge news but most of the time fans are left disappointed. Eric Bischoff recently addressed this recurring problem.
Last week on Dynamite, Tony Khan was advertised to have a huge announcement. It turned out that the announcement was nothing more than pre-sale tickets to next year’s All In pay-per-view in London.
During the most recent episode of the Strictly Business podcast WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff shared his thoughts on the news.
“What’s the saying? One step forward with Ric (Flair), two steps back with this special announcement… When was the last time WrestleMania went on sale eight months ago or eight months in advance?… Concert tickets yeah, but not… it’s not typical business in the wrestling business…
“I think what’s happening is Jon, people are just tired of it. They’ve been watching it and because of the goodwill, you’re right to point that out. I absolutely agree with you’re right on the money. But that only lasts so long… You can only burn the audience so many times. Unless AEW shows some indications of growth, and turn the tide… because the tide is going out and not coming back in. Numbers are deteriorating, live events are deteriorating, everything is deteriorating.
“Unless they can turn that around within the next couple of months, and it doesn’t have to be a 180, but God, give us an indication other than a one-off event in the U.K. because that’s not really a barometer or bell weather by any stretch — it’s a unique, one-off situation. Unless they show some growth, it’s going to be really difficult for anybody else to grow,” Eric Bischoff said.
Eric Bishoff weighs in on the consequences if AEW fails
While speaking in the same episode, the WWE Hall of Famer added more about Tony Khan’s announcement. After that he went on to share his honest thoughts on why he wants AEW to succeed as a company. He mentioned that if Tony Khan fails then it will take decades for another promotion to rise to the top.
“Here’s the truth Jon. There’s nothing that I can say, nothing I can say that I haven’t been saying for two years. There’s nothing new here. It’s the same issues over and over and over and over again. I can’t talk about storytelling any more than I have for the last two years… But if for whatever reason AEW isn’t renewed and isn’t able to find another television home. Do you know how long it’s going to be before another wrestling company gets a shot? I don’t care if you got $300 Million you are willing to spend, nobody’s going to touch it. If AEW isn’t successful as a television property it will be decades before another wrestling company emerges as a result of AEW’s failure. Once the audience decides they don’t love you anymore and leave, they ain’t coming back.”
What is your take on Tony Khan’s major announcement from last week?
