Satnam Singh‘s AEW Dynamite debut fell flat for fans, and that’s something Tony Khan completely understands.
Tony Khan was a guest on Busted Open Radio this morning with to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When Singh’s AEW Dynamite debut came up in the conversation, Khan admitted that it could have been handled better. He also revealed that the giant’s controversial lights-out arrival wasn’t his idea, but he still approved of the pitch. Khan named someone who has “over 30 years of experience in pro wrestling” as the person who came up with it. The AEW president noted that nobody in the room thought about the downsides of the angle; in hindsight, he stated that he agrees with the fans’ criticism.
“I could have done it better,” Tony Khan admitted. “It’s one of those things I wish I’d done it a little differently because the fans are always going to be right, so the fans don’t like something sometimes. There’s some things about it that where you’re trying to get heat, which is trying to get heat situation. People aren’t always gonna love it. But there were like things about it I probably should have done differently now, I see in hindsight. And to be honest, it wasn’t my idea to turn the lights out. But I am the ultimate filter. I’m the person who everything goes through as I put the outline of the show together.
“When I came in Wednesday, I thought it was the best outline I’ve ever put together. One of them, at least, it was as much strong wrestling as you could possibly fit into the program, and I thought up until that point, the show was excellent. And then that was one thing we kind of went off on. People might not have liked it. Satnam is an important person for us. It was important to debut him in a meaningful way and to show that with Jay Lethal, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. At the same time, turning the lights out for somebody people didn’t recognize it’s a great point. And to be honest, the person who brought up turning the lights off has over 30 years of experience in pro wrestling, and when they brought it up to me, I was only looking at the pros, and I should have thought about the cons because that is my job as the person who decides what goes in and filters out these ideas. We had all these people in the room, and somehow not one person, when that idea came up, thought about the negatives. I agree with the fans completely.”
Mark Henry brought up that it was honorable that Tony Khan could admit that the segment didn’t click and that he’s willing to be open and honest with the fanbase about that. Khan shared his mindset that the fans are always going to be right and that he appreciates their feedback, stating this is something that he wouldn’t do again moving forward.
“When it came up, I said, you know, that could work. That’s different. I was looking for how to physically get him in there for that moment,” Tony Khan said. “And somebody like I said, with over 30 years of experience said well, we could turn the lights out, do this and this, and I’m like, okay. And I should have seen the negatives before we did it. And then I really didn’t see them until it actually happened, and then it was like okay, sure. But that’s not Satnam’s fault. It’s definitely not Jay Lethal fault.
“So, at the same time, I’m very excited for it. I think it created a lot of buzz. Satnam’s debut has been the most-watched thing out of the show, and frankly, it’s gotten international attention I wanted it to get. But I didn’t want to loom over a lot of great stuff on the show either, and I don’t think it has or it will because there’s a lot of great wrestling on that show, and so I’m really excited about that. But the fans are always going to be right. So I think it’s one of those times where I appreciate what their feedback was. And now, as I am in my third year of doing this, I would not do it that way again, and these are the things you learned going into year three that I would do different in year four or five.”
READ MORE: Satnam Singh Makes AEW TV Debut On 4/13 AEW Dynamite, Attacks Samoa Joe
What do you make of Tony Khan’s comments? Are you happy to hear that they won’t take this route again in the future? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Busted Open Radio with a link back to this article for the transcription.
