Eric Bischoff believes that AEW has one key advantage over other wrestling companies outside of WWE and that it’s nothing to do with Tony Khan’s success.
While Tony Khan has been a wrestling fan for the majority of his life, he still needed financial backing to get AEW off the ground. This backing came from his billionaire father Shahid Khan who also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL franchise and English Premier League club Fulham.
Speaking on a recent episode of his Strictly Business podcast, Bischoff said that this financial assistance not only elevates AEW above its non-WWE rivals but means that it doesn’t really matter whether the company is successful or not.
“Tony Khan had one unique advantage that MLW doesn’t have, or anybody else — he had a hundred million dollars. He’s got an unlimited budget. He’s not accountable. It’s a really, really, really well-funded hobby,” he said. “And that’s not a negative. […] It’s not a “do or die” situation for Tony Khan. This is his passion.”
Eric Bischoff Claims Warner Bros Discovery’s Interest In AEW Comes From WWE’s Success
The WWE Hall of Famer went on to add that AEW’s success comes as a result of WWE being successful. Bischoff explained that its WWE that has put wrestling on the map for a number of television executives due to its financial success, and this has opened the door for others to see AEW as an opportunity to do the same. He added that if WWE wasn’t successful, AEW wouldn’t have been able to land the monster TV deal it’s expected to announce in the company days.
“AEW isn’t contributing. AEW is taking advantage of the success of a WWE, for example. It is because there is this company called WWE that is worth nine billion dollars that makes executives in the industry go, ‘Hm, we might be able to be worth nine billion dollars, but we could be worth a lot because the market is here.’ WWE has established a worldwide market for this product, more than anybody else,” he said.
“If WWE would have been in the tank four years ago, and would have been flatlining and not selling out arenas, and just stumbling through pay-per-views, do you think Turner would have jumped on AEW? I don’t.”
While he pulls no punches in criticising the company, Eric Bischoff recently praised AEW for the success of All In. The event which is set to take place at Wembley Stadium in August has already sold well over 60,000 tickets despite no matches being announced.
H/t to Wrestling Inc