AEW President Tony Khan has moved to dismiss suggestions of locker room unhappiness, after recent reports have hinted that all is not well behind the scenes.
In recent days both Andrade El Idolo and Miro have appeared to like Tweets which have been critical of their booking in AEW.
This came after former Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham reportedly had his own issues with Khan and the company, while a number of former stars have also been critical of Khan following their departures.
These reports have led to questions over the happiness of the AEW locker room, especially in light of the new wave of optimism sweeping through WWE.
However, appearing on Superstar Crossover with Josh Martinez, Tony Khan continued to paint a much happier picture, referencing a number of recent promotions within the company to help with talent relations.
“We have a great crew,” he said. “We’re very happy with the shows we’ve been doing. We have a great team of people. I recently did some promotions and added to the team. With a new group, hopefully, the communication is only going to get better because I can only be in so many places at one time and talk to so many people with such a big team. I think that’ll help. In general, I think we have a really great environment and a great backstage.
Overall, it’s been a great summer for us and it’s only going to get better. A lot of the biggest stars in AEW have been out, so it’s been great for us to maintain this position. Last week, on Wednesday night, AEW Dynamite, number one show on all of cable. That’s been the case six out of the last seven weeks. That kind of consistency has been thanks to our wrestlers, our staff, and most importantly the wrestling fans that have kept us going. Friday Night Rampage, we did our best number in a long time, being top five on Friday on cable.”
Khan added that the vibe backstage is very positive as everyone looks forward to a number of big events on the horizon.
“There is a lot of really good camaraderie and momentum. I can’t get everybody on the show. It is challenging, in some ways, when you have three hours of television. I get that, if you’re looking at a competitor that has seven hours of television, the people in that company are twice as likely to be on TV if you look at it that way.
It’s very competitive for spots, but it also means people have to do the most to maximize the time they do get, wherever it is, whether it’s on TV or streaming, and I do think our TV show and the participation we’ve had from fans and why we all feel so good this year to is, it’s great to be back on the road this last year after doing the shows in lockdown and a sometimes empty stadium.
Overall, I think the vibe is positive and we’re all really excited. It’s a big time of year for AEW with All Out coming up, one of the biggest events on the calendar, and we approach one of our biggest TV event of the year, coming up to New York for AEW Grand Slam.”
While Khan remains positive about the recent promotions backstage, Jim Cornette explained that he is less convinced. The manager-turned-podcaster said that as the changes won’t do anything to improve the on-screen product, they’ll have little effect.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.