AEW President Tony Khan opened up about online rivalries in the world of wrestling.
Speaking in a new interview with The Rocker Morning Show, Tony Khan spoke about wrestling companies taking jabs at one another, saying such rivalries are healthy and a way to get fans engaged with the product.
“In the 90’s, certainly, I do think a lot of that helped fuel the wresting economy, but it was a very different time and things weren’t all online. Everybody wasn’t online all the time. It was a very different time for wrestling and a different time to be a sports fan. It’s changed for sports. Those rivalries and debates in sports are healthy.
I think for wrestling, too, it’s a big part, for better or worse of wrestling fandom now. It’s definitely a way that people keep up on the shows and watch the shows. For me, I’m a big fan of that. I love promoting the shows online. I know that our wrestlers are really engaged socially. It makes for healthy competition, I think.” (h/t Fightful)
Tony Khan Believes Competition Between Companies Is The Only Real Thing In Wrestling
During an April interview with IndieWire, Tony Khan expressed similar beliefs, going so far as to say that competition between companies is the only true thing in professional wrestling. He said:
“There’s a number of big factors that would play into why wrestling has seen such a great renaissance in recent years. I think it comes from the great competition in wrestling right now, and the fact that there are so many great stars competing right now.
Everyone knows that the most real thing in wrestling is the competition between the companies. The companies hate each other, and it will be a natural resource that powers the industry. They want to beat each other and take everybody’s free agents, and that makes it interesting for everybody else.”
In another recent interview, Tony Khan explained how AEW sets itself apart from its competition.