Tony Khan has had no second thoughts about his decision to air footage of CM Punk’s altercation with Jack Perry at All In 2023.
Despite being hugely successful for the company, All In 2023 has become an infamous event for AEW. During Jack Perry’s match with Hook, the star looked directly at the camera to say he was using “real glass” before throwing Hook on top of a car windshield. The star was referring to a recent argument he had with CM Punk about using glass on Collision.
After the match, Perry and Punk got into a heated conversation about the reference, ending when Punk shoved Perry and tried to lock him into a submission move before the two were pulled apart. The incident resulted in Punk being fired by the company and Perry receiving a lengthy suspension.
Months later, Tony Khan made the decision to air CCTV footage of the All In incident on Dynamite. The move proved to be divisive in the wrestling community, with many believing it to have been counterproductive.
Tony Khan Believes CM Punk All In Footage Key To WBD Media Rights Deal
On October 2nd, AEW announced that they had agreed a new media writes deal with WBD that is said to be worth over $150 million per year. Now, Dave Meltzer has revealed that Tony Khan believes airing the All In footage played a key role in getting the deal over the line.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said that because of that, there is no doubt in Khan’s mind that it was the right decision.
“I have discussed this with him. You have no idea how much and we it’s always the same thing that he believes that that was a key to getting that deal. So I will tell you, I mean, in every discussion, there is not even a thought in his mind that he made a mistake there.”
In the longer term, though, Meltzer doesn’t think the decision was positive for the company.
“If it helped making the deal, then he’s right. But I, you know, certainly didn’t think long term it was the right thing, even though, yes, it did help make Jack Perry a star. I just didn’t think it was positive for the company in the big picture.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcription.