Tony Khan’s AEW creative process has reportedly become more erratic in recent months.
Back in 2019 when All Elite Wrestling debuted Dynamite on TNT, the show came across as more logical in its presentation and progression than WWE under the Vince McMahon era, which saw reports surface most weeks that McMahon had torn up the script moments before the show went on air and would rewrite segments while it was being broadcast live around the world. However, 5 years on from their inaugural pay-per-view, AEW is now the brand facing creative issues.
As reported by Bryan Alvarez on the F4WOnline message boards, the script for the 2024 Double or Nothing pay-per-view was switched many times and talent are left in the dark until moments before the show:
“Tony switched the script on yesterday’s PPV multiple times during the afternoon. Most people, not just the wrestlers, have no idea what they’re doing until the day of the show, and sometimes not until an hour or so before the show. People are flown to towns and given nothing to do, others are begged the day before the show to please get to the town so they can do something last-minute. He knows what he wants to do for PPVs (although this often changes), but as far as week-to-week TV, everything is booked show-to-show.”
Continuing, Alvarez states that the changes have been noticed by the wrestlers and are a frequent topic of discussion:
“For most people he’s [Tony Khan] incredibly difficult to get hold of. In some ways, it legitimately is more like 2019 WWE than it is 2019 AEW, where he was much easier to get hold of, he had very complex long-term storytelling, many people had a good idea of what they were doing and where things were going, and often most of the following week’s entire Dynamite card was booked and announced before the previous week’s Dynamite had even ended (remember when Excalibur would run down two dozen matches in 30 seconds for the following week?).
It’s night and day the changes, and people who work for the company, in all roles from the wrestlers to the office, talk about it ALL THE TIME.”
Tony Khan Discusses Bizarre Creative Proposal For AEW
With All Elite Wrestling nearing the end of its media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery and yet to confirm a new agreement with a network, Khan will be looking to increase the viewership as much as possible to negotiate the highest price for the next period of AEW TV and may try to think even more outside the box to achieve this. Responding to one idea pitched at the Double or Nothing press conference, Tony Khan discussed the possibility of introducing more AEW Championships.
According to a new report, AEW has been using a unique technique to become more reactionary.