Tony Khan Praises Current "Stable" AEW Locker Room

History has had its eyes on All Elite Wrestling for the past few weeks. The young promotion underwent its first big test following AEW All Out, which featured then-AEW World Champion CM Punk bashing a number of his co-workers, including three men with executive positions, in a press conference. This led to those three executives, AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, confronting Punk in his locker room, which led to a physical altercation. Since this backstage fight went down, all involved have been suspended while a third-party investigation goes down. Those who were reportedly only trying to break up the fight have since returned to AEW, such as Christopher Daniels and Brandon Cutler, but the Bucks, Omega, and Punk have not been seen since.

Despite the absence of four of the company's top stars, AEW has soldiered on. Jon Moxley has since won the vacant AEW World Title while the AEW World Trios Championships are now in the hands of the Death Triangle. Speaking to Robbie Fox on My Mom's Basement, AEW President Tony Khan called the current AEW roster the "most stable" it's been in 2022.

"We're on the best run of Dynamite ratings, the best six weeks we've had all year have been the last six weeks," Khan said (h/t Fightful). "I think it's been in large part due to, most of all, the great support from the wrestling fans, but also the wrestlers. Right now, we have a great crew, we have great champions, great contenders up and down the card, and now great stories coming into place because this has been the most stable TV crew we've had all year.

"We've had young stars come into place, we've had some of the top stars stepping up, and it's been stable. You've seen a lot of the top stars consistently week-to-week, which we weren't able to. I would feature them, but a lot of them weren't here. It's great timing, and it's a great time in the company, and I think it's a great time in the wrestling business, and a great time to be a wrestling fan."

AEW's issues extended far before a chaotic September, as the company was plagued with injuries throughout the summer. Top stars like Punk, Omega, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and missed ring time as they spent months on the shelf. Most recently, stars like Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland missed AEW Dynamite due to inclement weather affecting travel.

"There have been so many different injuries; Obviously, the hurricane kept a few people out this past week that are prominent names, but that's a one-week thing," Khan continued. "Normally, that would be terrible and catastrophic, but really — first of all, you gotta look to the hurricane itself, with the priority that people need to take care of their families and their homes. But it's just a one-week dip compared to some of the major injuries and incidents that have put people out for longer periods of time."

Regardless of the setbacks, AEW has produced some of its strongest consecutive ratings in company history over the past month and a half.

"The last five, six weeks have not only been the best TV ratings of the year for us, the best business period of the year for us," Khan said. "It's the perfect time to be going into the anniversary with this great support."

AEW Dynamite celebrates its three-year anniversary this Wednesday on TBS at 8 PM ET.

0comments