All Elite Wrestling finds itself in a strange position within the professional wrestling landscape. What once was touted as the hottest promotion in the business has been inundated with weeks of controversy, as reports of locker room feuds and overall backstage tensions have stalled the company’s momentum. Those issues boiled over on Sunday, as AEW World Champion CM Punk went on an unscripted rant at the AEW All Out press conference, addressing his problems with Colt Cabana and “Hangman” Adam Page before criticizing AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson. All these setbacks come at an inconvenient time, as top competition World Wrestling Entertainment seems to only get stronger by the day.
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WWE’s improvements come on the heels of Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s takeover of all things creative, as he and other veteran personnel fill the now-retired Vince McMahon’s shoes. AEW President Tony Khan once said he was more optimistic about AEW doing business with WWE now that they are under a new regime, but those aspirations didn’t last long.
“I was pretty optimistic when they first made the change,” said Khan ahead of AEW All Out. “But I’m less optimistic now, given how they’ve treated me.”
Khan expanded on those comments at Sunday’s AEW All Out press conference.
“I’m not feeling the same love, I don’t want to get into it,” Khan said. “I haven’t felt the same reciprocation that I have for them.”
While AEW All Out did an impressive seven figures in ticket sales, it is expected to fall short of last year’s event in pay-per-view buys. Khan qualified that statistic by reminding reporters that this was a packed weekend of wrestling events.
“When I talk about things I’m not thrilled about, I was a little surprised that we were the third professional wrestling show this weekend and it’s probably a little bit more challenging in the marketplace when it becomes a little more crowded,” Khan continued. “This is kind of a first for AEW this kind of crowded marketplace, I’m not sure if this is what we’ll see from now on but if it is, when the fight is brought I will continue bringing fights of my own and I have unique ways to do that.
“[I have] a lot of money to fight with and this is not the game to me. This is my life and I don’t think its a joke and I take it really seriously and yeah, so I’m really happy with the numbers we did with the competition we had.”
Khan likened his company closer to Jim Crockett Promotions than WCW, emphasizing the familial vibe of AEW. Regardless of the parallels with any promotions of yesteryear, Khan stressed that AEW is operating on a different level.
“When I compared myself to Jim Crockett Promotions this weekend I think I got a little taste of what Jim Crockett felt,” Khan said. “But I have a lot more f–king money than Jim Crockett did and I’m serious, I’m not going to sit back and take this s–t. “
AEW returns to television this Wednesday with AEW Dynamite on TBS.
