“Looks Second Rate”: Tony Khan Slammed for Poor AEW Production Amid Rating Slump

AEW has recently faced difficulties selling all available tickets at its major events in the United States. In fact, none of the recent events have managed to sell out, and the company has had to close sections of the arenas where its events are held. This and certain other aspects of the promotion are surely ticking some fans and pundits who believe that the AEW would not be able to turn itself into a proper rival of the WWE. Dutch Mantell, a former pro wrestling manager, revealed the reasons behind AEW’s lack of ratings and what aspects Tony Khan should be working on.

Tony Khan’s AEW comes under severe scrutiny

One of the major reasons WWE events are a must-visit is because of their presentation. Whether it is the huge Titantron, the lighting in the arena, or the pyro, everything seems larger than life. However, the same cannot be said about All Elite Wrestling. In his recent podcast episode, Dutch Mantell pointed out how AEW’s production seems much cheaper than the WWE’s. Thus also making it an awkward viewing experience.

First, he took a shot at the lighting set-up in AEW shows. Unlike the WWE, which prefers it to be as bright as day for all to see, AEW prefers a more indie promotion vibe with a much darker tone with shades of yellow. “But the show just it looks second-rate to WWE show. One of the things that make it look second rate is the lighting and the fact that nobody comes to the shows.” Mantell’s review didn’t end there.

The second thing Mantell took a shot at was AEW’s attempt at hiding the low ticket sales. “The other thing they showed a picture the other day of an AEW show. And on the hard camera side, usually they put tickets that haven’t been sold that right there because they’re shooting across”.

“They’re going, put all the people that come in on the far side of the hard camera. But this hard camera side, there was nobody in it. And it probably held like 300 people. Maybe a couple on the top edges, like two or three people in it. But it, you could, it would look terribly empty and lonely too,” he concluded.

However, Tony Khan remains optimistic and has often stressed that he perceives a strong commitment on the part of fans to the product that the company is offering at the moment. In addition, he highlighted that the company has had a successful year full of significant events. There was hope that Mercedes Mone‘s arrival could boost ticket sales. But her presence has hardly had a significant impact on this aspect. In fact, she is being heavily criticized instead.

Mercedes Mone’s mic skills got called out!

So far, almost all pundits have been very critical of Mercedes Mone. Especially about the way All Elite Wrestling is using her. Despite being booked as the face of the women’s division, she’s either working as a guest commentator or just delivering promos. Anything and everything, apart from actually getting into the ring and wrestling.

On a recent episode of Keepin’ It 100, Konnan talked about Mone in AEW. And he had no problem strongly criticizing the company. Konnan said that despite having disbursed a significant amount of money, the company has not gotten anything from ‘The CEO’.

According to Konnan, all AEW has been doing is making Mone talk on the mic. However, Mone isn’t doing a very good job on the mic either, he claimed. “Mone’s probably been the biggest failure of all. Another bad promo. Do you not see that she’s not good on the mic? Live or backstage”.

Konman then admitted he liked her wrestling performances and her ‘swagger’ from her WWE days, but stressed upon using her correctly.

Well, it surely looks like AEW has a lot to improve. But will Tony Khan accept the criticism and work on it? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.