“Lot of Frustration”: Tony Khan’s AEW Booking Reportedly Causing Backlash From Wrestlers Amid Strong WWE Competition

AEW president, Tony Khan, has been in troubled waters lately. While the recreation of the legendary Sting entry drew massive cheers for the pro wrestling outfit, not much else seems to have gained the favor of the wrestling faithful. Especially when it comes to storylines and the participation of AEW superstars in it.

The surface level of problems has been visible to the fans for a long time. A thick mist obscured the deeper issues. However, a new podcast clipping has blown the cover of the inner workings of AEW. It pointed to several failures of Tony Khan and how AEW superstars are fed up with the consistent lack of real leadership.

When Bryan Alvarez opened up the Pandora’s box on Tony Khan

A reliable wrestling journalist was recently invited to the Wrestling Observer News podcast by another great pro wrestling journalism giant, Dave Meltzer. The duo discussed several facets of AEW on its 29 February episode. Notably, this also included a section that slandered Tony Khan and his creative team. Bryan Alvarez noted, “Very frustrated. Because they don’t find out the Tuesday before, like some people do. I mean, some people will know what they’re doing. Because, like, there are a couple of matches usually advertised in advance. But most people are showing up the day of the show, and they find out whether they’re doing anything or not.”

 If you thought Alvarez was speaking about the audience here, he was actually speaking about the wrestlers working for Tony Khan.

Alvarez further noted the roadblocks the promotion faces during its weekly programming. He said, “And there’s very little communication. People are very – I’ve been hearing about this for months. People are very frustrated. Like, they show up, and here’s what you’re going to do. Lots of people will complain, and it gets changed, which is also a big problem I hear about all the time. People don’t want to do something, and (Tony Khan) doesn’t make them do it.” This suggests that Khan is very indecisive about things himself.

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Alvarez said that nobody from the AEW locker room would talk about this publicly. Online trolls targeted him for discussing these matters. But the truth will take many years to surface unless an insider speaks up. The journalist also said that because Tony Khan doesn’t step up, wrestlers just wing entire shows. In fact, this last-minute information system also grows worse due to the numerous injuries. Moreover, the indecisive nature of creative booking leads to an incoherent flow of weekly programming that culminates in PPVs.

A sheer lack of creative direction in the AEW

Bryan Alvarez told Meltzer that while wrestlers blatantly say no to Khan, he doesn’t try to persuade them either. Like unannounced plans, injuries also come unexpectedly and further spoil AEW’s broth. This has everyone in the locker room utterly frustrated. This also explains the recent booking of Chris Jericho, which may have been made just because he was the only one available.

A worked-up Alvarez highlighted the lack of long-term booking that makes it harder for talent to showcase the exceptional storytelling they are capable of ” On the other hand, the only people who don’t know what will happen next in WWE are the fans, who love almost all the surprises WWE throws at them. What are your thoughts on this? Let them flow in the comments.

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