Tony Khan Urged to Preserve Wrestling History by Acquiring Former Promotion’s Video Library

Tony Khan has been hoping to cause a dent in WWE’s success. Why else would he attract names like CM Punk, Dustin Rhodes, and Chris Jericho to AEW? However, attracting famous wrestlers to his promotion isn’t the only way for Khan to propel AEW to success. Striking important business deals is as important and he knows this!

So, Sean Ross Sapp of ‘Fightful’ recently talked about how Khan could be looking forward to buying a new wrestling promotion. And that could give him an edge over WWE’s dominance. Lucha Underground is a promotion that consists of wrestlers who are already widely known by wrestling fans. According to Sapp, if Khan can bag the entire promotion and, more importantly, its tape library, then he may entice fans into going ‘All Elite’.

Speaking on ‘Fightful Wrestling With Sean Ross Sapp‘ the reporter said, “Tony seems like the kind of guy that would just buy the Lucha Underground Library because WWE is no longer in library acquisition mode.” Alex Pawlowski, who joined Sapp for the discussion, agreed and said, “Just like for wrestling history, the fact that you can go back and watch so much of those things and see people that you recognize who are major dudes now, that is a really cool thing.”

Since Triple H may not be interested in acquiring the entire Lucha Underground roster, Khan could end up buying the promotion with little difficulty and competition. According to Sean Ross, it can prove to be an efficient way of making fans get on board with the promotion. Bridging the gap between US and Mexican wrestling came about as the promotion’s most significant success. The exciting lucha libre style combined with the American style of presentation solidified its appeal in the hearts of the wrestling faithful.

Perhaps, the behemoth that is WWE does not need to specifically cater to or attract an audience from a specific ethnicity. However, AEW could tap into the market to lure audiences with the promise of a fresh perspective. Alternatively, Tony Khan could look to acquire the tape library with the appeal of offering an unseen perspective on now-famous stars. Names like Ricochet, Swerve Strickland, AR Fox, Alberto Del Rio, and Pentagon Jr. have gone on to amass massive success. And Khan could look to offer the passionate fanbase a unique perspective that highlighted the indie days of now prominent stars. More reports online are suggesting that 2024 might be the year that AEW makes a comeback.

But let’s not forget how WWE tried to make moves on Lucha in 2016. Back in the day, Chris DeJoseph, a co-executive producer for Lucha, claimed that WWE “basically tried to sign our entire roster, and pretty much tried to shut us down. I think that’s what they want to do- just take everybody, sign them to NXT and then wipe out companies.”

Last year, Triple H’s promotion also acquired a huge pro wrestling content library. It now owns the rights to International Championship Wrestling’s content. It possesses over 20 boxes worth of footage. However, coming back to AEW, apart from the Lucha Underground report, Khan has come up with an interesting strategy to generate more revenue that has finally started reaping its rewards.

The dominoes are finally starting to fall in place for Tony Khan with a revenue increase

AEW had experienced a decline in its ratings, revenues, and attendance. However, the promotion made a comeback from that place as the first quarter of 2024 is coming to a close. According to reports from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, AEW is in a much better place than it was in the last few months of 2023.

He reported on Twitter, replying to a fan argument that there has been a grand addition to the revenue that Tony Khan is drawing this year starting in Q1. The addition of Collision to its weekly programming schedule and the increase in TV rights fees in the broadcasting realm meant that Khan’s main revenue stream recorded a significant increase.

Meltzer suggested that “PPV was up roughly 114% due to a second show and success of the Revolution show.” This would mark a substantial increase in their revenues, which would allow them to pursue new methods of staying relevant and profitable. The President of AEW could be turning the tide around in their fight against WWE.

Perhaps acquiring Lucha Underground could guarantee an additional income source. At the very least, AEW can tap into an untapped market to garner interest and enhance its reputation. Do you think he can compete toe-to-toe with WWE in the future? What do you make of Khan’s potential decision to acquire the wrestling promotion? Let us know in the comments section below.