Tony Khan again ended up landing in the bad book of pro-wrestling fans through an over-hyped business move. Unseen footage from the controversial All In scuffle was slated to come to the surface on the April 10 Dynamite episode. The unseen footage aired in a bid to raise viewership numbers and cast a spotlight on the upcoming Young Bucks vs FTR matchup.
However, the strategic move failed to be worth the hype at all. This week’s AEW Dynamite number did receive a viewership boost but the overarching value it added to the episode did not pan out as expected according to netizens. They swiftly took to social media to sling mud at the AEW head honcho.
Tony Khan’s overrated Dynamite move sparks criticism
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Firing CM Punk abruptly has already been one of the most debated acts of Tony Khan in recent times. So it was natural for fans to be curious to explore more layers to it. Khan read that instinct right and tried to play on the angle by pumping up a release of a clip from the epic Jack-Perry- CM Punk altercation. AEW Dynamite featured a ton of bigwigs like Kazuchika Okada, FTR, The Young Bucks, Samoa Joe, and Dustin Rhodes, but the ultimate cynosure turned out to be the Punk footage. It was just another means of building up The Young Bucks’ feud with Punk allies FTR. According to Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer News, AEW’s flagship show garnered 819,000 viewers and was rated 0.30 among the 18-49 demographic. This number saw a rise compared to the previous week, and Khan again took to Twitter to brag about it.
Just got the great news from @TBSNetwork:
Last night Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite, up 29% from last week, + up 17% over prior 6 week average! Thank you all watching AEW Wednesdays! See you at a stacked TBS wrestling show Wed in Indy + Rampaging & Colliding this weekend on TNT!— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) April 11, 2024
And eventually, it prompted fans to get into an unbridled trolling spree as they deemed the number to be too low to justify the hype.
Fans don’t buy the exaggerated viewership numbers
Fans seemed extremely irritated with the unnecessary strategic initiative that Tony Khan had made. These users cited that all the hype before this about the footage didn’t materialize to reap the benefits that AEW had envisioned.
Damn, all they hype for nothing
— Tim M. (@Flyersguru) April 11, 2024
Well, that wasn’t worth it.
— Nick OzPk (@NickPriceTomeo) April 12, 2024
These users mocked Khan for the negligible boost in numbers.
Wow. all that hype for 70k?!?
— Tommy V In MI (@TommyVInMI) April 12, 2024
They weren’t 880k after the footage to the end of the show 726k
— Wes Linden (@WesLinden1) April 12, 2024
These users remarked that Punk was the only reason for this little surge in numbers.
Cm punk is the only way aew can stay above 800k and that’s still a pathetic rating
— Tmac4113 (@tmac41132) April 11, 2024
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Punk only reason for the increase. So will prob drop next week unless they have more videos of punk to show.
— Tim (@timster88) April 12, 2024
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What’s your take on fans trolling CM Punk for not garnering enough views after a heavily hyped-up episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments.
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