Tony Khan hasn't been shy about hyping up AEW stars, and he did it again by comparing Jade Cargill to Goldberg. That drew the ire of WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff.
Jade Cargill debuted in AEW in 2021 and has been unbeaten since. On the debut episode of Dynamite on TBS, Jade Cargill defeated Ruby Soho to become the first ever TBS Champion. Tony Khan compared the new champion's record to Goldberg's iconic streak in WCW.
Speaking on the 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff criticized Khan for the Goldberg comparisons. He compared the AEW boss to Dixie Carter in terms of overhyping his product:
“When I hear comments like that from Tony, it reminds me very much of Dixie Carter and TNA. Dixie Carter had a habit of making announcements that were going to get great social media reactions, but very rarely could follow them up, ‘We’re going to make an announcement that’s going to change the wrestling world.’ How many times did we hear that coming out of Dixie and TNA and then they didn’t deliver?”
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Bischoff went on to detail how Cargill is still very new to professional wrestling and may not live up to the comparison with a legend like Goldberg:
“Fast forward to Jade Cargill. I don’t know Jade Cargill. I don’t know anything about Jade Cargill. I’ve seen her live once or twice. She’s a very, very impressive looking individual. From what I recall, and I don’t watch a lot of her work so it’s not fair for me to comment, but she looked very green, she’s new, she’s learning, she has amazing talent, and she’s probably going to go on to be a big star someday, but she’s not now. Why would you make a comparison to a guy like Bill Goldberg because probably 90% of the people that hear that or read that are going to go, ‘What? Jade Cargill – Bill Goldberg?’ I just don’t understand that.” (h/t: Wrestling News)
What did AEW boss Tony Khan say about Jade Cargill and Goldberg?
Goldberg's rise to the top of the WCW food chain started with a legendary winning streak. Tony Khan stated on Z100 that Jade Cargill's unbeaten run was the strongest run seen in wrestling since the former WCW World Champion's:
“Jade Cargill’s probably the most dominant run in my opinion of any wrestler in North America has been on, on television since Bill Goldberg 25 years ago,” stated Khan.
It may be a stretch to compare the two unbeaten streaks as Goldberg faced much bigger names during his run and at a time when wrestling was at its peak.
What cannot be argued, though, is that Jade Cargill has had a great year and is on course to be a huge star in the future.