One of the biggest criticisms that AEW President and Head of Creative Tony Khan has received from fans and critics is the lack of utilizing top stars on a regular basis. He recently addressed the accusations, revealing the real reason behind this ongoing issue.
All Elite Wrestling has a vast roster comprising of independent, homegrown and former WWE talents. While some stars are featured on their shows every week, there are a few who are not seen frequently.
Some of the stars, such as Miro, Paige VanZant, Adam Cole, and Brian Cage, among others, have not been seen frequently on television. While Cole has been injured, the reason behind others' absence have not been revealed.
In a recent interview with Grapsody (was conducted before last week's episode of Rampage), Tony Khan shared the real reason why several stars have been absent on television and also the harsh criticism he received for their absence.
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Khan mentioned that he could not please every member of the wrestling world and mentioned that he is working towards building stars on a regular basis.
"You're never going to keep everybody happy. You have to think about that. You have people that are going to be a focus week-to-week, Eddie's a big part of tonight's show, we'll see Eddie on 'Rampage,' tonight," Tony Khan said. [H/T WrestlingInc]
Every week, AEW has three hours of television in the form of Rampage and Dynamite and another two hours of Dark and Dark: Elevation on YouTube. Khan believes that limited television time is an obstacle too.
"Throughout those three hours [of Dynamite and Rampage] you see lots of names, but there's lots of names you aren't seeing in AEW every week, and sometimes they're silent about that, and sometimes there's a reason: somebody's hurt, somebody's working on another project, somebody's getting repackaged, or frankly there's just not enough slots on three hours." [H/T WrestlingInc]
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Tony Khan mentioned the major issue faced by professional wrestling when compared to other sports
During the same interview, Tony Khan mentioned that fans accuse professional wrestling of not utilizing all their talents, but the same complaint is not seen in any other sport, such as the NFL or NBA.
"It's not really common in the NFL for the backup quarterback to complain to the coach that he's not playing. It's not common in the NBA for the backup point guard to slight the coach because he's not getting minutes. I take it with a smile, and I'll keep taking it with a smile. It's ok. I understand that everyone wants to wrestle and wants to do things." [H/T WrestlingInc].
Tony Khan also owns the NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars and the English Premier League club Fulham.
With a 'new' AEW Dynamite being teased for the start of next year, it remains to be seen what will change and which other new superstars will feature on the company's programming.
Which AEW star do you miss the most from the list of absent talent? Let us know in the comments section below.