"They lost 300,000 viewers" - Former WCW Champion lashes out at Tony Khan and popular AEW star over embarrassing ratings drop (Exclusive)

A former WCW Champion has lashed out at Tony Khan and a top AEW star for recent ratings drop.

Will Ospreay is one of the best professional wrestlers in the world. When it was announced that Ospreay had signed with AEW, fans were ecstatic. After finishing up time with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ospreay showed up at AEW and competed in a stellar match on Revolution 2024.

That same week, Will Ospreay competed against his best friend Kyle Fletcher in the main event of AEW Dynamite. Despite the fact that Ospreay was in the main event, the ratings for the show had dropped considerably during its two-hour runtime.

During a recent episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, Vince Russo lashed out at Tony Khan for the terrible ratings drop:

“Bro, last week on Dynamite was the first match Will Ospreay had for AEW. Bro, do you know that was the main event of the show? Bro, from the time the show opened to the time they got to that main event, they lost 300,000 viewers. 300……and you heard all the hype about Will Ospreay, the greatest wrestler on the planet, yada, yada, yada."

He continued:

"From the time that show started to two hours later, they lost 300……it doesn't matter who you bring in, bro. If you don't book them correctly and build a character and build feuds, it doesn't matter, Chris, Chris, listen, I'm, I'm not being hard on Tony Khan. But since you and I have been doing this show, how many times have we gone through this with them bringing in the next guy and the next guy and the next and it never, ever moves the needle.” [3:20 - 4:28]

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Tony Khan is trying to position Mercedes Mone as the face of AEW

Mercedes Mone made a big splash in wrestling when she debuted for AEW last week. She was presented like a massive star, and it seems like Tony Khan might have big plans for her.

Both Tony Khan and Mercedes Mone did an interview with NBC10 Boston where Khan was praised for his latest signing. He even said that she has what it takes to be the face of the company:

"Mercedes is one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. She is going to help bring in new audiences from all over the world. I think, not only is she going to come in as one of the faces of AEW, one of the top stars, but she’s also one of the best wrestlers, one of the most charismatic people, somebody who loves wrestling. To me, Mercedes is not only someone who loves the wrestling business, loves getting in the ring and wrestling, but loves the fans. And I think that’s what we’re all about in AEW and that’s why I think Mercedes is perfect to be the face of AEW." (01:24 onward)

It will be interesting to see if Mercedes Mone joining the AEW roster will help move the needle and boost ratings.

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