Tony Khan ruthlessly booking benched stars to lose before AEW exit should happen, claims WWE legend

AEW has lost several top talents in recent months. With wrestlers either already on WWE TV or expected by the competition, Tony Khan's All Elite creative practices have come under fire once again. Many people have encouraged the company to put outgoing stars to good use, and one WWE legend has now shared his blunt thoughts on what has gone wrong.

Penta has taken the WWE Universe by storm after receiving his release from Khan last year, and his brother, Rey Fenix, is expected to join him when his AEW deal expires later this year after being off TV for months. Ricky Starks is now Ricky Saints on NXT after months of sitting at home under contract. Miro was also released while inactive, and Malakai Black left amid creative frustration. The Dutch Destroyer is also expected to return to WWE. These talent situations have frustrated many in the industry, including Dutch Mantell.

The legendary journalist and his co-host discussed the latest AEW woes on this week's Story Time with Dutch Mantell podcast. The wrestling legend seemed shocked at the idea of no production meetings in the Jacksonville-based promotion. Dutch was then asked what he would have done as an AEW booker with outgoing talents, especially if he knew WWE wanted to sign them.

''Well, I'd beat him. That's what they've done for 60 years; why would you change it? See, because they [the competition] think he's this big shot thing and put him on TV... so beat him with the kind of guy you want to push. I don't know why they don't do that. I mean, you can tell when somebody is leaving; it's when they start getting beat, but send him there without any fireworks behind him; just go ahead and beat him," Dutch Mantell said. [From 1:16:30 to 1:17:06]

He continued:

"Just give the other guy who's staying, give him that win. It'd be a good match, and yeah, you just don't let them sit at home until they go because you're paying them for nothing. You got them over as much as they got over; you got them over, so go ahead and beat him. I don't know why Tony doesn't do that. I don't think Tony's talked to a lot of bookers, I really don't!" [From 1:17:07 to 1:17:40]

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WWE legend speculates on Tony Khan not using outgoing AEW talents

Dutch Mantell has been around the industry for decades and has seen it all. However, in the latest episode of his podcast, the former Zeb Colter just could not understand why Tony Khan pays outgoing AEW talents to sit at home until they're free to work elsewhere.

The 75-year-old was asked by his co-host about why Khan would follow such a practice. Mantell called it a mystery of the universe.

"That's one of the mysteries of the universe. Why would Tony, who has more money than you need, ever... why would he pay them just to sit at home? They sit home and don't even watch the show; they don't unless you call them, and do they even go to TV?," Dutch said. [From 1:14:42 to 1:15:03]

Mantell previously went viral for his views on Swerve Strickland's recent AEW contract extension. The wrestling legend caused a stir by siding with WWE on the matter.