"Why take the shot?" - EC3 criticizes AEW President Tony Khan for slamming WWE veteran (Exclusive)

AEW's ongoing war against WWE has resulted in both promotions taking shots at one another. However, according to EC3, one of Tony Khan's earliest jabs at Vince Russo made absolutely no sense.

Recently, Russo took to X, where he recalled how Tony Khan had taken a major shot at him while AEW was only starting out. According to the veteran, his shots were uninformed, and relying on those who gave him the information is why AEW is struggling today.

During a recent episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws, EC3 questioned why Tony Khan took a shot at Vince Russo in the first place.

"Why drag Vince’s name in, short of the fact that he had a reputation due to online reporting from the past, false narratives, and lies? Because guys, I’m telling you, if you pay for your lies: you’re an idiot. If you get them for free, you’re still an idiot."

Check out the full episode below:

"But this whole reputation this man had, it’s absurd, why take the shot? Why even bring him into the conversation? All you need to say is we’re gonna deliver a product the fans want to see. Talk positive about what you're doing and what you’re trying to portray. Unnecessary." [03:25 - 04:56]

Many believe that CM Punk's return to WWE has dealt a major blow to the Jacksonville-based promotion. However, Vince Russo thinks his RAW promo was underwhelming. In a recent appearance on Legion of RAW, he explained why it was a missed opportunity.

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Missed out last week's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results right here.

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Vince Russo believes that AEW's struggle is affecting the entire wrestling industry

Unfortunately, AEW has struggled to close the gap between itself and WWE across the past four years despite initially blowing NXT out of the water. Later in the same episode, Vince Russo explained how Tony Khan's decisions will affect the entire industry.

"But here’s the problem: because he has a niche audience because he can’t grow his audience, now we’re really starting to really see not just television ratings, [but] house show numbers."

"So, here’s the bottom line: Tony Khan can do whatever the eff he wants, it’s his money, he’s a billionaire, but bro, that affects the wrestling industry as a whole, bro!" [05:05 onward]

If All Elite Wrestling doesn't manage to get closer to WWE, it will likely gain the same reputation that either WCW or TNA eventually had as competitors to one of the world's oldest and largest active pro wrestling promotions.

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