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AEW recently turned five years old, and Tony Khan is working hard to promote three weekly shows alongside ROH programming. Despite all that he and AEW's talent have accomplished, former WCW Senior Vice President Eric Bischoff has revealed that he doesn't respect the All Elite chief.
Eric Bischoff took a neutral stance on Tony Khan and AEW once upon a time, but that seemingly changed after the latter made some biting comments about WCW. In an interview with Financial Times in 2020, TK claimed that WWE's former rival promotion was "badly mismanaged."
Khan followed up this commentary with a tweet in October 2021 in which he claimed that if Ted Turner knew even 1% of what he knew about wrestling, WCW would still be on WBD's networks.
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These comments apparently stuck with Eric Bischoff, who lashed out at the AEW President on the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast:
"That comment offended me a bit, like why would he say that?" said Bischoff in reference to the Financial Times quote. "What p***ed me off, and largely is responsible for me losing respect for Tony, that’s why I started being honest with my critiques – I kept my mouth shut until I lost respect for him, and then I got no reason to keep my mouth shut. It’s just the way my mind works, it’s just the way I am, mucker futher."
It seems that Khan's tweet about Ted Turner is what really angered the industry veteran, however:
"But when Tony Khan said, ‘If Ted Turner knew 1% of what I knew about pro wrestling, maybe WCW would still be around.’ That comment was so disrespectful, f***ing stupid, because Tony didn’t have any idea what happened to WCW inside Turner. The only thing Tony Khan knows about WCW is what he read in dirt sheets. For that punk a** to come out and take a shot at Turner while his a** has a show on Turner Broadcasting was so disrespectful to Ted that I lost all respect for him. Once I lose respect for somebody, I’m not as inhibited about my opinion." [h/t Ringside News]
Tony Khan potentially signing Mercedes Moné won't boost AEW's business, according to Eric Bischoff
Throughout its young history, AEW has brought in several top names in wrestling, including Sting, CM Punk, and Adam Copeland. However, the inclusion of these stars on All Elite programming didn't often lead to huge jumps in ratings.
Due to that, Eric Bischoff believes that even if Tony Khan manages to sign Mercedes Moné (fka Sasha Banks), it won't translate to any real growth for the company:
"Nothing. I mean, how many times have we seen big names come from from WWE to AEW, and people speculating about how it's going to impact the business, and what's gonna happen, and nothing happens. It doesn't matter who you bring in there. I made the comment and I'm gonna make it again. AEW is quickly becoming TNA."
As an alternative promotion to WWE, All Elite Wrestling has survived and thrived primarily with its core fanbase, with many of wrestling's more casual fans overlooking the company regardless of the star power brought in. Whether that is the case with Moné remains to be seen.
Do you think Tony Khan has made any of WCW's mistakes? Will Mercedes Moné bring in more business if she signs with the company? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!
