"Vince McMahon would never do that" - Veteran criticizes AEW's Tony Khan over recent comments [Exclusive]

AEW benefited tremendously from NXT's move to Tuesday nights as Tony Khan and his team breached the one million mark for two weeks in a row.

However, AEW's average viewership dropped to 889,000 viewers for this week's show, and Vince Russo was quick to target Tony Khan over the AEW president's recent comments.

During the most recent episode of "Writing with Russo" with Dr. Chris Featherstone, the veteran wrestling personality voiced his issues regarding Tony Khan and other AEW personalities gloating about TV ratings.

Russo stated that he never bragged about ratings during his time working in the WWE, WCW, and TNA, and shared a big reason why he refrained from the practice.

He highlighted the unpredictable nature of TV trends and noted that wrestling companies can always witness unforeseen dips in numbers.

"Whatever platform I wrote, whether it was TNA, WWE, WCW, it didn't matter, bro. I never, ever, ever gloated about a single rating. And bro, here's the reason why, you know, Chris, you will learn with me; I'm a very logical guy. Here is the reason why, bro, when you gloat about a good rating, okay? You're doing this to yourself, right here, I'm bringing out the red Italian horn again. Bro, when you gloat about a good rating, you've got to take into consideration, well, 'If I gloat about this and then next week the rating is down, I'm going to look like an absolute idiot. You don't gloat about a good rating. I never did, bro. You can go check my track history, never," Russo said.

DEMO GOD..... @aew #DemoGod https://t.co/4zG0JjMQgh

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) April 15, 2021

Vince Russo explained the dynamics of AEW's recent rating success and why it was just a short-term phenomenon.

AEW Dynamite aired unopposed without NXT's competition, and Russo said that many hardcore NXT followers would have tuned in to All Elite Wrestling to sample their product.

Russo had predicted the fall in AEW's ratings when the company managed to get 1.2 million viewers for the April 7th episode. Russo compared the situation to AEW's debut on TNT, which averaged 1.4 million viewers.

Vince Russo thinks AEW is not getting new viewers

Russo stated that AEW had to retain the fresh incoming viewers, and the task had to be accomplished immediately.

The former WWE head writer bluntly claimed that AEW has been failing to grab wrestling fans who are giving Dynamite a shot now that NXT has shifted to a different night.

"People sample the product just like they sample; you may have had core NXT fans that never watched AEW, now it's on a different night... you better grab them because you have one time to grab them, and bro, if you don't grab them immediately, they are going to be gone. That's why I said, when they did the 1.2, I said, 'Guys, you're going to go back below a million. You are not grabbing the new people that are viewing the show,' but bro, that's why," Russo added.

I want to say THANK YOU to the 1.2 million+ wrestling fans that tuned into #AEWDynamite this week. The talent busted their asses across the card & always do. I was honored to be on this show & in this spot. I believe in @AEW & the visions of TK, Bucks, Kenny, Cody, CJ & company. pic.twitter.com/oqbYfxyHaY

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) April 16, 2021

Vince Russo ended his statement with a message to Tony Khan. Russo advised him to avoid boasting about ratings and felt that Vince McMahon would never indulge in such activities.

"Listen, I don't know Tony Khan from a hole in the wall, but I will tell Tony this, 'Bro, you don't boast and carry on and brag about a rating. You need to know, bro, Vince McMahon would never do things like that.' It's like, come one, bro. Whatever!" concluded Russo.

What do you think? Was Tony Khan right about hyping up AEW's recent viewership gains? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

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If any quotes from this clip are used, please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling.