Tony Khan Releases TEN TALENTS And Reveals Plans To Sign More Big Free Agents 

I don't think that AEW needs more free agents. Tony Khan just needs to focus on the people he has now.

"We are a family business" The worst workplaces

What's funny that in the interview with Chris Van Vliet, Tony recognised the problem with WCW when it comes to money but then he fell the same problem as WCW did

Not sure if TK played the GM mode in smackdown vs RAW videogame, the trick is to get someone on low contract, build them up in value and then pay high contract or let them go. Rinse and repeat, it keeps a positive cash flow.

For a guy with so much money he’s really bad at managing it.

Tony can sign every big name under the sun but ratings, ticket sales and fan interest will still continue to decline. That’s not the answer to AEW’s problems. Hire a booker that actually knows how to book an engaging week to week product.

He needs to let go of more talent and put his money towards writers and creatives.

We can argue about the releases, but the Anthony Henry one is unequivocally bullshit. You have the policy (except when you decide not to) that guys can work indies on their off days. Injuries not on your show is the risk you take when you allow that. Firing him because he got hurt is bs, and even going "well I'll rehire him when he's not injured" is like...well great he's not being paid for months when he can't work. That really helps his family.....

Dude has no idea what he's doing.

If there's one thing I've learned about pro wrestling is that when you take shots at others it'll come back to bite you some day somehow, even if it's years later.

What TK doesn't get is he's not signing these free agents at the peak of their popularity. He's signing them past their most relevant periods. This ain't Shield Ambrose, Yes Movement Bryan, 65th IWGP Champ Okada, Ruthless Aggression Edge, or SASHA BANKS. As for Ospreay, he just got to his peak. The only person he hired whose popularity was solidified was CM Punk, only because he wasn't in the business for a long time.

I like AEW but TK has always had a problem with over-signing. Bischoff did in WCW & WWE has hoarded talent too. Nobody likes hearing about firings but for the health of the company, he really should keep the machine pretty lean.

Tony: I drastically overspent. Also Tony: Let’s throw 20 million at Becky and Drew.

"we had to pay for stupid expensive entrance music for wrestlers who dont draw a dime so we fired a bunch of people". A fucking joke.

Dasha was essentially AEW's Samantha Irvin. WHY WOULD TONY LET HER GO????? 😭

As a fan, did Tony Khan learn anything from Impact? He can’t collect performers and give them all jobs. Even a game player understands you can’t download everyone and still have disk space.

The worst thing that happened to AEW was Cody leaving a few years ago. I think he was the real visionary of AEW. Jericho has done his part to try to keep the company afloat and bringing in Edge was nice and Christian has done some of his best heel work there but if MJF leaves for WWE in a few years that will be curtains.

The talent cuts were a long time coming, AEW's payrolls were just absolutely insane, and with the WBD media rights deal on the horizon I have no doubt Tony and his crew are scrambling to get their books in order and trim the fat before things get presented to the network. Now, some may say 'well the salaries of all these guys for an entire year probably doesn't even amount to a single month for Mercedes, or Okada, or Ospreay' but that's probably not the point, because you can be reasonably certain those people are going to be USED. If I'm WBD and I see a huge list of names that just aren't being used in any regular fashion, I'm not gonna care they don't cost that much, I'm gonna be asking why you're using my money to pay for people who aren't showing up on my television network. The amount of money going into the people on the list is probably not nearly as important as the amount of people on the list who just aren't being used in any capacity.

Maybe stop signing every wrestler under the sun.

AEW signing new free agents is like a drug-addict seeking new highs. None of them actually move the numbers substantially, but he always thinks that the next one would. If you don't have anything compelling for them to do, they don't matter.

What did AEW and WWE saw in Parker Bordeaux lmao

AEW is the new WCW. Tony Khan letting the wrestler whatever want to do

Tony just doesn't understand. Even him saying, I've spent on free agents and production....how about BOOKING. Aews issue is not the roster, it's the booking. How is he so blind to this?

Not only all this but one of the released wrestlers was talking about how even with his side job, he didn't make enough to support his family. Either his family is gigantic or this is another story of TNA wrestlers having to work at the mall. And I'm sorry but if I live in a city with a major airport, and management books me a flight from a city 3 hours away, that's bad management. You could have booked me on a flight from the giant airport 20 minutes from my house?

I feel so bad for Dasha, I got to meet her at ringside and she was the sweetest soul. She was more than happy to chit chat for a bit before security interrupted.

U all have Sasha Banks to thank for her ridiculous salary. 🤣🤣

Tony Khan should stop being a friend to the wrestlers and more a boss. This is becoming ridiculous now with having such a bloated roster, and some talents acting like divas.

Tony Khan makes Dixie Carter look like Einstein.

"BUDGET CUTS" - John Lorrenitus voice

I bet you a Family Size bag of Doritos that at the end of 2024. Tony Khan will no longer be running AEW.

Will you be covering Sakura Genesis 2024? I'm interested in your thoughts on Naito vs Tsuji and Moxley being the next challenger for the IWGP Title.

Parker actually made an appearance in AAA, but his appearance was made before his cut & would of been part of a match in one of the 3 Triplemania events, the one in Monterrey. IDK if he will still be a part of the match now

Thats good TK is learning now but hire Scott amore and writers or ask WB help for movie writers

TK learning Slowly!!!But surely.

If a company says, “We’ll find another flight for you.” and then ghosts me and by the time the shows start I can not feasibly get there then that’s the company’s fault. How is it the wrestlers?

Tony needs to sign Zack Sabre Jr. pronto!

"... even if I get punched in the face, with cause...!"- Tony Kahn

So basically he fired who his considers to be “jobbers” to save money for the “big talent” that he plans to bring in?

The money MARK is going to run this AEW gig into the ground much sooner than I anticipated. 🕳

Ospreay comes in, ratings don't move. Okada comes in, same. Mercedes comes in, ratings actually decrease. At what point does he realize bringing in new people is not the solution to his stagnant product?

The same holds true or something like final countdown, which is another song that’s considered expensive too which is the only reason why Brian’s only maybe used it once or twice and I’m not sure

I'm not sure how I'd feel if my boss told me he spent my salary on making me a plaque and my own parking spot, and a new desk. I think Id be more appreciative of just giving me more money. Im sure Briscoe is happy with the song, but ME, I'd be happier with more TV time or more money, if you wanted to honor me. But i get it. Its a feel good moment and an investment on his show, for those who have followed ROH.

good video

It’s just a further sign that Tony Khan is not good at this job. He’s a great guy, wonderful human being but he’s not a good businessman. What he’s doing on TV is not working and I’m not surprised he has to do this if he wants to get somewhat of a rights increase.

Yeah obviously. Especially with Mercedes and Okada making Randy Orton money. Osprey is probably right around the block too. Soon guys like Jericho will see guys like Okada and Osprey making more money than him and he will demand for more.

My number one problem is why release a talent that injured it doesn’t make sense but one thing tiny should’ve done was released talent a long time ago if you not going to use them then what’s the point of signing them

Solomonster my brother in christ you said within seconds that you saw nothing aggregious then immediately said AEW said they would provide alternate flight options. That means its the companies fault not the Tates. Are you listening to yourself? They also didn't even get a response as to whether or not they were still booked.

I would be bummed knowing I was fired to help pay for a Lanyard Skinner song.

This guy and Paul Heyman sure know how to manage a budget 😂

Again it's wcw do overs...Spend big money on a lot of talent...and it eventually comes back and bite you, If you truly don't make that money back....The Similarities to WCW 2000 and Dixie Carter continues to grow with Tony...Nice guy though.

Yeah it’s totally the Tate bro’s fault that AEW booked them with issues 🙄 Idk how you dont see anything egregious for AEW with their story

Why he fired Dasha? I guess cuz he has Justin

Damn dude that is not a surprise this was bound to happen

I'm glad bray wyatt didn't go to this company

How the hell is Solomonster not at 100k subscribers?

Tony got a taste of his own medicine came back to haunt him i guess punk was right after all AEW isn't about making money it's all about personal vendettas.

Aew really needs to scale back the venues. 4k is solid. Maybe 5. More storylines for sure, cut talent that is costing and not returning. ROH. Have someone else do the day to day operations, and the booking for both. Put more focus on what is bringing viewers in. Build a pc, and start running an NXT like program. Find ways to advertise better amd more. Consider canning either Rampage or Collision. Start investing in what will grow the company. Not what the fans always want to see. Because that limits the reach

Captain Snowman at the helm of the AEW Zepplin!

I'll say it once again. Tony Khan is a man child that didnt have to grow up.

I only really watched for sting 😔 I'm glad he got the retirement he deserved but aside from Brodie Lee my interest is fleeting on AEW these days

Tony is starting to realize that just because your good at gm mode in the old svr doesn't you can run a real wrestling company

Those people he released couldn't have saved him that much. Those people had to have been on the lower level of salaries.

They dont need MORE talents. They need better booking of the ones they already have. Buying ROH was a dumb idea too. He has no idea how to run a wrestling company.

Here’s who needs to get LET go in AEW. Miro. CJ Perry. Evil Uno. John Silver. Reynolds. AARON solo. Angelico. Cool Hand Ang. Anthony Ogogo. AR Fox. Ari Davari. Bandido. Brandon Cutler. Christoper Daniel’s, chuck Taylor. Colt Cabana. Danhausen. Dustin Rhodes. Ethan Page. Griff Garisson. Jake Hager. Johnny TV. Kip Sabian. Kota Ibushi. Lance Archer. Lee Johnson. Mark Sterling. Matt Sydal. Micheal Nakazawa.Nick comorato. Ortiz. Sammy Guevara. Scorpio Sky.

TK 2019 "I would never do budget cuts" TK 2024 "Am I a joke to you?"

tiny con just has no idea on how to manage $$$$.... guess a symptom of silver spoon much?

I'm surprised. Surprised there was a plan.

Is this true

The problem is that these people are under a contract instead of being paid by appearance.

It hasn't been a family business since jim Crockett promotions

TK is AEW's biggest problem. Man thinks he's king shit.

What AEW needs to do is get good bookers, writers, creative give good stories into the good matches that they are already putting on and cut the fat cut the dead weight that are not moving the needle.

Tony Khan might not be a great booker, but he indirectly saved wrestling by in a way forcing WWE to improve its content

so you're telling me AEW is gonna use a guy with a last name Rhodes to compete against their World Champion who is Samoan and is named Joe?

Not trying to stir up tribalism but as someone who just got back into wrestling in 2022 I don’t rly get why there’s no outrage for the AEW releases? Whenever wwe releases folks it seems like everyone flips but here no one cares? Not to mention they don’t even have a 90 day non compete which kinda sucks bc that 90 days you’ll be paid while also finding work and setting up your life outside the company. I just don’t understand why more people aren’t bashing Aew for this or more harsh on Wwe as opposed to Aew.

If I was Tony I would get my suspending under control before the money runs out

I'm gonna tow the "Tony doesn't need new guys, he needs to work on the guys he has now" line. More importantly, rather than have knee-jerk booking reactions (which are very Vince-ish), Tony needs to look at what he has and come-up with a long-term plan for many of the stars he picked up. Right now, Jay White-JAY FRIGGIN' WHITE- is languishing in a spat with the Ass Man instead of having a blood feud with Edge or Rody for either championship. And that is seriously sad.

This is a teachable moment. Maybe stop tweeting 🤷

Could this be what CM Punk was talking about? AEW not set up to make money 🤔

I really liked the first two years of AEW but some time after Cody left and after the Punk debacle I lost interest. The leadership doesn't seem to be knowing what it is doing and is coming across desperate and cringe on social media. I think Tony Khan should take a step back and put people in place to make most of the day to day booking decisions.

I don't care about the cuts. I probably agree with them. I'm more confused about why everyone always has to add _"... but Tony's a nice guy, though!"_ Is he? I'm sure he's non-confrontational to one's face, but that doesn't mean "nice." I see an overly-sensitive, vindictive, passive-aggressive, hypocritical, out of touch man-child, personally.

Tony Khan really is just a Mark. In the best and worst ways of the business

LMAO remember when AEW started tony khan said that they won't be doing mass releases well wouldn't you know who won the pony 5-years later they actually did it there's no doubt that CM Punk's interview with Ariel helwani got under tony's skin especially when punk said that AEW isn't a real business AEW should stop focusing on what someone who doesn't work there take what punk said and prove him wrong i guess tony isn't doing that if releasing people is the way to react to the truth.

AEW tries to expand too fast. They should have shown it down focused on Dynamite and a pauper view every three months with a roster of around 30-40 wrestlers and build each one from the ground up. Still if you ask the casual wrestling fan who the Young Bucks or Kenny Omega are the vast majority would still have no idea as f the same goes for Osprey and Okada. Instead like TNA before them they love ex WWE guys instead of building their core.

How does anyone not think this guy is a joke. Hes not even a nice guy, he pretends to be, but he's a whiny, entitled, and petty child. He has no idea what he's doing and his ignorance and lack of leadership is going to end up hurting wrestlers.

I'm really hoping that tony's hubris will lead to him being a better leader.

Surprised he hasn't Kamille

AEW's failures have made me long for the days of late 2000s TNA. For all TNA's flaws back then, at least they were able to turn a profit (until they signed Hogan and friends).

Biggest problem that TK has is TK. Step aside chief. Be the man. Be the player. Be the Mr Money bags and play that character on TV. That’s about the only way to salvage this and get it on the right track. People want the evil bad ass Tony. Trust me. He’d be the biggest star of his own company if he did what Vince did. Or something along those lines. People want him to be the “boss” right? Look at The Final Boss and learn……watch………listen Tony. Grow a set. Take a few acting lessons, don’t need a lot and go become “The boss” everyone is asking you to be. Shove it back and off to the races. This is the program MJF needs. Trying to come back but Tony is the heel not allowing him access to the building etc…With a heel Elite group together.

him bragging about "paying more for the rights to one song for one night than most wrestlers make in a year" after firing ten people is also horseshit

But when will Tony Khan release himself so this company can finally start getting it's shit back together?

This is 1 in where I cannot fully justify AEW for what they did here. I mean-- YES; for doing so (more or less...); because it was the only logical, practical decision & move. But can't justify what LEAD him to do so. And that's 'OVERBLOATING' your roster! Yes-- u need to sign TOP, KEY, BIG-NAME/TIME talent.. in order to ASSIST with the OVERALL 'GROWTH' of a company & brand. That's sensible. Smart (IF used correctly on a consistent basis), as well. It's what helped GARNER 'WCW' the MONUMENTAL 'SUCCESS' it enjoyed!!! But T.K. NEED also learn from WCW's (and a couple to a few others, over the decades mistakes), as well. They (WCW) just couldn't 'help' themselves, it seemed, and COMPULSIVELY kept bringing aboard faces! Where it got to be 'random' (in many cases). Just because they 'could' afford to do so. And to SHOW-OFF to the industry that they COULD, too. At it ended up 'hurting' the product, to some extent. As well as BUSINESS (finances). Add to it-- the SEVERAL 'IRON-CLAD' 'GUARANTEED PHAT CONTRACTS, to boot!! Plus-- all the other OVER-spending! AEW should AVOID going down this road. KNOW when to place LIMITS on things lile these^ (among 'others', too, of course).

6:00 - 6:20 wait a wrestling promoter releasing multiple people for what said to be budgetary reasons, hmmmm does Does That Sound Familiar??????🤔

Tony khan is too nice to run a business.He lets his cosplay wrestler run his company

No hot and his hobby is expensive

Sometimes you get rid of dead weight , WWE does it all the time , it's business nothing personal .

Tony Khan aka The Impulsive spending Booker!

TK is the new Vinny Mac

Tony Kahn is not a great boss. Everything I've heard about him tells me he's a great person, but being a great person and a great boss are two different things.

That Parker guy sure has had crappy career being labeled as next Brock, huh? Thrown out of NXT and now AEW