Kevin Smith Says He Was Warned About WWE Repercussions Before AEW Appearance
Film director and comic book writer Kevin Smith is beginning to know the ways of the world of professional wrestling and how that world can be a tangled web we weave. Smith sat down with Joseph Galizia of Wrestling Inc. for a chat to talk about his and Jason Mewes’ recent appearance on AEW TV. Smith details how they were the guests of Chris Jericho and what the experience was like for a person not embedded in the pro wrestling culture.
“The publicist said if you’re gonna do a wrestling show, do WWE. But Chris is our boy and I’ve got no real ties to WWE while I have a direct tie to AEW. Then the publicist said if you choose AEW then WWE is probably gonna take their offer back. I was like, ‘I get it. So be it.’ We said we’re doing AEW and then the word came back, ‘WWE is fine with that. You can do them as well.’ So, I was like we’re doing both.”
Smith says they got a nice welcome, which Jericho said was due to the AEW roster being fans of his work. He says he was only supposed to stay for part of the show but became an “instant mark” and stayed for the whole show.
Smith continued on the WWE topic of matters, stating how strange the initial handling of it was on WWE’s part, but overall weren’t petty about the matter when it came to pulling them from the show.
“It was strange to me that they said, ‘Oh, you can do AEW and do us’ because at first, they were like one or the other. Then when we said we’re sticking with AEW, they then said you can do both,” recalled Smith. “It’s nice to know you’re wanted by both camps. But the morning after we did AEW and were trending, my publicist said that WWE pulled their offer. They weren’t sh*tty about it, but they said you guys were all over AEW last night and that would be weird for them if two days later you were all over WWE. They said that down the road we could revisit this, but it’s not gonna happen Friday.”
Smith went on to explain that he wasn’t insulted and it was just business, but he did enjoy the idea that WWE might be scared of AEW and thinks there’s no way that decision wasn’t made without Vince McMahon’s input.
(Transcription credit should go to Ross Kelly of Wrestling Inc.)