As we previously reported here on eWn, AEW President Tony Khan referred to WWE as “an evil juggernaut” and “the Harvey Weinstein of pro wrestling” during a recent appearance on the NFL Network.
On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T shared his thoughts on Khan’s controversial remarks.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Tony Khan taking the TK Driver from The Young Bucks: “Well, we’ve seen those guys do that move before, and seem like they did in slow motion. Seemed like Tony Khan’s head was about a foot off the ground when he actually did. He actually paused before he actually put him down. And which, I understand taking care of the boss. I get that. But if you have to do it like that, why do it at all? I don’t know. Everybody knew Jack Perry was wrapping up in New Japan, and then for him to come back with him. I don’t know what you get out of doing an angle like that.
“And the one thing I really don’t agree with is once, you know, once the boss starts getting involved in the angle and becomes a personality on the show, a character on the show. You are already the boss, and now you are the character as the boss on television, as well. It’s really hard to oversee what’s really, really going on. And from what we’ve heard, Tony Kahn has every job at AEW as far as writing, you know, of course, creative. As far as booking, you know. That right there is, and then now [being on the show], it always is a recipe for disaster in this business. And just about every promoter that has put themselves in that position, has ruined it for everybody on our own show. And I say that having a show like Reality Of Wrestling myself. And of course, I’m on the show sometimes., but I try my best to be off the show as much as I possibly can.”
On Khan: “It’s good to have overseers. It’s good to have, you know, other people’s eyes for the product and what we’re trying to do in order to make it stronger. But I don’t think you put me in a situation like Tony Khan just went though. I don’t know, Tony Khan made some statements about the company that I work for, which I really take offense to. Because when you say stuff like what Tony Kahn said, it’s kind of like a blanket statement on everybody. And I’ve worked with that company for more than 20 years. And I really take offense to a lot of things, what has been said from Tony Khan about the company. And I don’t really want to get into it here on the radio or on the podcasts, or anything like that. But rest assured, If I see him in person, I like to say stuff to people in person and say, you know, ‘Hey, man, I really, you know, don’t feel a certain way.’ So I’ll leave it at that.”
On Khan taking a shot at WWE on NFL TV: “But that’s the time when you can really show how astute you really are, and what kind of businessman you really are by talking about what was really going on, and that was the NFL Draft. And you know how good they did, or how bad they did in the Draft. To be able to, you know, circle back, pivot to what’s going on in AEW and talk about the angle and create a buzz around the company. Oh yes, you do that as well. But there again, is a way to be able to cover all bases. It really makes yourself look a certain way as opposed to the way he made himself.”
On where it’s coming from: “And the thing is, where’s it coming from? Because I don’t see any of this coming from the other side. This is a one-sided affair. I’m just saying, where is it coming from? What’s the disdain coming from, where is the hate coming from to be able to make a statement like that? You have to question that.”
As we previously reported here on eWn, AEW President Tony Khan referred to WWE as “an evil juggernaut” and “the Harvey Weinstein of pro wrestling” during a recent appearance on the NFL Network.
On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T shared his thoughts on Khan’s controversial remarks.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Tony Khan taking the TK Driver from The Young Bucks: “Well, we’ve seen those guys do that move before, and seem like they did in slow motion. Seemed like Tony Khan’s head was about a foot off the ground when he actually did. He actually paused before he actually put him down. And which, I understand taking care of the boss. I get that. But if you have to do it like that, why do it at all? I don’t know. Everybody knew Jack Perry was wrapping up in New Japan, and then for him to come back with him. I don’t know what you get out of doing an angle like that.
“And the one thing I really don’t agree with is once, you know, once the boss starts getting involved in the angle and becomes a personality on the show, a character on the show. You are already the boss, and now you are the character as the boss on television, as well. It’s really hard to oversee what’s really, really going on. And from what we’ve heard, Tony Kahn has every job at AEW as far as writing, you know, of course, creative. As far as booking, you know. That right there is, and then now [being on the show], it always is a recipe for disaster in this business. And just about every promoter that has put themselves in that position, has ruined it for everybody on our own show. And I say that having a show like Reality Of Wrestling myself. And of course, I’m on the show sometimes., but I try my best to be off the show as much as I possibly can.”
On Khan: “It’s good to have overseers. It’s good to have, you know, other people’s eyes for the product and what we’re trying to do in order to make it stronger. But I don’t think you put me in a situation like Tony Khan just went though. I don’t know, Tony Khan made some statements about the company that I work for, which I really take offense to. Because when you say stuff like what Tony Kahn said, it’s kind of like a blanket statement on everybody. And I’ve worked with that company for more than 20 years. And I really take offense to a lot of things, what has been said from Tony Khan about the company. And I don’t really want to get into it here on the radio or on the podcasts, or anything like that. But rest assured, If I see him in person, I like to say stuff to people in person and say, you know, ‘Hey, man, I really, you know, don’t feel a certain way.’ So I’ll leave it at that.”
On Khan taking a shot at WWE on NFL TV: “But that’s the time when you can really show how astute you really are, and what kind of businessman you really are by talking about what was really going on, and that was the NFL Draft. And you know how good they did, or how bad they did in the Draft. To be able to, you know, circle back, pivot to what’s going on in AEW and talk about the angle and create a buzz around the company. Oh yes, you do that as well. But there again, is a way to be able to cover all bases. It really makes yourself look a certain way as opposed to the way he made himself.”
On where it’s coming from: “And the thing is, where’s it coming from? Because I don’t see any of this coming from the other side. This is a one-sided affair. I’m just saying, where is it coming from? What’s the disdain coming from, where is the hate coming from to be able to make a statement like that? You have to question that.”