Former WWE superstar D-Von Dudley recently shared his insights on Tony Khan’s leadership within AEW, emphasizing that mere financial resources do not guarantee success in a promotion.
During his appearance on the “Gabby AF” podcast, Dudley referenced past instances in WCW and TNA Wrestling under Dixie Carter’s leadership, suggesting that AEW could benefit from adopting similar strategies employed by TNA Wrestling to reverse their fortunes.
“If they don’t it’s not gonna last,” warned the Hall of Famer. “It’s not just gonna be around, and it’s gonna be a place where nobody’s gonna wanna go, regardless of how much money you throw at people.”
He then directed attention to Tony Khan, the President of AEW, noting a potential issue with an excess of “yes” people around him.
“This is one of the problems that Tony Khan has — he has a lot of ‘yes’ people and not enough people to tell him ‘no, don’t do this,'” Dudley remarked.
“If he’s in fact really running the show fully on his own then he should know better than to do something like that, and that’s gonna cause nothing but negativity.”
The veteran wrestler also addressed AEW’s recent decision to broadcast the backstage altercation from All In 2023, expressing disapproval of the move.
“It is a sad thing that happened in the business, with the whole thing when CM Punk was there ’cause nobody should really have to go through that stuff.
No company should ever have to see that but at the same token when you have the inmates running the asylum, then this is what happens.”
Dudley criticized AEW’s choice to air internal conflicts, seeing it as a move for “cheap ratings.” He drew parallels between AEW and the final days of WCW, stressing the importance of Khan taking control of the company to prevent a similar downfall.
