AEW: Tony Khan is perfect as “involved President and CEO”

On January. 1, 2022, All Elite Wrestling will celebrate three years of the company’s birth. There are many names that have contributed to the success of AEW. Names like the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and the Bullet Club have been linked to the reason why AEW started.

But the name who made AEW an actual company is Tony Khan since he has the money and resources do to create this company. Behind the scenes, Khan is the owner, President, and CEO of AEW. He’s also the Co-Owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC.

He has a lot of responsibilities behind the scenes, but Khan is not an on-screen character even though he has a presence on Dynamite and Rampage. Although, Khan announcing matches via the commentary is a much better way to have the authority figure role than having an evil General Manager role.

How is the general manager role in AEW different than other companies?

The authority figure role has been a part of wrestling for many decades under different names.  This role has been played out by a lot of people like Jack Tunney, Vince McMahon, Mick Foley, Eric Bischoff, Teddy Long, Nigel McGuinness, William Regal and etc. This role is important because they make the matches for their shows. But it can be overused a lot where fans don’t want to see the authority figure role anymore.

Bischoff and the other authority figures from years ago tried their best but it’s looked like they were being McMahon. It also didn’t help that the Authority ruined the heel authority figure role by being on TV for years and dragging the show by making Raw all about Triple H and the McMahons while putting down the babyfaces when they barely get their payback.

William Regal was the best general manager in wrestling this past decade because he only shows up when he is needed. Whenever a couple of wrestlers are fighting, he’s there to stop it. Whenever they need someone to announce a big match, he’s there. Whenever there’s an announcement, he’s there.

The point is that this role has been played out a lot where no one cares about it anymore. We got over 20 people playing that role in the past three decades. And everyone except for Regal and Teddy Long seems like they are trying to be McMahon which won’t work.

Again, AEW doesn’t have an on-screen authority figure. All they have is Tony Khan making announcements or matches and announcing them on social media or on TV via the commentary team. And that’s how they should handle the authority figure role.

Why Khan should not be an on-screen talent on AEW TV?

Khan isn’t an on-screen talent. He’s the head booker for AEW, he shouldn’t be on camera. The only reason why McMahon was an on-screen talent was that he had the personality to be an authority figure especially being the evil boss. Khan does not have that in him.

But that’s okay. The way they handled the general manager role in AEW is perfect. If Khan was the obnoxious heel general manager, that will hurt the show. Have the wresters be the focus of the show, not Khan. And he knows that otherwise, we would’ve seen him on TV a couple of times a week.

If Khan does show up on TV, it will make his appearances more important now because he would show up a couple of times a year and he would only show up to Dynamite or Rampage when he needs to. He hasn’t really made a lot of Dynamite or Rampage appearances. And when he does, it’s a cameo or he’s in an off-air segment.

The authority figure is played out, especially the heel authority figure. Unless your name is William Regal, no one will care about that role because they are tired of the role being overused in the past couple of decades. That’s why no one complains about Tony Khan when does the general manager role behind the curtain.