Tony Khan needs help running All Elite Wrestling

This has been an interesting week for All Elite Wrestling to say the least. In fact, the string of recent events goes back further than just this past week, but that leading into WrestleMania 40 and beyond. The promotion that was presented as the alternative to WWE has struggled to be just that. As AEW heads into a big PPV with AEW Dynasty on April 21, all the major headlines pertain to happenings outside the ropes. With so much criticism coming AEW’s way via unforced errors, perhaps it’s time to have a conversation about Tony Khan stepping out of his leadership position within the company.

Tony Khan is a consummate fan and lover of professional wrestling. He’s a fan, just like millions of people who watch the industry today, and lapsed fans who left the industry as WWE became more of a powerhouse, driving the most visible platform into years of mediocrity. But where he’s different is that he is a fan with the money to book his own promotion. Whereas others fantasy book online or via video games, Khan has the financial access to do this in real life. But is that a good thing for the long term?

Yes, Khan has done a lot of splendid work as the founder, co-owner, president, and CEO of All Elite Wrestling. Perhaps the most important of them all is the fact that AEW is a viable alternative to WWE that allows performers and employees to strengthen their earning opportunities. The point that stars like Kazuchika Okada, Mercedes Mone, and Will Ospreay were able to get contracts to their liking outside the WWE is an important benefit of AEW’s existence. Competition is always best for business, for the performers, background staff, and the fans of an industry. Tony Khan’s presence brings that to professional wrestling and sports entertainment.

But that doesn’t negate the point that there are some unforced errors in AEW’s history that can be linked back to Khan’s position in the company. The widely negative response to the airing of the All In fight footage between CM Punk and Jack Perry is just one of those matters.

AEW recently did some roster cuts for the first time in the organization’s history. Anthony Henry’s release while injured was inexcusable and the fans pushed back on that quickly, in which Khan responded by saying Henry will be back when he’s healed. Then there is the situation with The Boys. Khan shared information that they had allegedly missed dates causing further back-and-forth online. Khan even talked about overspending in a way that should raise concerns about whether these releases could happen again.

Think about how Khan sat at the press conference as CM Punk ran down others on the AEW roster. While he was as shocked as everyone watching, it’s his job as the leader of that organization to put a stop to that immediately. He was unable to bring employees together at the table to get them to work together and the opportunity in front of them. Instead, Collision became a separate roster which furthered the issue.

Then there are the years of struggle for the women’s division to get an adequate booking on television. Khan makes it clear that he’s the head booker for the company, so who is at fault for the years in which the women couldn’t get nearly the same opportunities?

These are just a few examples of questionable decisions that caused problems for All Elite Wrestling. Decisions and actions linked back to Tony Khan. Step into the world of professional sports to find similar examples of teams and players having issues, but there is a coach or general manager in the organization who was able to bring things together, even if just to obtain a short-term goal like winning a championship. The New England Patriots, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Yankees, and several other organizations all had issues like that. But they were able to rally together to get to the final goal. AEW needs someone like that in between Tony Khan and the roster to fill in that void, because right now, he’s not getting the job done in that fashion.

Professional wrestling and sports entertainment are better with Tony Khan in them. But perhaps the conversation should shift to it being time for him to find some help in running AEW. Alleviating the burden of all he does would be a great step in the long run.