All Elite Wrestling officially launched in 2019 and since then a number of talented wrestlers have joined the AEW roster. AEW much like WWE has received its fair share of praise and criticism, and Eric Bischoff has often discussed the company’s direction on his 83 Weeks podcast.
Recently Bischoff spoke with SHAK Wrestling and he explained why he doesn’t think Tony Khan should be referring to AEW as competition for WWE. Bischoff also criticized AEW’s booking and what he perceives to be a lack of storytelling.
“If Tony Khan is smart, and I know he’s very, very smart, a lot smarter than me in a lot of ways. I don’t exactly think he’s got a creative instinct in his body. I think what he’s doing is reliving a childhood memory, you know of ECW and the indie scene, and super matches. He’s booking, in my opinion, like a 14-year-old would – who would have a lot of toys and things he can play with. But I’m not seeing story – we’ve seen the wrestling audience or AEW audience call it a story but it’s not. It’s an excuse for having a super match or dream match.”
The Hall of Famer also explained what he thinks Tony Khan needs to do if he wants All Elite Wrestling to reach a level where the company can compete with WWE.
“If Tony Khan is really smart, and if his goal is to really compete [with WWE], he needs to look at what’s working in WWE in terms of the storytelling and format perspective. He’s going to wake up one day and realize that being a dirt sheet booker and catering to the internet wrestling community is a wonderful thing, because your name is on the internet all the time, but it’s [AEW] not going to grow beyond the point that it currently exists. Because you’re only serving a small portion of the audience, you’re not reaching out to the broader audience. Not everyone breathes, sleeps, and eats wrestling, you know? The internet audience does, but there’s a more, I don’t want to say passive, but a less-committed viewing audience out there that’s really important.”
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