• “I could’ve done it better” – Tony Khan On Criticism Regarding Satnam Singh’s AEW Debut
In the main event of last week’s AEW Dynamite, Samoa Joe defeated Minoru Suzuki to win the ROH TV Championship.
After the match, Satnam Singh (age 26) made his debut in All Elite Wrestling and attacked Joe.
You can watch it below:
Majority of the AEW fans didn’t like how Satnam debuted, especially the lights going off part.
AEW President Tony Khan addressed this criticism on Busted Open Radio and said the following:
“I could’ve done it better. It’s like – You know, it’s one of those things. I wish I had done it a little differently because the fans are always gonna be right.
So, if the fans don’t like something, sometimes – There’s some things about it that where you’re trying to get heat which is ‘trying to get heat’ situation. People aren’t always gonna love it. But there were things about it that I probably should’ve done differently, now I see in hindsight.
And, to be honest, it wasn’t my idea to turn the lights out but I am the ultimate filter. I’m the person who everything goes through. I put the outline of the show together and when I came in Wednesday I thought it was the best outline I’ve ever put together. One of them, at least.
It…was as much strong wrestling as you could possibly fit into the program and I thought up until that point the show was excellent.
And then, that was the one thing we kinda went off on. People might not have liked it. Satnam is an important person for us. It was important to debut him in a meaningful way at the end of the show. With Jay Lethal he’s gonna be a force to be reckoned with. At the same time, turning the lights out for somebody people didn’t recognize – it’s a great point.
And to be honest, when – well, the person who brought up turning the lights off has over 30 years of experience in pro wrestling, and when they brought it up to me I was only looking at the pros and I should’ve thought about the cons because that is my job as the person who decides what goes in and who filters out these ideas.
We had all these people in the room and somehow not one person, when that idea came up, brought out the negatives. And then, when we did it, all of a sudden all the negatives were very obvious.
I should’ve seen the negatives before we did it. And I really didn’t see them until it actually happened. And then I was like, ‘OK, sure’. But that’s not Satnam’s fault. It’s definitely not Jay Lethal’s fault. And so, at the same time, I’m very excited for it. I think it created a lot of buzz.
Satnam’s debut has been the most-watched thing out of the show and frankly, it’s gotten international attention I wanted it to get. But I didn’t want it to loom over a lot of great stuff on the show either and I don’t think it has or it will because there was a lot of great wrestling on that show. So I’m really excited about that.
But the fans are always gonna be right. So, like, I think it’s one of those times where I appreciate what their feedback was and now, as I am in my third year of doing this, I would not do that way again. And these are the things you learn going into year three that I would do differently in year four or five.”
Tony also exchanged tweets with fans on Twitter regarding this. You can read it below:
Fan 1: All I know is literally all of us have the same amount of booking experience as you did when you started AEW. You aren’t ready for that conversation though.
Tony: Yeah and that’s why I am the first to say the fans are always right, and that this is a great example that the fans know what they’re talking about.
Fan 2: Some people will be mad at this but also complain Tony Khan doesn’t listen to experienced people he hires.
Tony: Yep I said I came to tv with a show outline, then heard out ideas on such details & I picked the wrong one. I’m amused anyone says I threw someone under a bus to say the idea was from someone of 30 years experience. Who did I throw under this bus exactly? Where’s the mystery bod?
Fan 1: No Tony. That’s why you need to hire a booker that’s DONE THIS BEFORE!!!!
Tony: You need to hire this ratio.
Also Read: Tony Khan’s Main Goal With The 7-Foot-3 Satnam Singh In AEW
New Video: AEW Wrestler Rebel Shakes Her Huge Buns:
• ON THIS DAY IN WCW HISTORY (April 17, 1993) – WCW Worldwide
On this day in 1993, Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘WCW Worldwide’.
This episode was pre-taped at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and featured matches, interviews & storyline segments on the road to the “WCW Slamboree 1993: A Legends’ Reunion” PPV.
The card of the show can be found here:
– The Hollywood Blonds vs. Amos Moses & Joey Jackson
– Van Hammer vs. Gary McGough
– Scott Norton vs. TC McCoy
– Maxx Payne vs. Hartford Hart
– Bobby Eaton vs. Johnny Gunn
– Barry Windham vs. Steve Regal
