“Both companies have created the market for the other company” That was perfectly said right there Jim

Winning the booker of the year award is what Tony will point to if anyone ever questions his booking.

Problem #1. They have no real booker

The problem is Tony thinks AEW is like inviting some friends over for a few rounds of No Mercy on the N64. That’s how he books - like a weekend of gaming.

Tony Kahn narcissism is what will sink this company. He doesn't want wrestling to succeed, just his childhood fantasy

Ever since that independent investigation wrapped up, AEW has backslid into all of its worst habits from the first year that the second-third year was actually fixing. It’s doubled down on everything that appealed to the niche hardcore part of their fanbase and spurned off the wider audience they were building from 21-22. That’s been the turning point for the booking.

AEW made me a huge WWE fan

Just for instance MJFs masked devil story was over in the same episode. That could've been months and months of stories. Some actual intrigue.

There's too much meaningless wrestling on Dynamite and not enough storylines and character development to get people invested for big matches. Do we really need to see Orange Cassidy against Big Bill or Wheeler Yuta opening the show in consecutive weeks?

It feels like I’m watching someone play GM mode on an AEW video game

It feels like Tony only books for PPV. By and large, the PPVs will have some good matches, but the weekly TV, stories, and build to those shows are lackluster and make no sense. They need a balance and not just hold everything until the PPV. It's gonna blow up in their face one day.

You can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves. Tony will keep doing his childhood booking until his dad pulls the plug.

There's no shame in asking for help. Tony needs to humble himself.

There is no booking involved. They pick up two random names off the stack a bunch of times and call it a card.

I haven't been feeling AEW for the past few months. These die hard fans won't acknowledge that AEW isn't growing. It's the same stuff every Wednesday

People who are super successful and have accumulated vast wealth always think they know best and they can transfer their skills to any area. The funny thing here is that Tony isn’t super successful and his wealth is all his fathers.

The next PPV (Double or Nothing) is not until the end of May. Literally 2 months for build ups and new fueds but TK not going to to do anything.

I wish that a lot of AEW diehards who will defend AEW to the death would realise that "haters" who criticise the product genuinely want AEW to succeed

The comment directly below me says it all. Damn good point. Tony Kahn is his own worst enemy.

Awarding him booker of the year twice is only making things worse.

as long as TK has an outlet, nothings gonna change ... its gonna take his Dad being vocal about the money the company has lost (he gushed over an 800k gate for Revolution, that doesnt even cover ONE of his top wrestlers paycheck and WWE makes that in 30 minutes on merchandise) or if WBD cuts his television time (ie: taking away Rampage's timeslot, ends the BOTB specials)

He created a company in order to be the booker. Not sure he will ever give it up until pops cuts him off. Only way I see that happening is if he loses his TV deal and by then him being the booker will be irrelevant.

I really love when talks about AEW booking and ratings.

"This booking makes Vince Rus so look like Eddie Graham" - Jim Cornette

Haven't watched wrestling for a while, Came back to know what's happening and nothings much changed lol

Toni didn't say shit at that press scrum. About anything. Very insightful to the direction, attendance and validation of your talent and company. Your silence is well put.

the way they book orange cassidy alone is the proof you need that they have no idea what they’re doing

One of my favorite sounds will always be JIm's exasperated sigh followed by a defeated sounding "eughhh..." as he prepares to answer a question about stupid booking.

The reason AEW's matchmaking is a creative mess is because it suffers horribly from cognitive dissonance. There are too many competing theories that go against each other: a match-first promotion with too many wrestlers who struggle consistently with traditional fundamentals and top stars who are more personally obsessed and motivated with process. They're more interested in telling you their art as if they're living out a wrestling version of Inside the Actors Studio. It's why there isn't any consistency. AEW still hasn't answered two basic questions: who are we (what do we represent) and what do we do better than the other promotions?

I can't be the only guy that saw the thumbnail to make a "Just stick it to my veins" reference.

My problem that no expert has been able to reconcile, even here, (and JC clarified a lot when I found AEW but couldn't figure out why it looked wrong after being a lapsed WWE follower) is how TK says he follows and respects the greats, including JC in that, but then books slightly above the level of Shit-Stain. I can't say TK is as bad as Shit-Stain but his style aligns closer to his then it does to JC or any other real bookers' style

Think about where AEW was in Sept of 21. They just had all out , Punk had his first match and they debuted Adam Cole AND Danielson ( which was a stupid stupid move) That should have been a turning point for the company and should have been the start of its ascension into a legitimate viable competitor to the WWE. But when you look at the numbers for the company (average buy rate, attendance, ratings etc.) Everything has gone backwards. That is a failure of Tony Khan.

Tony will give up control of the booking when Discovery pulls their TV package and Papa tells Tony he has to turn this over to someone who knows what they're doing. The problem with "turning it over to someone who knows what they're doing" is that there isn't really anyone to turn to who knows what they're doing.

TK booked himself into a corner with this wardlow/hobbs match - which sucks for whoever loses

It’s funny that the aew fans will not admit the booking is a problem.

It's funny how Aew marks say Jim just shits on Aew but not Wwe. When the reality is he shits on both companies but praises them both for the good things they both do

Apparently there's a massive backstage problem with drugs in the AEW locker room with The Young Bucks, Excalibur and Jericho having real issues.

Reading the title I'm amazed this is only a 13 minute video

What a goofy ahh promotion

Curious to his views on the Cena and Theory segment

Tony so desperately needs to take like 6 months off - no wrestling stuff at all just go do literally anything else.

Wish they would post full episodes again and update the episode list for the shows

I don’t understand the people that tie themselves to AEW as a defining aspect of their character/identity. You have to jump through so many hoops to justify why it’s a watchable product and I don’t get the blind adoration of Tony (although that does seem to be slipping a bit among the fan base). The idea of a billionaire’s kid son buying his way to the top of any industry without any experience is usually the sort of thing that inspires real heel heat across the country but for some reason he’s a fearless leader to these folks. I do not understand how dumb people think.

Aew at revolution did well putting the younger talent over in wins, BUT you look at in general it feels like whoever is booking thinks you HAVE to have a young guy get put over in a program with an older guy. Where I'm at, and I know 50 isn't as old as it was....neither roster needs anyone over 50. Ever. Jericho, stop wrestling. Jarrett, go away. Have those guys working behind the scenes to help the young guys. I don't always agree with Jim but he's right about zero flow to their booking unless MJF is involved. Tony needs to be put in check by someone fresh. The product would benefit so much more from it.

It really had shot to grow into something. Started with super indy feel, but then got stars like Danielson and Punk. Danielson was the best heel in the industry for weeks but we didn't pull the trigger on it. FTR was three belt champs. Just needed to beat Bucks for the last one and that ME at all out was going to be a banger and ignite tag team wrestling again. NOPE Bucks dropped the titles for a transaction team. Turned face in a angle thatll never be paid off. Went to do flippy flying for belts no one cares about. Punk got nonsensical squash. Then Brawl Out. It was post ROH 2nd ppv where we pivoted from actually booking to be a rival to returning to super indy. You have a niche audience. Cool. You're a tad better than NXT awesome. Stop telling me you are WCW better version. You're not. You're at TNA pre height numbers and going nowhere

AEW's audience has stagnated, possibly even shrank. Their solution: double down on the mediocre product that got them into the situation they are currently in.

Another thing to add is will the wrestlers tell Tony? There’s many of them on the roster that are comfortable with their spot and they know they won’t get chewed out by Tony, because he’s not Vince and he’ll pay them at the end of the day.

There’s never going to be any changes because the AEW shills act like everything AEW does, no matter how bad is just great

I think when cornette says Tony should hire a booker .. Tony sees this as an attack .. i think people should ask him to get a mentor to lighten his work and upskill himself.

AEW is simply TK's living Toy Box.

I won't tolerate the slander on "the booker of the year".

The main reason Tony Khan's booking sucks is that Dave meltzer approve of his crap. so tony thinks its perfect booking.

Tony will soon award Lance Archer the prestigious AEW KZfaq World Heavyweight Championship.

Tony Khan is AEW's biggest problem.

AEW booking is weird. Soon I turn AEW Dynamite on, idk what’s going on, who’s the heel/face, who beefing with who, who is this random nobody, wasn’t he/she a face/heel few weeks ago, why are they mad at each, random heel/face turns. It’s getting ridiculous in AEW that it become WCW 3.0.

Tony Khan books what he likes for himself. Vince, for the last several years, did the same. Yet Tony gets praised and Vince gets panned.

Tony will stop booking simply when it becomes boring for him

AEW isn't going to last 7 years. It's not going to last 5 years

I also think the problem for both companies is that you’re never going to top the Mr. McMahon character. There’s no bigger threat than the owner of the company. Once that villain is gone, everyone else pales in comparison. WWE has tried to recapture that with various authority figures, but they’re just cheap imitations. I’d say a dominant faction like the Bloodline helps, but it still doesn’t have the dominance that the McMahon/Helmsley faction did, because again it had the daughter of the owner that raised the stakes for all of the storyline.

The scary thing here is that the day Tony Kahn finally breaks down might be the day Jericho takes over as booker.

Calling that "booking process" is rich

Paul Heyman in ECW?

I know exactly what both companies need, more belts, obviously the 27 each one has clearly isn't enough. ✌️

This is our back 2 back 2 back booker of the year. How pathetic

Tony Khan wants to be Vince McMahon. He has that same twisted "flawed dad" love-hate relationship with the old man that many childhood or teenage WWE fans used to have

Someone better ask Cornette what he thinks of Vinces mustache

Tony Kahn will drive talent away to WWE just like Vince McMahon drove WWE talent away to AEW

"Tony has a bunch of holes in his funnel."

Tony Khan will never EVER give up booking. It's the only reason he financed AEW.

I can book. I'm a booker....or am I a pilot....

🤣 the same people who where shouting from the roof tops that AEW had the best booking are the ones today saying AEW has the worst booking on an endless loop lmfao

Seriously it is less than a day away from Dynamite and Khan only announced for the card is Powerhouse vs Wardlow and the JAS vs Top Flight. Literally only just know announced several matches

Not only we don't know what happens next in AEW, Tony don't know that too:)

I hope they do smackdown and raw ratings

Booker of the Year!!!!!

Get someone to book Dynamite and Rampage, have Tony book Dark. No one watches, those are his friends who he can focus on and maybe he'll learn something from the tv shows.

Tony Khan books... that is THE problem.

Not listening to advice is their biggest issue! Then it's the booking, tony can't book with or without his meth! He needs advice from a guy who is and has been the biggest wrestling star of the last 13 years.....cm punk, he knows what the fans want to see.

Tony left Fulham's day to day operations,they are having their best season in 14 years, the day he leaves aew and let's a real wrestling man run the company is when AEW will stop pushing pockets and the young cucks and push the Samoa Joes and booking them properly

Moxley & Hangman Texas Deathmatch has been called MOTY contender enough said about that audience

“Another banner episode for AEW”😂

Tony Khan is just a kid playing with his toys. I had the same crazy things too like jumping off super high places and every one of my toy matches having furniture involved. Just now it’s with people not toys

Toni and Saraya’s heel turn makes zero sense. They could’ve done a storyline separate from Britt and Jamie. I don’t know why those 4 always have to work with each other.

Thank you Jim, atleast no sugar coating wwe when bashing aew bookings this time, I feel it, it needs alot of work, I miss the start of AEW because it was random, didnt know was gonna wrestle every night. Now it feels like everyone has wrestled each other atleast once that's worth a watch, and the rest are RoH level, somehow getting tv time. So many others are just not being used, or not used correctly. And aew is stacked with talent for a great show every week

Ok, lets seriously consider who would actually take over booking for AEW if Tony stepped down. You really have two camps... the Bucks and Kenny or Jericho. Totally shit show if everyone continued to preform AND book. Now if Tony was smart and said the new booker couldn't be on air while booking (accident, suspended, fired, whatever), that /might/ help. But I don't think the egos involved couldn't stay off of TV... Jericho would be on-air GM that still got involved in the ring. I could see the Bucks and Kenny doing the same... but they might not be champions the entire time they were booking or have the championships revolve around them. Might be a third contender... Pockets. Tony's man-crush for him is real enough. Thoughts?

AEW is fantasy wrestling it’s Tony playing Vince McMahon with his daddy’s money

What's the alternative to Tony if he handed off booking duty to someone else for a bit... the EVPs? Jericho? That's a scary thought.

Tony has been booking dynamite for 18 years already, by posting in online wrestling fantasy forums

It’s a Saturday Morning cartoon

Tony doesn't want to give up control of booking just like vince.

My name is Tony Khsn now there is your booking problem.

Please upload the beginning of this episode, where Brian and Jim argue about shitting. paraphrased: "What if that hole to shit in is all a person has?" "what if his parents left it to him?" "a hole in the ground with shit in it?" Literally the funniest thing I've ever heard on a podcast. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Pure order vs pure chaos

it's like a spoilt kid being told to share his favourite toy.....it ain't going to happen until he gets bored with it.

It's all Meltzer's fault. He keeps washing Tony's balls and giving him Booker of the Year awards which only inflate Tony's ego more.

AEW ignores memorable moments outside the ring necessary for furthering storylines

2 weeks since the last Experience and 11 days since the last Drive Thru. Are the full episodes not being uploaded on KZfaq anymore?

It’s annoying seeing things like Hobbs winning a TNT title shot and the TNT belt changing hands in the same night, therefore making one of those things meaningless. Seems like these dead ends happen a lot

Vince wrote for 40 years straight

You can tell Tony doesn't know what he is doing. Just look at his booking of guys like Wheeler Useless,Daniel Garcia and Orange Cassidy. He books these and I don't hate on the smaller guys. Cause they deserve praise. But he books them strong against big men. Which isn't good. AEW needs monster heels. Just look at his women's division. It has no direction what so ever. Tony is undoing the good WWE has done by getting rid of the term "DIVA" and making Superstars. Like they should be. AEW is slowly bringing back the Divas Division. It wouldn't shock me if they make a butterfly belt. From what I heard. Saraya is gonna have some input and in the women's division. Her ideas are terrible. I think wouldn't shock me if Saraya is booking the women. Just like Chris Jericho books himself. Tony is starting to turn into a younger version of Vince McMahon. Doesn't like being told he is wrong. If AEW is around for some time. Which I hope they will. He will become difficult to work with. As years go by. He is starting to surround himself by yes men.