Chicken salad. That’s what Tony Khan and AEW did on this week’s Dynamite by maximizing whatever you can after airing the ALL IN footage. And depending on how they continue to handle it, there could be more to come in the form of Jack Perry..
The greater contingency of fans (especially on social media) will be quick to make WCW 2000 comparisons once more or say TK is riding down the Russo electric rail of irrelevancy, but that final segment of Khan being beat down was more Paul Heyman than Russo. Instead of focusing on the weakness that was the footage, the spotlight was shined on a strength from an unexpected source, usurping product’s perceived misfire weeks back.
Was Khan’s selling questionable? Yes. Was wearing low-rise socks on a night where you were getting piledriven a bad choice? Absolutely, but what AEW did is address “the other guy” in the room at Wembley in Tony Khan.
Good or bad (leaning more towards bad), the decision to air the footage has already been made and AEW had to wear that albatross like a necklace, but Tony remained adament that he didn’t feel that way. When asked about the criticism of airing the footage, Khan stated on the pre-Dynasty media call that ratings would be the true fan reaction to what we got weeks ago courtesy of a security camera.
The ratings did pop that week with Khan saying TBS was pleased, but numbers crashed back down to earth the week after. Khan’s company was still left wading in the standing water of it’s “nowhere near a fight” footage. Then Dynasty had the Scapegoat Tarzan swing in after spending months away from AEW. Even if Perry was previously a Jungle Boy, his reemergence into the product alone would not drain the swamp from stagnancy.
I previously wrote that Khan can be the leader AEW needs by getting out of his own way. On Wednesday, he ripped the Band-Aid off, with the Neosporin being three big letters that he and the whole country are quite familiar with.
Even more than CM Punk and Perry, Khan was the most talked about person after airing that footage. He’s addressed it several times in interviews since then, but on Wednesday Khan took another risk by bringing that Charlie Brown storm cloud right out to Daily’s Place and making himself part of the storyline.
Like Lucy, The Young Bucks and Perry held the football, and unlike Charlie Brown, TK (albeit awkwardly) kicked it through the uprights by leaning to his strengths: his NFL ties. Roger Goodell and gang were the unexpected deux ex machina in this situation as Khan not only had his father saunter out to close the show, but got the NFL buzzing about the angle too, right before the NFL Draft kicks off this weekend. It will be even better if TK sells the attack to the gills with a neck brace and a bottle of Pepto by his side while he sits by the phone.
Perception be damned, Khan coming out doesn’t seem to be a Vince McMahon or Dixie Carter move in getting himself over. Unlike the other two, Khan didn’t utter a word during the segment, but just displayed his eagerness and excitement to reinstate Perry. He was the focus of the segment, but moving forward, I’m willing to bet that the whole story will not be. He was just a way to get to where they’re headed.
Will ripping the Band-Aid off bring AEW back into a 2019 rhythm that fans got so enamored with? Of course not. That’s something that will require consistency and focus, something that AEW has never excelled at on a weekly basis, but they arguably got themselves back in the game with some outside help.
Now Tony Khan and his product is on the clock. Happy Draft Day.