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You know the old saying, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” right? Well I am going to take a page out of Ben Stein’s book and I am going to spend some of Tony Kahn’s money. OK, I am going to spend a LOT of Tony Khan’s money.
A lot.
As we all know, Khan’s fledgling AEW promotion will debuts its TV show on TNT in October (with the buzz being the 2nd as the debut date). Once we get past all of the “We are going to change the business” types of statements that have come from the company’s camp, the real mission of AEW is to become a successful entity. Sure, a billionaire’s money can prop up a business for a long, long time. Shoot, all we have to do is look at TNA to see how long the Carter family fortune kept things running down in Nashville before the company eventually ended up with Anthem. If a rich person wants to lose money on a vanity project (cough, the rebirth of the XFL, cough), then they can do so in grand fashion.
But, in most cases, rich people don’t amass their fortune by backing money losing ventures. It goes against all of the principles that made them rich in the first place. What they do is put aside seed money for a project and see if they can make it a success within the timelines that are set out in the business plan that they draw up.
I think it’s fair to assume that no matter how much Tony Khan wants to run a wrestling company, there is a point in time where his father Shad will say “enough” if AEW doesn’t stand on its own and generate the revenue that is needed for the promotion to be self sufficient. In the year 2019, there is one way to generate that kind of revenue, and that way is TV rights fees, not house shows, merchandise or PPV buyrates. That makes drawing an audience on TNT a huge, huge priority. It is the only way that AEW can convert their ad split deal (which is what WWE had for years with USA), to a relationship where TNT pays significant rights fees to the Khans.
There seems to be a sentiment among AEW supporters and observers that all they have to do is put a show on TV and it will be a huge success. They believe it’s like the movie “Field of Dreams”, if they build it, they will come. They point to the fact that AEW has sold out the venues of both PPVs they have put on sale (while ignoring the fact that the two shows in smaller buildings did not sell out). They feel that once AEW is on TNT, the rest of the world will immediately see in the promotion the greatness that they already know about.
They are wrong. It just doesn’t work that way. Getting an audience for a TV show just doesn’t happen. Fans don’t just tune in because you put an episode on the air. You have to draw them in. You have to make them excited. You have to make the choose to tune in. With a fledgling promotion like AEW, to get people other than the core fans that already know about them to tune in, you need to give them a reason. That reason is the talent.
Now, let me preface what is to come by saying that when talking about the talent on AEW’s roster, I AM NOT referring to whether they are great workers or not. That is immaterial to this point. What a lot of hardcore fans don’t realize is that many, many fans are not like them. They don’t read sites like this. They don’t watch wrestling from Japan, or even NXT. They turn on a TV show and want to see stars (and also good stories, but stars first and foremost).
When AEW debuts in October, who are the top talents that they will they see?
*Chris Jericho. Clearly, he is the most known name on the roster. He was a vital get for AEW and more important, from a mainstream perspective, than anyone that they have on the roster.
*Jon Moxley. I love him as a worker, but if the average fan tunes in to AEW, will they know he used to be Dean Ambrose? Maybe, maybe not. If he could go under his WWE name, he would mean so much more to the company, but that just isn’t an option. Jericho is the top NAME because he has his name. Mox does not.
*Cody. I love his work, I really do. But what will the non-hardcore fan think when they see him? WWE mid card talent. Again, you need to look at this from the new fan perspective, not the hardcore fan that has followed Cody since he left WWE. If you can engage the viewers over time they will get to see how good Cody really is, but their first impression will be Dashing.
*Kenny Omega. He can tear down the house and has a great look. New fans will be interested in him. But, they don’t know him. They will have to get to know him.
*Hangman Page. He has a great future ahead of him, despite the really poor way he has been booked so far. Hopefully the new fans won’t watch the horrible battle royal that earned his slot in the Title match or see him labor for what seemed like an hour to beat Kip Sabian at Fight For The Fallen. But when they first see him, it will be a “who’s that guy” type of response.
*The Young Bucks. They are darlings of the hardcore AEW fans, no doubt. But, what will the casual fan think when they see two small guys in a tag team? Tag Team wrestling has been deemed unimportant for years now, so that they have that strike against them. They are also small. Strike two. They clearly have the talent to turn every impression that a casual fan has around, but they won’t be a draw to that fan in the beginning.
Those are your main guys. From where I sit, they need a big injection of name brand talent. They need a name that can push to the mainstream masses during the month of September as they build to their debut. They need a name that those mainstream fans will say, “Holy Moly, I have to check this AEW out when it debuts.”
Obviously, most of those names are tied up by WWE, but one prominent one isn’t, and as luck will have it he will be in Chicago when AEW presents All Out at the end of August. In fact, he will be at Starrcast the day of the event. That man is CM Punk.
Let’s state up front, it won’t be easy for them to get Punk. But, it won’t be impossible either. Obviously, it will cost money. A lot of money. If Khan wants to make it happen, it will have to be for a lot more than the rumored $1.3M that his paying his EVP group. It will have to be more than he pays Jericho. For one thing, he will have to get him to come out of retirement, and that will cost Khan. For another, I see no world where Punk will work for the same or less than the above mentioned guys and frankly if I were him, I wouldn’t either.
But he is worth it. Well, worth it. He is a mainstream name that will generate the excitement among the casual fan that no one else on the roster will, due to the fact that unlike Jericho he has been out of the wrestling fan’s spectrum for years now while Jericho was on WWE TV not all that long ago.
Imagine on August 31 Jericho beats Page to become the first AEW Champion, which is what makes the most sense as you then use Jericho’s name and likeness in the advertising leading up to the show. People know Jericho, so that will get them interested. Now, imagine at the end of the PPV, Punk comes out and attacks the heel Jericho. The reaction would be INSANE. They then brawl around the building while the fans go nuts. For a month, in the ads leading up to the first show, we see that “what happened at All Out will be addressed when we debut on TNT on October 2”.
It will give AEW a major buzz leading up to the first show. It’s, by far, the best chance they have to draw a strong number on show one. It won’t come cheaply but it will give them the best chance they have to make that great first impression. Get on the horn Tony Khan, you have a deal to make.
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