AEW Last-Minute Decisions “Very Frustrating For Talent”
Tony Khan’s creative process in AEW has been brought under the spotlight with Dave Meltzer claiming things are being decided later and later in the company.
Tony Khan has the overall say on the creative process in both AEW and Ring of Honor, making the big decisions on which storylines are to be played out on television and who is going to come out on top in them. But it seems the way things are going is more akin to how things were in the later stages of Vince McMahon running creative in WWE.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the creative process in AEW and noted decisions are being made later and later leaving a lot of talent in the dark about what their ultimate direction in the company is:
“If you follow AEW you know a lot of the stuff is being decided at much later periods than previous. Guys are getting their information on what they’re doing later, decisions are being made later. So that’s just how it is, there’s times even the day of the show you don’t know how it is. There’s times like we used to talk about WWE which is also very frustrating for talent.
“It’s like a lot of the guys have a lot of input on what they’re doing so they’re doing stuff but they don’t really know a long-term direction so they’re doing stuff and coming up with ideas but when you don’t really know a long term direction you’re kind of coming up with ideas week by week too but you don’t know what the ultimate thing is and maybe the ultimate thing hasn’t been decided. That’s one of the reasons the shows are like the shows are.”
Some AEW changes forced due to injuries
Some changes to creative are unforeseen with Tony Khan having to deal with a plethora of injuries over the five years AEW has been in existence. Currently, Adam Cole is out following ankle surgery putting presumed plans with MJF on hold while Bryan Danielson required surgery to fix a broken orbital bone leaving him now a major doubt for a massive January show.
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