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AEW President Tony Khan shocked the wrestling world last week when backstage footage from All In 2023 aired on Wednesday Night Dynamite. WWE Hall of Famer Booker T believes it was a bad move that could drive away CM Punk's remaining fans.
Last week's AEW Dynamite featured a controversial segment in which The Young Bucks showed footage of CM Punk's backstage altercation with Jack Perry at All In 2023. The decision to air the footage caused a huge stir in the internet wrestling community, with fans going to war over whether it was a good decision or not.
Booker T thinks the move was a desperate one, as he explained on a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast:
"To put the footage out like that is kind of desperate," said Booker. "It's a desperate move to actually show that footage."
The WWE Hall of Famer further claimed that it could drive away the CM Punk fans who might still be watching AEW television:
"No matter what, it's not gonna endear those Punk fans to still watch AEW — to stick around and wanna be a part of that thing. It's gonna run those Punk fans off more than it's gonna keep them around. Just talking about CM Punk from that side over there is a bad look for those guys, cause I would imagine there's still a lot of CM Punk fans that still watch that show and go support it." [H/T WrestlingInc]
While the footage ignited controversy in the wrestling community, it also increased the notoriety of Jack Perry, who received huge reactions at last Friday's NJPW Windy City Riot event in Chicago.
AEW's Ricky Starks defends Tony Khan amid All In footage controversy
Although the discourse following last week's Dynamite has been fiery, reports have indicated that it wasn't that big a deal backstage. A few AEW talents have even stepped up to defend Tony Khan, like former Tag Team Champion Ricky Starks.
Starks is a good friend of Cody Rhodes and has often been pinned as one of the few All Elite stars who might make the jump to WWE. In a recent interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter, Starks surprised everyone by defending his boss.
The Absolute One claimed that Tony Khan is a "very sweet man" and that, despite what some fans online believe, his excitement is joyous:
"Well, I don't think you can say anything to the internet trolls because even if you presented them with facts and evidence, they'd still believe what they wanna believe. So I think it's best to keep the energy to ourselves because here's the thing: They will never experience what we experience in that the beauty and joy of someone like Tony when you come to the back after your match."
Tony Khan has his work cut out for him this week as AEW presents its final episodes of Dynamite and Collision before this Sunday's Dynasty pay-per-view. Whether the decision to air the All In footage was helpful or harmful to the company will likely be revealed in the coming months.
