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Former WWE writer Vince Russo has slammed Tony Khan and AEW for failing to grow their fanbase.
AEW Dynamite has been languishing below the one million mark in total viewership in recent months. While the flagship show had a promising start after registering over a million viewers three times in January this year, it has failed to capitalize on the momentum ever since. Over the last few weeks, Rampage has also failed to secure impressive numbers.
Speaking on the Wrestle Buddy podcast, Russo expressed his thoughts on AEW failing to grow beyond its first show.
"AEW has been booked wrestling from day 1. They've never topped that very first show, where they did 1.4 million people. They could come up with the demos and this that whatever they want, the fact of the matter is that the first show did 1.4 million and in the last two and a half years, they haven't topped that." (01.05.32-01.06. )
The former writer believes the promotion has lost a chunk of its audience instead of growing:
"What that means is you've not grown your audience at all. As a matter of fact, you've lost audience because all you're doing is booking wrestling matches. The casual viewer is not interested in 20-25 minutes wrestling matches." (01.06. -01. 06.26)
Vince Russo voices his thoughts on Tony Khan's approach towards AEW product
Tony Khan has put substantial effort into boosting his company's viewership. The promotion has received a lot of attention and hype heading into the upcoming AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view scheduled for June 26. Following the mega cross-over event, AEW is set to treat fans with the infamous star-studded "Blood and Guts" Dynamite show on June 29.
While discussing the AEW product, Russo shed light on the difference between booking a wrestling show and producing live TV based on wrestling:
"I said this from the beginning. There's a difference between booking a wrestling show and writing a wrestling show for TV. It's two completely different things. This guy (Tony Khan) is a booker. He books matches. The only thing that's going to draw is pure wrestling fans. He doesn't write a television show. A television show is what the masses appeal to."
Tony Khan certainly puts tremendous focus on building an audience based on hardcore pro-wrestling fans. AEW has consistently done the rounds on social media and been lauded for its quality wrestling content. It will be interesting to see what impact the upcoming blockbuster pay-per-view will have on the interest surrounding the company this month.
Please credit Wrestle Buddy and give a H/T to Sportskeeda when using quotes from this article.
