AEW President Tony Khan needs to have confidence in his show rather than relying on taking aim at WWE, according to actor/former WWE writer Freddie Prinze. Jr.
Khan founded AEW in 2019, and the promotion has never shied away from taking aim at WWE, despite Khan once claiming that he focuses solely on AEW.
Earlier this month, Khan said the New York wrestling scene, where AEW hosts several shows is the real crown jewel of wrestling events, not the “BS overseas in Saudi Arabia.”
Khan was referring to WWE’s deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which includes an annual Crown Jewel event.
Speaking this week on the Wrestling with Freddie podcast, Prinze advised Khan to lay off the shots at WWE, seeing it as a lack of confidence.
“Tony Khan, who runs, books, and pays for and does everything, he is the man at AEW, took a shot on The Crown Jewel. It turns out you and I aren’t the only ones that think it’s a silly Pay-per-view. But I felt like he got a lot of heat for it and we didn’t based on the way both parties described it.
“So this is for Tony. Tony sh*t all over it and said it’s just some BS and the only Crown Jewel is at Arthur Ashe, basically selling his stuff. Tony, you ain’t got to do that. You don’t have to dump on The Crown Jewel. Everyone on earth knows it’s horsesh*t. Everyone on earth knows it is just a payday for WWE.
“He takes things very personally and he gets in his feelings, and he talks about feeling attacked and things like this.
“You don’t need to be insecure by these guys. You’re a young company. You’re growing exponentially. You’re growing quickly and you’re starting to put on shows that people are respecting on both sides of the fence. Take confidence in that. Take confidence in the accomplishments and stop worrying about what they’re doing.”
WWE Crown Jewel will take place on November 5, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
AEW’s next big event will be the Battle of the Belts IV event on October 7, which was originally on October 8.
The show was moved this week as it was set to go head to head with WWE Extreme Rules 2022.
