The Tony Khan Is A Twat Thread

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

2 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Wonder how die hard AEW fans will bend over to defend him.

I think you will find that Saint Tony of Jacksonville only started to get mean with the talent after CM Punk attacked Jack Perry for no reason and had to be released. So really CM Punk is to blame for the Fenix situation. 

That's my guess as to how it will go.

[Hannibal Scorch]

17 minutes ago, FLips said:

You've got to wonder if spitefully keeping talent in catering because the dirt sheets rumoured they might not be sticking around at your company is the best play to run. While I would still take a lot of it with a pinch of salt, it's refreshing to see an era of wrestling where there is competition enough again that talent will outwardly call the company out on bullshit because for a long time that wasn't the case.

AEW's HR Department, or lack thereof, seems like an absolute nightmare though.

Are you suggesting this isn’t the ideal man to run such an important business function? 

This is going to be interesting to see unfold. If AEW have neglected to get someone healthcare then there is no defence for that. It’s strange because we saw with Brodie how good they were with him so either something has changed backstage and there is now a real issue with support. Or there was some kind of miscommunication resulting with issues regarding healthcare. Or Rey’s talking bollocks to get released.

Either way, I think it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later and hopefully with Fenix being allowed to go. 

[TheScarlettChad]

WWE is a better place to work in general since Vince was ousted, and nobody has forgotten the sex trafficking. 

Remember when AEW was built up to be this progressive utopia? That was a fun time, five years ago.

[Chili]

11 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

WWE is a better place to work in general since Vince was ousted, and nobody has forgotten the sex trafficking. 

Remember when AEW was built up to be this progressive utopia? That was a fun time, five years ago.

How is it a better place to work without veering into the tribal jungle debates? Because CM Punk fucked off from WWE because they insisted he saw their doctor who was basically trying to get him back in the ring asap when his back looked like a Neil Buchanan piece. Or that doctor who played down CTE effects until Baron Corbin called him out on his bullshit. That and still sportswashing for a regime that murders journalists in embassies. Or who still employ Michael Hayes. Vince is gone, but as @BomberPatsaid, striking hot with some angles doesn't make them the land of milk and honey. They've just done good TV with some cracking PR dirty tricks. The machine is still the machine.

But still, it's a shitty look for AEW's PR department and the people at the top. There is probably also a bigger discussion here somewhere about the classic independent contactor status, and wrestlers being able to get insurance etc, which is more difficult now after Curt Hennig and the rest of the Minnesota lot pulled that blinding con in the 90's so well that Bret Hart ended up in genuine litigation with Lloyds of London because he actually WAS unable to do his job anymore.

Edited December 9, 2024 by Chili

[LaGoosh]

4 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

This is going to be interesting to see unfold. If AEW have neglected to get someone healthcare then there is no defence for that.

I don't know what the ruling is with those dodgy bullshit independent contractor dodgy deals wrestlers are on - maybe sorting out healthcare isn't covered?

[WyattSheepMask]

Why doesn’t Fenix just punch Jack Perry? It worked for the other guy

[DavidB6937]

I think these things can be looked at independently without the "well THAT company is better!" angle. That's really missing the point. These scenarios aren't for point scoring. They should be taken seriously wherever they happen and whoever is involved.

All bosses and all companies are capable of doing bad things. They're not relying on each other for that.

[DCW]

If a talent is injured on company time, it's generally the done thing that said company covers the healthcare isn't it? granted, there probably is nothing legally obliging them to do so. Just for optics alone it's the right thing to do like. Gives the dirt sheets and opposition less ammo if nothing else.

[Hannibal Scorch]

5 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I don't know what the ruling is with those dodgy bullshit independent contractor dodgy deals wrestlers are on - maybe sorting out healthcare isn't covered?

I know they said early doors the management level of talent would get healthcare and at the minimum all wrestlers would get paid whilst out injured but can find nothing concrete. I’m sure Brodie didn’t have an exec title but  he was obviously taken care of by AEW at the time.

[Chili]

2 minutes ago, DCW said:

If a talent is injured on company time, it's generally the done thing that said company covers the healthcare isn't it? granted, there probably is nothing legally obliging them to do so. Just for optics alone it's the right thing to do like. Gives the dirt sheets and opposition less ammo if nothing else.

Yeah, this, I'd like to think we've moved on from the stuff Dixie Carter used to pull with injured talent.

[TheScarlettChad]

Wrestling will never not be scummy. You can't really view it like the "real world".

[Devon Malcolm]

10 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

I think these things can be looked at independently without the "well THAT company is better!" angle. That's really missing the point. These scenarios aren't for point scoring. They should be taken seriously wherever they happen and whoever is involved.

Absolutely agreed. There's no reason at all for this to become a tedious AEW vs WWE debate. Both companies have some serious, deep-rooted issues. One is not better than the other.

[LaGoosh]

So apparently the way AEW handled injuries is "you get it sorted, send us the bill afterwards and we'll pay you back" rather than WWE who arrange it all for their guys. Which matches up with what Punk has complain about with his injuries when he was there. I can understand why it might annoy the wrestlers but it doesn't seem too crazy.

[RedTwoster]

I imagine Khan will be even less likely to release him now, I can’t imagine he’d want to send a message to wrestlers that this kind of tactic works. 

That said, I just don’t see the benefit of forcing him to stay - he’d be better off giving everyone the Cody treatment on the way out - sending out a thank you message highlighting the wrestler’s achievements in the company. 

Aside from it creating a sense of goodwill, it potentially points WWE-only viewers towards the fact that AEW is, at the very least, worth keeping an eye on given how many exciting wrestlers have emerged from the company. 

I do wonder if there are people advising him to take a hardline approach in order to remove the idea that he’s a weak leader, though. I imagine there inevitably are industry veterans who would suggest just that.

[Hannibal Scorch]

10 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

So apparently the way AEW handled injuries is "you get it sorted, send us the bill afterwards and we'll pay you back" rather than WWE who arrange it all for their guys. Which matches up with what Punk has complain about with his injuries when he was there. I can understand why it might annoy the wrestlers but it doesn't seem too crazy.

Considering the issues he had with the assigned WWE doctor when he left, you’d have thought Punk would have appreciated the ability of choosing your own doctor. IF that is what’s happened here, it’s a big bowl of nothing, other than AEW needing to sort out their HR.