Tony Khan believes it’s good to have so many different voices in pro wrestling media.
In recent years, WWE and AEW have been criticized for introducing sports-style post-show press conferences, or media scrums. WWE eliminated its version of the post-show press conferences last summer. However, AEW continues to do them after its pay-per-view events, which are criticized in many circles.
During an interview with Jonathan Coachman and Vince Russo on the Coach & Bro show, Vince Russo spoke about his issue with these press conferences, claiming they take the luster away from pro wrestling. Russo said that these scrums expose the wrestling business and make it lose credibility.
Khan agreed that the lines do get blurred, but he also thinks that it’s a good thing.
“There’s a difference between being a wrestling fan versus working in the wrestling industry year-round. But I do think the lines get blurred, absolutely. The lines have been blurred more than ever. And absolutely, you mentioned people with big followings and medium-sized followings or small followings, people from all different backgrounds,” Khan explained. “I think it’s good that all of these people are connected to wrestling and they all come from all different walks of life.”
Tony Khan says having different voices is what makes pro wrestling great
Coach cut him off and said that Vince’s point is about “fans” asking soft questions to make Khan like them, compared to a real reporter who would ask about putting a needle through a wrestler’s cheek (like MJF and Hangman Page did).
“I appreciate that, and to be fair, the outlets that some of the legitimate journalists in wrestling work for, and some of the people that walk the line,” he continued, “that’s one of the interesting things; there’s shades of grey amongst these outlets. There’s not the worldwide leaders in journalism, sports journalism competing for these spots. I think what’s interesting to me, Coach and Vince, is [that] I generally have said that I’ll answer every question. I’ll stay until somebody’s gotten to ask something, and I want to hear everyone’s questions.
“I’m always open to hear what everyone thinks. And I hear what you’re saying, that obviously, fans of wrestling are going to receive wrestling positively,” Khan continued. “But those are also a lot of the people who have chosen to cover wrestling. So I think it’s good and I want to encourage people to cover wrestling and share their thoughts, whatever they may be. I think we all have different opinions of wrestling, but that’s what makes it great. It brings so many people all over the world together so consistently every year, all year, forever.”
Tony Khan says evolving media outlets aren’t just strictly related to wrestling
Russo followed up and asked hypothetically, if he’s a Jacksonville Jaguars fan with 100,000 followers, would that get him a credential to cover the team? Khan said there is a line between fan blogs and reporting that is changing there too. Khan said he does not think fans becoming a legitimate outlet is strictly related to wrestling. He also pointed out how the Premier League is another example of it.
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