Former WWE World Champion The Undertaker has called out AEW to step up and provide competition for WWE. Tony Khan, the owner of AEW, started the promotion back in 2019 when he signed The Elite, Chris Jericho, Pac, and Britt Baker. This move created a huge buzz in the wrestling world, with WWE finally facing major competition after decades.
In May 2019, AEW launched with a bang at their first pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing. The event saw the major debut of former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose, now known as Jon Moxley, attacking Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega. From the start, AEW delivered a high-quality product to fans. They continued to make big splashes, bringing in CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole by 2021.
However, after a period of strong fan support and exciting matches, AEW has faced some challenges since 2022. These include the infamous brawl-out incident between CM Punk and The Elite, which ultimately led to Punk’s departure. While AEW did recently acquire big names like Mercedes Mone, Will Ospreay, and Kazuchika Okada, they seem to be struggling with their storylines.
AEW fans are increasingly critical of the promotion’s storytelling, as evidenced by a recent shift in fan sentiment. It appears WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker also has thoughts on this matter. Speaking on his Six Feet Under podcast, The Deadman urged AEW to end the nonsense and provide WWE with real competition. He stated, “Hopefully, one day, AEW gets their crap together and genuinely creates some competition. That’s probably not a popular take from most WWE insiders, but from the way I look at it, competition is only going to make you better.”
The Undertaker says AEW lacks a locker room leader
Former World Champion, The Undertaker has expressed his belief that AEW needs to elevate its game against WWE. He has also voiced his opinion about the lack of a clear leader in the promotion’s locker room. In the same episode, he mentioned his uncertainty about Tony Khan’s ability to lead the promotion.
He stated, “I don’t think there’s a really true leader in the locker room. I have nothing against the man, but I don’t know if Tony [Tony Khan] is the guy to run the company. His heart is in a good place and he wants to do something, but I don’t know if he has the acumen to run a wrestling company against the juggernaut that is the WWE. I could be wrong. There was that one other time I was wrong [laughs]. “I hope they do get it together and we do have some competition. It’s better for the wrestlers. It’s better for the audience, the fans, everything.”
It will indeed be interesting to see if Tony Khan responds to The Undertaker’s comments regarding AEW.