Summary

Mike Bailey says a lot of the criticism aimed at Tony Khan's booking in AEW comes from fans expecting the company to follow a familiar formula.

While speaking on the MMM Show, Bailey said AEW was built to serve a different slice of the wrestling audience, and that difference is part of the company's identity rather than a flaw. His comments also fit with Bailey's recent view that JetSpeed can thrive in any AEW role, a sign of how strongly he believes in the promotion's broader direction.

Quote from Mike Bailey

"I think that Tony Khan is an incredibly smart person. He knows what he's doing. I've talked to him. I've listened to him in interviews, and AEW is a challenger brand. I think a lot of the criticisms that people have for AEW is that, 'Oh, they're doing things differently than what I'm used to seeing on TV.' It boils down to that. A lot of it is just, I think the other guys would have done this, so AEW should do this, which is wrong. They have to be different. It's still a pro wrestling show, but they have to find a different segment of the audience. All Elite Wrestling is where the best wrestle. It's not sports entertainment. It's about pro wrestling, because pro wrestling is great. The reason the company came to be is because there was a hole in the market.

There were a lot, at the time that AEW was founded, of unsigned, independent, world-traveled professional wrestlers that had the ability to put on a fantastic show, no matter the context, no matter the place, no matter the audience. They always sent the audience home happy with exactly what they wanted. That's what AEW is founded on. It's founded on great pro wrestling and that's what they're offering. I know that art is subjective, right? People will like or dislike whoever they want, but pro wrestling is a skill. You can be objectively good or bad at a skill. What you need in order to thrive in AEW is to be the best at the skill of professional wrestling, which sounds incredibly simplistic, but it's a lot more complicated when you go deeper."

What Bailey's comments say about AEW

Bailey framed Tony Khan's approach as a deliberate choice, not a case of AEW missing what other companies do. That matters because it positions AEW's creative identity around in-ring wrestling and the kind of roster depth Bailey described, rather than chasing a presentation fans already get elsewhere.

For AEW viewers, Bailey's remarks also reinforce how talent inside the company can view that difference as a selling point. When an active roster member publicly argues that the promotion has to stay distinct, it adds more weight to the idea that AEW's identity is still being protected even when the booking draws criticism.

Sources

Mike Bailey on the MMM Show