The backstage issues that have cast a dark shadow over AEW in recent years have caused the company to lose goodwill with fans, Matt Hardy believes.
For its initial years, AEW was virtually untouchable in the eyes of countless fans who appreciated there finally being a major competitor to WWE’s headlock on the wrestling industry. The company’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw wrestlers be a part of the socially-distanced crowd, was praised by fans in contrast to the silent pre-Thunderdome WWE events at the time.
AEW’s honeymoon period, however, is a thing of the past, with the 2022 ‘Brawl Out’ and AEW All In: London backstage confrontations being seen by many as huge factors in this. Speaking on his Extreme Life podcast, AEW alum Matt Hardy addressed how fan opinion on Tony Khan’s first promotion has changed.
“I think through some of the stuff with Punk and The Bucks and the fights and the backstage stuff and Jungle Boy all this stuff, this hurt some of that goodwill. I feel like that probably deterred some people from their support of the company at the end of the day.”
When asked about how to fix this situation, Hardy said that AEW has to appeal to more ‘casual fans’ which he admitted went against the mentality the promotion was built upon to cater to the hardcore fanbase many felt WWE was ignoring. While Matt believes putting on great matches is still massively important, his mentality is that AEW needs to have stars that a casual viewer can quickly become invested in.
Tony Khan will run AEW in the way he deems best, though some of his decisions have faced backlash from fans. Even the decision to air the All In fight has been criticized as petty and unnecessary and motivated by Khan wanting to ‘get back’ at CM Punk. Whether AEW adjusts its strategy remains to be seen, but given the massive success of WWE and their historic WrestleMania 40 event, there’s something to be said for trying to appeal to more than just the die-hard fanbase.
