Booker T Reacts To AEW Boss Tony Khan Defending Decision To Air CM Punk/Jack Perry Footage

One of the big talking points for AEW in 2024 was Tony Khan's decision to air the backstage altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry on live television, which gave a bump to the ratings, but also may have worked against Khan, AEW, and Perry. Khan has doubled down on his choice to show the footage, which WWE Hall of Famer Booker T doesn't quite agree with.

On his "Hall of Fame" show, the "WWE NXT" commentator understands the AEW CEO's perspective but feels that airing the footage watered down the show.

"[Tony Khan said] The reason why he put out the video was, you know, really, really good reason was to get a TV deal out of it. I'm like, 'Man, that's a crazy concept, that's a crazy thought. To put that video out, you know, to get ... I see it in certain ways because I think when they put that video out, I think they had over 800,000 people watch the show that night," said the legend.

Dave Meltzer recently claimed that Khan has no regrets about airing the footage of the fight and that it eventually played a role in AEW getting a new television deal. Booker T believes that although the idea may have been smart, it didn't aid AEW as a whole, as the video overshadowed the show.

"I guess that was kind of smart, but I just question Tony Khan's thinking sometimes, as far as, you know, doing something like that and if he did it for that reason. I don't know, it's kind of odd. It was something that totally overshadowed what they had did which was a huge show, if I'm not mistaken. It just seemed like it's just watering down the product," he added.

AEW signed a TV deal worth just over $500 million with WBD, announced in October, six months after the Punk-Perry backstage squabble aired on "AEW Dynamite."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Hall of Fame" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.