Last week, AEW CEO Tony Khan made an appearance on “Busted Open Radio,” addressing his approach to storytelling in the company, among other topics. Following up on that conversation days later on “Busted Open After Dark,” WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray explained how Khan’s recent words have changed his perception of AEW’s booking.

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“I think [Khan’s] overall feeling is that any type of long-term story is not where it’s at … for AEW,” Bully said. “He thinks his fans want week-to-week television. That excites the fanbase. … I’m almost happy to hear these words come out of Tony’s mouth, because it helps me to understand his thought process when booking this stuff.”

Bully went on to explain that he believes Khan is booking with a “grip it and rip it” mentality, prioritizing short-term stories. Though the WWE Hall of Famer doesn’t necessarily agree with Khan’s approach, the explanation has helped him understand the motivation behind many of the company’s decisions.

The context around the conversation was focused on Bryan Danielson’s recent match against Nigel McGuinness, which took place last week on the special Grand Slam edition of “AEW Dynamite.” Danielson was off television for the entirety of the build, never confirming that he would even accept McGuinness’ challenge. The storyline built on years of history but was contained to just a few weeks on TV, and Bully believes it’s a result of Khan pushing back on the idea of “long-term storytelling” in wrestling.

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Despite the short build, Bully enjoyed the match, complimenting McGuinness’ performance in particular. However, the former ECW star felt as though the in-ring aspect of the match failed to live up to the expectations set ahead of AEW Grand Slam last week.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open After Dark” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Most agree that Netflix’s six-part docuseries “Mr. McMahon” does not cast WWE’s former CEO in the best light. While the series features plenty of insights from WWE talent who worked closely under McMahon’s watchful eye, many who weren’t interviewed are now sharing their own experiences via their own platforms. During an episode of “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, the titular host touched on the dichotomy of McMahon’s personality, insofar as he understood it, based on his years spent with the company.

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“I have seen signs where there has been some humanity in Vince, but I’ve also seen signs where sometimes Vince McMahon and the character of Mr. McMahon are very hard to separate,” Hardy said. “I have seen some scenarios where Vince has taken care of people in some capacity when bad things have happened to them … The whole thing after Eddie [Guerrero] passed away, the way he took care of Vickie … That stuff has happened on occasion.”

Hardy also cited the late Darren Drozdov, recalling that McMahon kept him on payroll after he became paralyzed in an in-ring accident. Hardy said McMahon was unique in that he had a tendency to keep his charitable acts private, while openly embracing his more intimidating persona.

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“I think he wanted people to know he was the boss,” Hardy said. “I think he wanted people to be half-ass intimidated by him, and I think he wanted people to be nervous around him. And I think he enjoyed that power.”

Although McMahon fully cooperated with the interview process, neither he nor WWE had control over “Mr. McMahon’s” narrative, according to executive producer Bill Simmons. McMahon protested the series before its Netflix release, and even tried to buy the rights back in an attempt to squash it. 

CM Punk and Drew McIntyre’s year-long rivalry has been filled with various attacks and two in-ring battles that were more physical than usual. Both men have also provided the WWE Universe with excellent promos which has helped elevate their feud to the next level. Speaking on “Wrestling with Freddie,” former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. specifically referred to Punk’s latest promo on “Raw,” and labelled him as one of the best wrestlers on the mic today, while also crediting his feud with McIntyre.

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“When he’s awesome, there is no promo that can really hang with his. It’s just he’s in a rare air and there’s like one other guy right now who can do that and that’s Max [MJF],” Prinze Jr. said. “I want to acknowledge when he [Punk] is great and this was such a subtle, not humble at all, but dangerous promo and he let himself sound and look old but there was wisdom in that age … This has been a wonderful, refreshing dose of old school wrestling presented in a new school way, from their entrances to the transitions from segment to segment to the s**t that they’re talking to each other and the reasons why they’re fighting.”

This upcoming Saturday at Bad Blood, Punk will battle McIntyre inside Hell in a Cell. McIntyre was successful in their first encounter at SummerSlam, while Punk got his revenge at Bash In Berlin in a Strap Match, leading to their rivalry concluding in a trilogy fight on October 5. 

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If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling with Freddie” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.