In an interview with Entrepreneur.com, AEW President Tony Khan discussed what AEW does differently from WWE:
“There’s a lot of differences. I don’t do really cheap DQ [disqualification] finishes to prolong something. There are other wrestling programs where you might see multiple DQs and countouts in a week. I believe in giving the fans a finish to the match. I believe in not false-advertising programs and people. I might hype something I really believe in, but there’s a big difference between hyping something and false-advertising outright, and I’ve never done the latter. I think that’s why we have a lot of goodwill with the audience. Following through on the things you say you’re going to do and trying to deliver a show that’s in the spirit of what the fans want to see week in, week out and offering fresh matches and fresh programs is a big part of it. You know, not doing the same matches 17 weeks in a row over and over again.”
Khan also talked about studying television viewership numbers:
“I look at the numbers — the minute-by-minutes, the quarter[-hours] — very closely. Since there’s not a head-to-head competition on Wednesdays [against WWE’s NXT, which moved to Tuesdays] anymore, the patterns have changed a bit. So we’re learning new things based on the data that has been coming in the past few weeks. But since we began, I’ve studied these trends really closely and it can be a good indication of what’s getting hot, what’s getting a good response. Conversely, I don’t want to knee-jerk react if something doesn’t get the biggest number right away. It doesn’t mean that it won’t turn around and draw.”
