Tony Khan Responds To AEW Booking Criticism As Dynamite Surpasses WCW Nitro's TV Run (Exclusive)

Wednesday will see AEW Dynamite reach a significant milestone, one AEW founder Tony Khan is happy to celebrate.

When AEW Dynamite "Spring Break Thru" hits the airwaves out of Boston this week, it will surpass WCW Nitro for the longest-running pro wrestling show on TNT or TBS. Episode 289 will feature several major Owen Hart Cup matches, with Mercedes Moné in her hometown taking on Athena, alongside Konosuke Takeshita battling Will Ospreay.

Dynamite was Khan's first experience in writing and producing weekly episodic television, and while the run has been successful enough to earn a significant media rights deal, his creative has come with scrutiny from industry veterans like Eric Bischoff and Jim Cornette, among others.

Speaking exclusively with The Takedown about the special episode of Dynamite, Khan discussed how much of the criticism he takes to heart and listens to, versus what he tunes out.

"I do like to listen to feedback from lots of people across pro wrestling, and especially if it's constructive, it can be really helpful," Khan told The Takedown.

"I think there's a lot of times where you hear somebody say something, and they say, 'oh, why didn't they do it this way? Or 'instead of going from point A to point B and then to point C, you know, maybe off in between point and point B, they could have added this,' and so maybe there's a good idea there they can use in the future."

While he declined to address either of the aforementioned names specifically, Khan did note he is open to hearing feedback from individuals both in and outside of pro wrestling, as he himself was once an outsider with opinions.

"I really do love hearing feedback from all kinds of people, from people in wrestling, wrestlers, people who work in wrestling in the production side or both, and fans. Fans that I've never been backstage at a show in their lives, but just love wrestling and watch it a lot, and they have great ideas... I had never been backstage at a wrestling show until I was in my 30s. And I just grew up watching it and loving it and following it and, you know, trading tapes and talking about it," he said.

Thanks to you all,
2025 is a great year of @AEWonTV on TBS, TNT + Max!
48 hours from NOW,
this Wednesday is a huge milestone:
Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite becomes the longest-running prime time wrestling show ever on TNT/TBS!
4/16 on TBS + Max
AEW Spring BreakThru
THIS WEDNESDAY!
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) April 14, 2025

He maintained to The Takedown that he'll continue to remain open-minded in his approach to registering commentary from others in regards to the AEW product, and wants fans to celebrate the collaborative experience of enjoying the shows together.

"So there's a lot of different places and a lot of different ways that you can get an idea about wrestling or that you can contribute," Khan said. "I just think it's really neat that there's people from literally all over the world in hundreds of countries that follow the same sport and can share ideas and talk with each other. It's really cool."

The Takedown will have more highlights from this interview throughout the week. The full interview drops on YouTube today at noon EST.

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