While much has been said about AEW's decision to run the fight between CM Punk and Jack Perry at All In on AEW Dynamite, with anti-AEW folks lambasting it, Tony Khan defending it, and fans of the promotion falling somewhere in between, one party involved in the situation that hasn't commented on the decision publically has been TBS, the network that airs the flagship show every Wednesday night from 8-10 pm EST.

Did TBS and Warner Bros Discovery like the decision to get more eyes on the network, or were they annoyed by the cheap tactic? Well, Khan was asked this question on the AEW Dynasty media call and let it be known that his network gave him a pat on the back for popping a nice rating.

“After the ratings came in, it felt like, when TBS called me and told me ‘good job.' You have to remember, I'm responsible for everybody's job in the company,” Tony Khan explained via Fightful. “It is really important for us to please the network, and TBS was really happy with that show and that performance. That is the most important. Our fan feedback on the show, the rating is the number source of fan feedback in the end, the network, and they were incredibly pleased. It was 400,000 viewers in the 18 to 49 demographic, and that was a strong performance. That is how TBS judges the show. How TBS judges the show is the most important metric I have for the performance. I do think what we did last week added a lot of intrigue to this match, and I'm very excited for the Dynasty pay-per-view, and I'm very happy about how we got here.”

Welp, there you go, folks, if TBS is happy about the decision, and their parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery, is the primary party Khan is negotiating with on a massive new media rights deal, it's hard to argue that it didn't produce the intended short-term reaction in the moment, even if the long-term ramifications of the call are still very much shaking out.

D-Von Dudley didn't like Tony Khan airing out AEW's dirty laundry.

While Tony Khan feels justified in sharing the All In brawl between CM Punk and Jack Perry, likely because the latter is about to return to the promotion, one person who feels it was a certified mistake is D-Von Dudley, the once and forever member of the Dudley Boys who occasionally works alongside Bully Ray in TNA and on the indies.

Discussing the airing on Gabby AF, Dudley called the decision sad, comparing it to the sort of dirty laundry airing that signifies more significant issues within the promotion.

“Well, you know, it is a sad thing that happened in the business when CM Punk was there. Nobody should have to go through that stuff, no company should have to see that — but at the same time, when you have the inmates running the asylum, this is what happens. Again, I'm not there, I'm not in AEW, so I don't really know the going on there, but I don't think it should have been appropriate to air something that, even though it happened months ago, that's something that you just don't air out. That's your dirty laundry, you keep that to yourself. The problem was handled, time to move on, time for AEW to move on. Jack Perry is somewhere in Japan, and let's just leave it like that,” D-Von Duley explained on Gabby AF via Fightful.

“To act like that, I'm not sure why they did that, and I don't get it, nor do I understand it. ‘Oh, well, we need to expose this because Punk needs to be exposed.' no, you did it for a cheap rating. I'm sorry, I'm not the only one that feels that way, there's a lot of AEW hardcore fans that feel the same way. I'm not saying anything negative about the company, but I do feel like this is one of the problems that Tony Khan has, he has a lot of yes people and not enough people to tell him, no, don't do this. If he is in fact really running the show on his own, he should've known better to not do something like that, it's just gonna cause negativity. Sometimes negativity works, but in that aspect, not so much.

“I look at it like this also — A lot of people kind of agreed with Punk and what happened and what he did. There was a lot of AEW fans that agreed with him. There was some that didn't, but there were a lot of people that did agree with him because it just seems like the inmates are running the show over there. Look, again, I don't know because I don't work for the company. I'm a big fan of a lot of the talent that is there, I met a lot of them on the Jericho Cruise, great guys. Really great guys, I have nothing negative to say about anybody in that company. Everybody that I've met has been nothing but respectful towards me and it's been giving right back. But, in saying that, you cannot have the inmates running the asylum. This is exactly what happened with WCW. There was no one to say no, there was no Vince McMahon, who, regardless of the allegations, did keep a tight ship, and you would think twice about doing anything if Vince said no to something. You didn't question him; you did exactly what he said, and that was it, or you were gone. I think that's why Tony is missing over there, I think he has to get control over his organization because if not, it's gonna be another WCW.”

Is AEW the new WCW? No, the promotion isn't owned by a network that can sell it out from under its booker, has far deeper pockets, and tries to produce shows for the fans, instead of to please the likes of Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan. Still, considering how fans have reacted to airing the All In footage, it's hard to argue that the decision was a good one overall, as even if the network enjoyed it and they found a way to play it into the feud with FTR and the Young Bucks, the overall reactions have been largely negative.