After urging fans to tune into AEW Dynamite for a very special announcement, Tony Khan did not disappoint, letting fans know about a brand new show booked for Boston that should put the business on notice, even if he didn't say the name of any of the top free agents on the open market – read: Mercedes Mone or Kazuchika Okada – by name.
Cutting to the back at the bottom of the second hour, Khan addressed the camera directly and let fans know what to expect in five weeks time.
“Like so many of you, I am very excited about tonight's big announcement,” Tony Khan told fans watching AEW Dynamite. “You might have heard earlier today that TD Garden announced that AEW is returning to Boston on Wednesday, March 13th. That will be a very important night for AEW and the entire pro wrestling industry because Wednesday, March 13th, five weeks from tonight will be AEW Big Business, live in Boston. You're not going to want to miss this show, tickets go on sale this Saturday, the event takes place five weeks from tonight, and if you can't join us live in Boston, you're going to want to join us here on TBS on March 13th because it's going to be one of the most important nights ever in AEW and a night the entire pro wrestling industry will remember.”
Whoa, “Big Business live in Boston,” you say? Goodness, if only there were one or even two money-themed free agents who could change the top of AEW's cards moving forward, especially if one of them is from Boston? Maybe it's… Is John Cena revisiting his “Doctor of Thuganomics” gimmick with the blinged-out spinner title?
… yeah, it's almost certainly Mone, and maybe Okada too, if he doesn't debut for WWE first as the latest exchange student at NXT's Chase U, Kevin O'Konner. Considering the word “Bo$$ton” is printed on the side of the TD Garden on the show's official poster, it's safe to say this event is the 2024 equivalent of the First Dance, the show that brought CM Punk back to AEW at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Eric Bischoff questions if Tony Khan can elevate Kazuchika Okada.
While Mercedes Mone is about as can't-miss a free agent signing as AEW could ask for, as she's not only one of the best wrestlers in the business but an instant draw who should re-shape the women's division forever, what about Kazuchika Okada, the face of New Japan Pro Wrestling for the last decade who is looking to take his talents stateside? Can Tony Khan and company make the “Rainmaker” into a star stateside, or will he just become the next “Switchblade” Jay White, an upper-midcarder who puts on fantastic matches but has no real crossover exposure at the moment?
Discussing how Okada would fair in AEW under Khan's booking, Bischoff questioned whether or not he'd get over in AEW if he chose the promotion over WWE, as the promotion doesn't have a proven track record of elevating established stars to even greater heights.
“Possibly. I’m trying hard to figure out a way to say this without offending anybody, or giving anybody an opportunity to reach into their hater bag simply because I’m taking a view of this that may be different than fanboys’ view. Outside of the internet and an incredibly small viewing audience for New Japan Pro Wrestling here in the United States, I would say 90% or — no, that’s too high. I would say a large percentage of the domestic viewing audience for professional wrestling in that market of which AEW, has about 30% of, tops. Not even that because there’s duplication. But outside of the internet and people who follow wrestling religiously on the boards and social media, nobody knows who he is,” Eric Bischoff explained on EWrestling News.
“And the question is, who can get him over? Who can take Okada from whatever Q rating he currently has, meaning recognizability domestically here in the United States, because that’s all that matters right now in terms of this conversation. Who has the best ability to take Okada from where he is now and elevate him to the level of AJ Styles and some of the other big names in WWE? Can Tony Khan do that? I think the answer to that is pretty obvious. He hasn’t been able to do it with anybody else. MJF being a — kind of an exception. MJF is definitely the hottest talent in AEW right now. But I think that has a lot more to do with MJF than it does Tony Khan, because if you look at everybody else on their roster, there just hasn’t been anybody that you can say, ‘Wow, Tony Khan and his booking philosophy and style took this unknown character and catapulted me into this next level.’ Outside of the internet wrestling universe, 75% of that roster could walk down the street in any city in the United States, and nobody would recognize them outside of the internet and a small portion of the audience that AEW has.
“So again, I’ll go back to the question: which is best to really — if Okada has the talent that I assume he does, that you’re pointing out and that everybody else is excited about — if you’re a Kata warrior, you want to go? Do you want to go somewhere where you could end up with a rocket ship strapped your back? Or do you want to fight for table scraps over here at AEW and have the internet put you over? All depends on him.”
Over the promotion's five-year history, AEW has done a great job of introducing stars from the indies and smaller promotions to a national audience, making performers from Impact, NWA, and beyond like Eddie Kingston, Ricky Starks, and Jade Cargill into big-time players worthy of consideration from outside promotions like NJPW and WWE for their championship pictures. What the promotion hasn't been as successful at is taking former WWE guys who were once big stars and making them even bigger stars in AEW, as only Christian Cage can really state his status is “better” in AEW than his runs in WWE or TNA. Maybe Okada will be the performer who changes that reputation, as he has worked some of the greatest matches in professional wrestling history, but Bischoff's criticism is warranted until he's proven otherwise.