WWE's Booker T Shares Some Of His Issues With AEW

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WWE Hall of Famer Booker T has expressed his concern with the current state of AEW, and listed the various problems he's had watching their product over the last year. Despite "AEW Dynamite" airing its 250th episode this past Wednesday, the company has struggled to gain viewers for the majority of 2024, even hitting an all-time low rating on the June 19 edition of the show. According to Booker T, AEW isn't giving fans enough of a reason to watch its program. 

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On his podcast "Hall of Fame," the six-time world champion went into detail about AEW's long television matches and its partnership with ROH, noting that the company doesn't seem to have the appeal it had when they first started. 

"I'm not a big watcher of AEW, I can confess to that. I could be wrong, but it doesn't seem like they have that same buzz that it had when it first came on the scene, especially now since the intertwining of ROH. It doesn't seem like ROH has helped that company at all ... I just don't think people are interested in watching people wrestle for an hour on television these days ... Nobody's gonna want to sit and watch two guys wrestle for an hour."

Booker T continued by saying that AEW should focus more on growing their audience instead of catering to the minority of their fans who want to watch long matches or pay-per-views, while also stating that he doesn't understand the appeal to make their 250th episode a big deal and should've saved it for milestones such as hitting 300. 

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