Tony Khan Explains Why CM Punk Got More Promo Time To Address Injury Than Thunder Rosa
CM Punk and Thunder Rosa had to step away from AEW during Championship reigns
AEW’s Summer has been summed up with the term ‘injury crisis’ with multiple main event talents sidelined with injury in the past few months.
Two names involved in the crisis were that of then AEW World Champion CM Punk, and current AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa. However, whilst both got to address their injury status on TV, Punk received significantly more air-time, and Tony Khan has explained his reasoning on the recent pre-All Out media call:
“I give the TV time based on what I believe is going to draw the most ratings. If you want my honest opinion on an eight-minute Thunder Rosa promo vs. an eight-minute CM Punk promo, then you’re going to get an honest answer. I think the eight-minute CM Punk promo is probably going to do a better rating. As far as match length, I think Thunder Rosa has had some great matches as champion and to come out and do a live eight-minute promo, I’m not sure that would have been good for the television show, to be honest. Especially given where we were at with Thunder Rosa, I found out she was injured a few hours before a live television show, I don’t really have time to put an eight-minute promo in when I had just a couple hours notice vs. CM Punk, I knew days earlier he was badly hurt and we had already made a plan days earlier,” explained Khan.
AEW were said to have been ‘blindsided’ by Rosa’s injury, with Rosa forced to miss her All Out bout with Toni Storm, with an Interim AEW Women’s World Championship four-way instead set to take place at the PPV.
H/T: Fightful