Recently, WWE has been mired in controversy concerning the company's stance on wrestlers using third-party apps such as Twitch to make stream money on the side. While WWE fired one talent, Zelina Vega, for her refusal to follow the regulations, President of AEW Tony Khan has no problem with his talents using Twitch and other social media platforms.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Khan said that he feels it is actually good for his wrestlers to use Twitch and other platforms because it raises the fans' awareness of who they really are.
"I'm glad you brought it up. I've never had any problem with people using Twitch; I've actually encouraged people to use Twitch," Khan said. "I promoted Kip Sabian and Miro. They are an act where they do a lot of their character work on Twitch. And that's how people become familiar with them."
Khan also pointed out that media like Twitch, which is mostly for gamers, is a way to bring new fans to AEW and put more eyes on professional wrestling again.
"The idea is a lot of people watch them on Twitch that have never watched a minute of wrestling," Khan said. "And I think it's great for people to be on Twitch and on these other platforms. So I've never once told people that I have any problem with them using these platforms, which I think is different than how other wrestling company policies are. But my policy is I'm very cool with people using Twitch to get over their personality or their story or to increase awareness of themselves."
Khan also cleared up a misconception that he fired a shot at WWE when the company first announced its new policy banning wrestlers from using Twitch, among other third-party apps. The announcement came on a Wednesday, and that night Sabian cut a promo while his fiance Penelope Cruz held up a sign with his Twitch username on it. Fans thought it was a dig at WWE, but Khan said it was just a coincidence.
"We were doing that before; we did that before it was a controversy," Khan explained. "I didn't just do that to like stick it to anybody. Kip was promoting his Twitch on Dynamite before there was a controversy. So he's continued to promote his Twitch. But that's not anything we've changed because of anybody else's policies. It's really been something I've been consistent with Kip about all summer."
AEW Dynamite airs on Wednesday nights on TNT at 8/7c.