Tony Khan did not step in to prevent a big name from the AEW production team being let go from the company.
On December 4th, Kevin Sullivan, who previously served as the Vice President of Post Production, was informed that his services were no longer required. Sullivan, who is not related to the former WCW wrestler and booker, was with the promotion virtually from the beginning.
The call to terminate Sullivan was made by Mike Mansury, who previously worked for WWE for over a decade. Sullivan previously worked at Impact and was responsible for building the AEW post-production team from scratch and the sudden firing has taken many within the company by surprise.
As reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, some backstage are not happy about the decision being made to let Sullivan go. Many praised Sullivan’s work ethic and would criticise Khan for not allowing Sullivan to stay:
There was criticism from some that Tony Khan didn’t step in and stop this from happening given Sullivan’s tenure and work. Another person noted to us,“Another day one guy gone. Sad. Great guy. Worked tirelessly since the beginning. Really understood the original mission statement and feeling/image we were going for.” Others noted to us being in shock about it. Sullivan was heavily praised across the board
Tony Khan Feeling The Backlash From AEW Frustrations
According to Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the firing of Sullivan follows a theme that is also seen onscreen as well as offscreen. It is stated that it is another example of someone from WWE coming in and replacing an AEW original:
Well, the whole post-production team was his team. A lot of people were very, very surprised. And, I mean, there’s a lot of people that were not happy about this today, which is also one of the reasons I think why there’s a lot of, again, all day hearing negativity is because of this one because he’s been there from the start. And there’s this feeling that The company is changing, which it always is, and it has to, you know, you’re always going to change, but the feeling that it’s changed, and it’s become something that it wasn’t.
And this is another sign of the idea that they took a guy from WWE and replaced them. I can’t say replaced because they were two different jobs. You know, I mean, like, Mike Mansoori, is the head of the production at the shows, and Kevin Sullivan was the head of the post-production.
But the idea that they brought in a guy from WWE, and put him above the guy that they had, you know, who had the ability to get rid of the guy. So that was, for people who had been there from the start. I could see that it’s another thing of the WWE guy is taking the place of people who are here from the start. And it’s becoming that thing.
Less and less stars from the early years of All Elite Wrestling remain as prominent performers on TV, with many wrestlers either choosing to leave or did not see their contracts renewed. Meltzer continued and described how a recent AEW Women’s Division storyline was an example of what is going on within the company as a whole:
There is that thing, I mean, where the WWE guys come in, and again, sometimes I don’t think you should categorise it that way. Because they’re their, guys, but you like say, it’s funny, the angle with the originals, the women’s angle, the originals and people that came from WWE, it’s almost like that angle, in a weird way is almost like a description of some of the things going on in the company itself. As far as certain feelings and things like that, where you have people who had been there from the start and now aren’t getting a lot of TV time. And other people are.
But with that roster that they have, I mean, one of the things with talent, with the amount of people they have on that roster, they’re never going to keep people happy with that many people who are talented. And even with five hours a week of television, you’re just never going to be able to do it. Because there are so many people who want TV time.
And, you know, think that they can contribute and get very frustrated, and they get frustrated the people who get the TV time when and rightly so, because some of them delivered in the past and haven’t gotten a lot of TV time.
Britt Baker recently called out the promotion for her lack of TV time in 2023, having no promo time all year. Baker was involved in the aforementioned storyline that saw the AEW originals of Baker and Jamie Hayter feud with former WWE Superstars Saraya, Ruby Soho and Toni Storm.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Wrestling Observer Radio and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.