Tony Khan, AEW nearly stung by stunt gone wrong

Khan and company narrowly avoid a tragedy after another unnecssary risk leads to an injury on Dynamite.

With most people soaking up the summer sun on Wednesday, wrestling icon Sting was leaping to his doom on live television for Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling.

For those who missed it, Darby Allin and Sting were wrestling Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho on the most recent episode of AEW Dynamite.

As Guevara was lying on a table, Sting jumped off a ladder in a high-risk stunt that went wrong. The sixty-four-year-old legend hit his face on either the edge of the table or Guevara’s knee and immediately clutched at his mouth, which was bleeding.

As the match continued in the ring, the referee and medical staff attended to the geriatric hero. Fans in the arena quickly focused on the fallen warrior as an eerie silence swept through the crowd. It was an uncomfortable scene but one not uncommon to AEW.

In 2020, Matt Hardy fell and hit the back of his head on the concrete floor during a match but was allowed to continue wrestling by AEW personnel, a decision his wife questioned.

Almost two years later, Matt’s brother Jeff was allowed to keep wrestling despite also suffering a concussion.

Last March, Dante Martin suffered a gruesome leg injury during another Tony Khan-run show, this time for Ring of Honor.

And that’s just to name a few.

Thankfully, Sting’s injuries weren’t more severe. And while he may be grateful to Tony Khan for letting him wrestle as he pleases, it’s time Khan quit letting the tail wag the dog.

As a fan, I like Sting. I had the good fortune of meeting him in 1991 after a live event where he autographed my handmade Stinger poster. And I support his right to wrestle and to do with his body as he pleases.

But I must question management’s judgment in allowing a senior citizen with known neck issues to jump around and perform death-defying stunts on its program. Imagine the headlines if Sting’s injury had been fatal.

Even worse, try explaining that to Sting’s family.

For a guy who likes to tout his brand as an alternative to WWE, you’d think Tony Khan would have learned from WWE’s mishandling of Owen Hart’s tragedy. Instead, Khan chooses to be equally negligent, just in a different way, as he continues to be the so-called cool boss who lets his wrestlers do as they please.

And rather than demand that Khan and AEW do better, its audience is equally complicit.

Last year, many wrestling fans were horrified to hear that Ric Flair, just ten years older than Sting, was allowed to compete, given his age and health issues.

But in AEW, no such indignation exists because, hey, fight forever, and this is awesome, right?

Given the number of injuries already sustained in Tony Khan’s wild west wrestling, you would think he would’ve stepped in and encouraged his talent to tone it down. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Unfortunately, it seems like a tragedy might be the only way for Khan to learn a lesson.