During a Q&A on his Six Feet Under Patreon page, The Undertaker said he wants there to be competition for WWE in the pro wrestling landscape, but he has some pretty strong doubts about AEW’s viability as that competing brand.

Here is what Taker had to say about AEW and its president Tony Khan, courtesy of this transcription from The Sportster.

First, the Dead Man touched on the importance of competition:

“…hopefully, one day, AEW gets their crap together and genuinely creates some competition. That’s probably not a popular take from most WWE insiders, but the way I look at it, competition’s only gonna make, it’s only gonna make you better.”

From there he focused on Tony Khan and sounded very skeptical about the man’s ability to run a wrestling company at the highest level.

“I don’t think there is a real true leader in the locker room….I am not sure…I have nothing against the man, you know, but I don’t know that Tony is the guy to run the company. I mean, his heart’s in a good place, and he wants to do something, but I just don’t know that he has the acumen to run a wrestling company against the juggernaut that is the WWE, but hey, I could be wrong. There was that one other time I was wrong. I hope they get it together and we do have some [competition]. It’s better for the wrestlers. It’s better for the audience, the fans. It’s better for everything.”

Khan has previously trash talked Taker while trolling on social media, but I think Taker’s words sting more because there is no trolling to be found here. He’s not too mean about it, but it’s pretty clear that The Undertaker leans toward agreeing with CM Punk’s take that Tony Khan is not a good boss.

Defenders of Khan have some points in their favor, as AEW has been a very successful company under his leadership since its inception in 2019 and wiped the floor with NXT during the Wednesday Night War. But as far as being direct competition with WWE is concerned, AEW’s popularity has clearly fallen from its peak level in late 2021, and the gap between the two companies has significantly widened ever since Vince McMahon and his out-of-touch booking were forced out of WWE starting in 2022.

That being said, a lot of the questions about AEW’s viability as a competing wrestling brand to WWE might be answered later this year when the terms of its new TV deal are announced.

Do you think Tony Khan is the right guy to lead AEW against the WWE juggernaut? Give me your thoughts in the comments below, Cagesiders.