Tony Khan's 17-month reset faces its ultimate test at Double or Nothing

The 17-Month Turnaround

For the last 17 months, All Elite Wrestling has been on a roll.

That timeline is not an accident. It perfectly aligns with the moment the company locked down its new media deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. The agreement, widely reported as a three-year deal with a fourth-year option valued around $555 million, changed the math for Tony Khan. It did not include the pay-per-view option, leaving AEW to maintain its own revenue streams on top of the massive broadcast fee.

Before the ink dried, AEW was a promotion running on anxiety. The roster was bloated. The booking was erratic. We saw random debuts every other Wednesday, followed by those same wrestlers disappearing into catering for weeks.

Once the financial future was secured, Khan stopped panicking.

He stopped booking like a fan playing a booking simulator and started running a television show. The bloated roster was quietly trimmed into a reliable core rotation. We finally stopped seeing the same repetitive tropes every week.

Instead of trying to shock the audience with surprise appearances, the focus shifted back to in-ring storytelling.

We saw the return of long-term angles. Feuds were given time to breathe. Matches actually had consequences. You no longer had to guess why two people were fighting; the narrative was spelled out clearly.

It was a reset that AEW desperately needed. But a reset is only good if it leads somewhere.

That destination is Las Vegas. Double or Nothing on May 24 is 24 days away.

This pay-per-view is the ultimate test of Khan’s renewed focus.

The Ghost of Booking Past

You cannot talk about AEW's recent hot streak without acknowledging how bad things got prior to the WBD extension.

The post-Brawl Out era was a miserable time to watch Dynamite. The backstage drama bled onto the screen. Top stars were constantly taking thinly veiled shots at each other on social media. The on-screen product felt completely disconnected from what the fans actually wanted to see.

Khan’s biggest flaw as a promoter was his inability to pivot. If a storyline was failing, he would drag it out for months anyway. The audience would groan, the ratings would dip, and Khan would stubbornly stick to his guns.

He also had a nasty habit of cooling off hot talent. A wrestler would get over organically, and instead of pushing them to the moon, Khan would put them in a meaningless six-man tag feud. Action Andretti beating Chris Jericho was a prime example. The pop was massive. The follow-up was non-existent.

That flaw has not entirely vanished.

The women's division remains AEW's biggest blind spot. A massive talent like Jamie Hayter or Mercedes Moné will get a main event slot one week, only to be shoved into a two-minute backstage segment the next.

It is an infuriating pattern. You cannot claim to run the best wrestling company in the world when a quarter of your roster is treated as a necessary evil. Khan still struggles to book more than one women's storyline at a time, often falling back on generic multi-woman tag matches to fill the quota.

But on the men's side, the improvement is undeniable. The top of the card finally feels settled and dangerous.

Will Ospreay and the Main Event Scene

The biggest difference in this 17-month run is the elevation of Will Ospreay.

When Ospreay signed full-time, there were valid concerns about how he would be used. Would he be just another guy having good matches, or would he be treated like a franchise player?

Khan chose the latter.

Ospreay has been protected. His matches feel like events. He is not wrestling on Rampage in a random eight-man tag against mid-carders. When his music hits, the audience pays attention. His striking is sharp, his pacing is immaculate, and he has learned to slow down and let the crowd digest the punishment.

This is the kind of star-making booking that AEW was missing in 2023 and 2024.

Heading into Double or Nothing, the main event picture is crowded in the best possible way.

Swerve Strickland has cemented himself as a permanent main-event fixture. His title run proved he can carry the company. MJF remains the most compelling promo in the business, capable of turning a hostile crowd with a single microphone segment. Hangman Page has found a dark, unhinged edge that makes his segments unpredictable.

Khan finally has a top of the card that can carry a promotion.

He doesn't need to rely on aging veterans looking for a final payday. The core of AEW is carrying the weight.

The Okada Factor and The Elite

Kazuchika Okada’s integration into the roster has been a masterclass in slow burning a star.

Initially, pairing him with The Young Bucks seemed like a crutch. It felt like Khan was relying on old New Japan Pro-Wrestling nostalgia to get Okada over with the American audience.

But Okada leaned into the heel persona. His smug, dismissive attitude works perfectly alongside Matthew and Nicholas Jackson. The Bucks are doing the best heel work of their careers. Their corporate stooge gimmick has been genuinely funny, but it also provides a logical framework for their abuse of power.

Okada is the muscle. When the EVPs get backed into a corner, they unleash the Rainmaker.

This dynamic has given the tag team and trios divisions some much-needed heat. But comedy and backstage skits only get you so far. They need a blood feud.

Double or Nothing has to deliver a violent consequence for The Elite's reign of terror. Fans want to see the EVPs get their comeuppance. The buildup has been solid, but the payoff needs to be brutal. If Khan books a dusty finish in Las Vegas, the crowd will turn on the match immediately.

The WBD Deal Changed the Math

We have to talk about the money again.

The WBD deal did more than just ensure AEW's survival. It legitimized them in the eyes of the broader television industry.

A half-billion dollar investment means you are a major player. But it also means the grace period is over.

WBD expects a return on that investment. They want steady ratings, strong demo numbers, and social media engagement. They want viral moments that translate into advertising revenue.

Khan seems to understand this. Dynamite is no longer booked for a niche internet audience. The show is structured better. The pacing makes sense. The cliffhangers actually make you want to tune in next week.

But there is a lingering question.

Can they maintain this consistency?

AEW has always been a promotion of peaks and valleys. They get incredibly hot, and then they lose focus. A minor injury throws off a six-month storyline, and Khan scrambles to put the pieces back together, often resulting in a messy television product.

The next 24 days are vital.

Building a pay-per-view requires discipline. You cannot blow your biggest spots on free television just to pop a rating. You have to make the audience pay to see the resolution.

Double or Nothing: What to Watch For

Las Vegas is always a massive weekend for AEW. It is where the company started.

This year, the stakes feel different.

WWE just wrapped up WrestleMania 41 in Vegas earlier this month. The contrast is going to be obvious. AEW cannot compete with the sheer spectacle of a stadium show. They do not have the production budget to match a John Cena farewell tour or a massive Bloodline main event.

They have to compete on substance.

Double or Nothing needs to be a bell-to-bell masterpiece. It needs to be the kind of show that makes wrestling fans text their friends and say, "Are you watching this?"

We are looking at a card that has the potential to be the best of the year. The talent is there. The television time has been utilized effectively.

Meanwhile, Bryan Danielson is on the back nine of his career. Every match feels like it could be his last great performance. Khan is treating Danielson with the reverence he deserves, but time is running out. Danielson needs a marquee match in Vegas that cements his legacy in AEW.

If AEW can string together four elite matches on this card, they will silence the remaining doubters.