AEW mightve stayed silent on Hulk Hogans death longer than most fans expected, but when the company finally spoke up, the payoff was massiveat least online.
After days of backlash over AEW and Tony Khan refusing to issue any public tribute following Hogans July 24 passing, it was veteran announcer Tony Schiavone who broke the silence during the July 26 episode of AEW Collision. And now, the clip is blowing up across AEWs official platforms.
AEW uploaded the tribute to YouTubeand in just nine hours, it pulled in a whopping 187,000 views. To put that in perspective, the next closest video from Collision was Anthony Bowens match response video, sitting at 59,000 views. Thats a difference of 128,000 views, or a 218% jump from the second-most-watched clip. The other Collision videos from the night include:
- Collision Highlights in 8 Minutes: 17K
- Toni Storm saves Alex Windsor: 54K
- Nick Wayne & Kip Sabian vs. AR Fox & Angelico: 29K
- Kris Statlander demands a thank you: 20K
- Triangle of Madness debut: 41K
- Big Stoke solo promo: 16K
- $400K Tag Match highlights: 21K
- Bang Bang Gang win tag match: 46K
- Dustin Rhodes issues challenge: 28K
- Dustin vs. Moriarty TNT Title match: 41K
- Anthony Bowens vs. Max Caster segment: 59K
Schiavones speech aired following the opening match and was the first time anyone from AEW publicly addressed the loss of the WWE Hall of Famer.
He went on to honor Hogans family and the pain behind the headlines.
Fans are split on whether AEW deserves praise for finally addressing Hogans passingor criticism for waiting until public pressure forced their hand. Tony Khan has still made no direct comment.
Do you think AEW waited too long to pay tribute to Hulk Hogan, or did Tony Schiavone handle it the right way? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
