All Elite Wrestling held an all hands on deck, mandatory PR meeting for talent and staff in Las Vegas on May 27.
The meeting was led by new public relations hire Adam Hopkins, who had over 25 years experience in WWE and was looked at as a shocking firing earlier in 2023. Hopkins has been with AEW the last couple of months, and had been backstage recently. We’re told that he spoke on some favored terms, some preferences of AEW as a company, and offered some of his experience to the meeting.
The importance of media literacy was stressed in the meeting as well. Talent were told to make sure to establish “off the record” in particular situations, and to make sure that those they’re speaking with are aware of what that term means. We’re told that this didn’t seem like a finger wagging situation, and was more about informing talent and staff how to better protect themselves and the company from misinformation. It was noted that there was also a non-prominent member of wrestling media who once "didn't know what off the record meant" when approached with something off the record.
On an even lighter note, Bryan Danielson spoke, and said that maybe he isn’t the best person to give advice considering that when he was supposed to be promoting a Kenny Omega match, instead he garnered headlines about how he said apples were tree semen. Claudio Castagnoli spoke, and put forth the importance of media interviews as a way to promote yourself, your story, and the on-screen program.
Those that we spoke to about the meeting spoke highly of it, specifically Hopkins. His experience was put over by numerous in attendance at the meeting, and one top talent had referred to him as a game changing hire for the company in that particular department. Another talent said that the meeting was very useful.
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