Tony Khan was recently interviewed by PWTorch about the COVID-19 vaccination status of the AEW roster. The AEW President revealed that the majority of the roster is currently vaccinated, and he noted that international touring will create an issue for those that are not.
“I have got that most of the roster in AEW is vaccinated. For example, there have been some places we went where everybody had to be vaccinated and I think when the companies start doing international travel, we will see that for Canada and England, places like that, it will be very difficult for wrestlers to travel without it,” Khan admitted. “So, it certainly will present a challenge as we tour and I know California in the future is a place that has very strict mandates. Most of the roster is vaccinated and as we continue touring it’s something that I think may come up, so understand why for some people, especially with the return to international touring looming, why that would be an issue.”
For the first time on the record, Tony Khan also revealed his own vaccination status. He stated that he has been vaccinated and noted that his work within the NFL plays a big part in that due to how different the rules are for those who haven’t been.
“Yeah. That’s the first time anybody’s ever asked me that on the record, but yeah. I mean, I am in the NFL, and our access is very different if you’re not,” Khan said. “It’s different for plays and ownership, yes, but all of us are under the same mandates and there’s mass mandates in the locker room and it’s a very different set of rules for the unvaccinated people in the NFL. So, that’s definitely one of the major factors in the NFL as far as game day travel and how the team prepares for the games and who can sit with each other. So, yeah, the NFL was at the forefront of that in terms of spreading awareness.”
Finally, Khan admitted that he does not require his wrestlers to have had the vaccine. However, he revealed that everyone had to be vaccinated in order to be part of the Jericho Cruise, using that as an example for how wrestlers will need it for certain shows.
“It has come up several times. I have not required it, same with the NFL and same with, I think other wrestling leagues. But it will be a big challenge if you’re not for a lot of circumstances a great example was the Jericho Cruise where all the wrestlers on the Jericho Cruise had to be vaccinated,” Khan revealed. “So it’s definitely as touring becomes stronger and we start to get out of the U.S. and look to international touring, it’s going to be an issue for people.”
The league welcomes an accomplished group of executives that will bring top-tier experience, drive and innovation to the XFL
New York – November 8, 2021 – The XFL and its ownership group, consisting of Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners, are excited to announce the addition of nine executive hires as the league prepares for its highly anticipated return to the field in 2023. Joining and returning to the league are:
Russ Brandon, President, League and Football Operations
Rob Gerbe, Chief Financial Officer
Jordan Schlachter, Chief Business Officer
Janet Duch, Chief Marketing and Content Officer
Marc Ross, Executive Vice President, Football Operations
Doug Whaley, Senior Vice President, Player Personnel
Scott Harniman, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Technology
Jay Rothman, Senior Vice President, Broadcast Operations
Cindy Wagner, Senior Vice President, People Operations
“These exceptional and talented executives encompass a deep skill set that aligns with our commitment to delivering an exceptional football universe experience, as well as our shared passion for bringing the XFL back stronger than before,” said Dany Garcia, XFL Chairwoman and Co-Owner. “Our team’s experience across varying professional sports leagues and brands will enable us to deliver an experience for our fans, athletes and partners that represents today’s evolution of ‘best-in-class’. A tremendous amount of work has already been done with more exciting news to come as we prepare for 2023.”
Brief bios of the executives can be found below:
Russ Brandon is a longtime NFL veteran, holding various positions within the Bills organization for over 20 years. Before joining the XFL, Russ was the Managing Partner and President of the Buffalo Bills, President and Alternate Governor on the Sabres and COO of Pegula Sports and Entertainment (PSE), managing all aspects of the day-to-day business and administrative operations of the three entities. In his new role as President, Russ will manage day-to-day operations of the league while directing strategic planning for business and football operations on both the league and team levels.
Rob Gerbe joins the XFL as Chief Financial Officer, where he will oversee financial operations of the league and its teams to provide strategic financial insights on all facets of the business. Rob will lead all financial and accounting matters, including reporting, planning and forecasting, to drive analytical decision making, support revenue growth, cost management and profitability metrics. Rob joins the XFL most recently from the NBA, where he served as Senior Vice President, Team & Labor Finance. Rob will report to Russ Brandon.
Jordan Schlachter is returning to the XFL as Chief Business Officer, overseeing business partnerships, sponsorship revenue and relationships, licensing, merchandising distribution, and media partner business and sales. Schlachter joined the XFL in April 2019, where he served as the Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer. In this role, he managed nearly all revenue sources (non-ticketing), marketing functions and communications for the league and its eight teams. He negotiated the league’s most significant partnerships, including those with Bud Light Seltzer and Progressive Insurance, created the first-ever football helmet sticker sponsor program. Jordan will report to Russ Brandon.
Janet Duch returns to the XFL as the league’s Chief Marketing and Content Officer where she will lead marketing, digital and business intelligence functions. She is responsible for the development of campaigns, content and experiences across all platforms and the data insights used to enhance fan engagement and maximize opportunities for business growth. Additionally, Duch oversees the XFL’s ticketing strategy and gameday operations across each team market, while also building out the league’s team services function. Janet joined the XFL in 2019 as the President of the New York Guardians, while also overseeing performance marketing for the league and its 8 teams. Janet will report to Russ Brandon.
Marc Ross joins the XFL as Executive Vice President of Football Operations, where he is responsible for all aspects of football operations, including rules and gameplay, logistics and league planning, as well as innovation, data and analytics. Marc has over 20 years of professional football experience working across both league and team levels within the NFL. He is also a current analyst on NFL Network. Marc will report to Russ Brandon.
Doug Whaley returns to the XFL as Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, where he will oversee player scouting, recruiting, compensation, growth and career development. Doug first joined the XFL in 2018 as Senior Vice President of Football Operations, where he assisted in the all aspects of creating of the eight-team spring football league and rules innovation. Doug brings over 20 years of NFL player personnel and football executive experience. Doug will report to Marc Ross.
Scott Harniman returns to the XFL as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Technology and is responsible for all functions of Information Technology and overseeing the XFL’s technology strategy, infrastructure buildout and delivering best-in-class systems to support the entire league. In addition, Scott will shape the football technology program by promoting innovation across emerging platforms. Scott will report to Russ Brandon.
Jay Rothman joins the XFL as Senior Vice President, Broadcast Operations where he will oversee all broadcast operations with our partners, administration and game productions including, original programming, studio production and event coverage. He brings over 30 years of live event and studio production experience to the league, most recently working at ESPN as Vice President of Production. Jay will report to Russ Brandon.
Cindy Wagner returns to the XFL as Senior Vice President, People Operations where she is responsible for establishing Human Resources and administrative functions while also providing strategic leadership to develop a world-class organization that promotes a culture of inclusivity, growth and innovation. She first joined the league in 2019 as Senior Director of People and Culture, Cindy will report to Russ Brandon.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky with build for the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view.
WWE has announced just one match for tonight’s show and that’s Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens.
It’s expected that Bobby Lashley will be back in the storylines with tonight’s show. He has not appeared on TV since losing to WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg at Crown Jewel, but he did return to action at the recent WWE live events in England, and just lost to WWE Champion Big E at Saturday’s show in London.
Earlier this week WWE released 18 talents: Karrion Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, “B-Fab” Briana Brandy, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Eva Marie, Keith Lee, Mia Yim, Nia Jax, Harry Smith, Oney Lorcan, Franky Monet, Ember Moon, Trey Baxter, Jessi Kamea, Jeet Rama, Zayda Ramier, and Katrina Cortez.
The company line was that the latest cuts were for budgetary reasons, although it was also reported that a handful of stars had refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine and were not big enough stars to get away with that.
It was noted that main roster talents cannot tour foreign countries without being vaccinated, which creates potential issues for the company. Age was also said to play a part in some of the releases as the company looks to get younger talent on TV.
On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, it was reported that at least a half dozen or more didn’t get the vaccine, which was a big reason for their exit. Apparently, no warning was given by WWE that if they were against getting vaccinated, they would be cut.
As previously reported, the New York Post reported that Nia Jax was released because she was unvaccinated. Jax stated on her Instagram that the company never mentioned her vaccination status when cutting her.
“I recently took a short leave of absence from WWE for a mental health break,” Jax wrote. “I’ve been working through so much — more than I can share — and so I took some time, the full support of the company, to take care of myself. Earlier this week, after WWE sent me my schedule to return to the ring for the November 15 show, I asked for an extension to my mental health break, feeling that I needed more time and hoping I would have the ongoing support of the company I have given my all to for the past 7 years. I did not receive a response. The next I heard, I was being released. My vaccination status was never mentioned. I wasn’t given any choices or options.
“It breaks my heart to be so abruptly let go, without consultation, while dealing with so much privately. I loved my career at WWE, I love the men and women I worked with, and I am going to need time to process this huge loss. I appreciate those people who have shown understanding and compassion during an incredibly difficult time.”
Older NXT talent were reportedly on the bubble for being released this week.
Tetsuya Naito went down with a knee injury in September that cost him being involved in this year’s NJPW G1 Climax tournament. The injury was sustained on September 18 against Zack Sabre Jr. and Naito had to forfeit the remaining matches — ending with a 0-9 record.
At today’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 Press Conference, Naito announced he would not need surgery and is returning to the ring for the World Tag League on November 14. His tag partner is fellow LIJ member, SANADA.
“I’ve torn ligaments in my knee twice before, and I know that with severe ligament damage, you tend to need surgery that can put you on the shelf for a year,” Naito said to the media. “That’s what I was preparing myself mentally for as I went to the hospital, but thankfully there was no ligament damage, and no need for surgery.
“It was a painful injury, and I needed time to heal, but on November 14, in Korakuen Hall on the first night of World Tag League, I will be back. My partner? Of course, SANADA. I messaged SANADA yesterday, and all I got in response was a thumbs up emoji. That’s pretty on brand, right?”
The rest of the World Tag League field has yet to be announced. Typically, the winners receive a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship in January. The current title holders are Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.
Tony Khan has said if WWE keeps releasing people, he can keep offering up shock debuts in AEW.
Tony Khan has said if WWE keeps releasing talent, he will have no shortage of new stars to bring in and get big crowd reactions.
Just when the WWE locker room thought it could breathe a sigh of relief, the company swung its axe and released even more of its talents. 18 more Superstars were shown the door last week including Ember Moon, Scarlett, and Keith Lee. After 30 or 90 days, depending on their contracts, those 18 stars will be allowed to work elsewhere in wrestling should they want to.
You might think Tony Khan would be easing off new signings considering how many of WWE’s released wrestlers he has signed for AEW already. However, comments he made to PWTorch’s Wade Keller suggest quite the opposite. “At the rate they [WWE] are letting big stars go and firing people, I will not have a shortage of people to debut in the months ahead,” Khan said to Keller.
The comment was born from a discussion about the multiple debuts at All Out. CM Punk and Ruby Soho wrestled their first AEW matches on the show, and Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson made surprise appearances within minutes of each other to close the PPV. Khan reveals it was his decision to load All Out the way that he did and explained why he still believes it was the right call.
“Since it was the biggest pay-per-view audience we’ve ever had, I wanted to give them the best pay-per-view we’ve ever done.”Khan goes on to say that the feedback from All Out was incredibly positive, cementing his belief that loading it up with debuts and surprises was the right thing to do.
DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Kosei Fujita and Ryohei Oiwa
Jado, Gedo, and Tanga Loa defeated Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, and Togi Makabe
BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, and SANADA defeated Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Yuji Nagata
NEVER OPENWEIGHT 6-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, and EVIL defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, and Hirooki Goto (c) to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live from the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s SmackDown, but a teaser for the show asks if The Bloodline can maintain control over the new era of the blue brand.
“In the wake of King Woods & Sir Kofi’s victory over SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos in a Champion Contender Match, can Universal Champion Roman Reigns and The Bloodline maintain their stronghold on the blue brand? Find out this Friday at 8/7 C on USA,” WWE wrote.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns did not appear on last week’s SmackDown broadcast, but he did work the dark main event. It’s likely that he will be back on TV this week.
Sheamus is rumored to return to action on tonight’s SmackDown. He recently underwent another surgery for his broken nose, and is scheduled to be back to work this week. The Celtic Warrior was recently drafted back to the blue brand, and was featured in a recent backstage vignette.
