AEW President and CEO sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Jacksonville, FL one month before Double or Nothing. Tony gives us an idea of what we can expect from All Elite Wrestling and also covers of number of topics like a TV deal, how he signed Goldust (Dustin Rhodes), his 5-year plan for the company, being compared to WCW, wins and losses counting in AEW, whether or not he wants to be an on-air personality and much more!

Source: Trevor Decker News

Tony Khan was a big fan of ECW, and was therefore asked if he would like to see AEW have a similar ‘edgy’ style:

“I think we are doing some very edgy things and I think what you see on our social media is not necessarily what you will see in our television product which I do expect to be much more advertiser friendly than ECW. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t push the envelope sometimes, that doesn’t mean that you won’t see really exciting high spots. A lot of what made ECW great was the work and we’re going to have the best caliber in ring stuff in the world.”

Many people have been comparing AEW to WCW. On the topic of the comparisons between the two promotions, Khan had the following to say:

“I don’t want to compare us to any other wrestling company. We’re AEW and we’re doing something very different. What’s great is what we will offer, which will bring people back to 20 years ago, and there will be a major alternative. There will be a second company with great production values and great exposure, it’ll be easy to watch and give you shows with the top wrestlers and the best matches on a regular basis. That’s something that hasn’t been readily available to people outside of WWE in a long time, almost 20 years.”

Khan also spoke about how he wants the touring schedule for his performers to be light, something that WWE doesn’t have:

“For us, I want to offer a quality of life and a work/life balance that is the best and is unparalleled in the business for the best quality of life. What that means is less time on the road, but still working regularly, still performing on pay-per-view and on television in the future. I believe you don’t need to spend 6 days on the road to make a good living as a wrestler or 5 days on the road per week necessarily”.

Khan was also asked if he wanted to be an on-air personality for the company:

“I have thought about it and I’m not going to do it. We have some of the greatest on-air performers in the world and look, I am who I am in the promotion. I am the president and the CEO and the founder of this company but it’s not going to be me all over TV and I’m not going to be doing a lot of interviews or backstage segments on television.”

He also discussed AEW’s television deal:

“I have negotiated some things and I am very excited about what we are doing. I do think it’s very important to give wrestling fans a better quality of life. I think 20 years ago was honestly in many ways not nearly as good of a time to be a wrestling fan. There was not nearly as much wrestling out there and available if you were really looking for it. If you are really looking for great wrestling now there has never been a better time to be a wrestling fan.”

The 5-year plan for AEW is that we will have built up a brand, we will have built up a roster, we will have established ourselves as a top brand in wrestling for people who want fast paced exciting action and want a product that is more of a sporting based product. I’ve talked a lot about how I want wins and losses to matter because at the end of the day, that’s why you’re having the match. There’s going to be a winner and a loser and it matters. It should matter to your standing in the company and it should matter to your standing in your chase for the championship which at the end of the day is what everyone is trying to attain”.

Finally, Khan was asked if he would like to see former WWE Champion, CM Punk, sign for the promotion:

“He’s a great talent and a great performer, I don’t know if that was Phil in the ring, but he’s great. I’m from Illinois and I grew up around Chicago sports and he’s obviously very popular there.”

Thanks to WrestleZone for the transcription.

Four new All Elite Wrestling signings have been revealed in the latest episode of the “Being The Elite” series, seen at this link. Plus, Who is The Librarian?

AEW has signed the following talents:

* Private Party – tag team from New York City from House of Glory

* Leva Bates – the former Blue Pants of WWE NXT

Regarding Bates and Avalon, the storyline is that The Young Bucks believe Avalon is The Librarian character that has played out on Twitter while Cody Rhodes is going with Bates as The Librarian.

You can see tweets on Bates and Avalon below:

https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1120367022242705410

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1120367298676609024

Source: Wrestling Inc.

As previously reported, Tony Maglio of The Wrap appeared on the 411 Wrestling Interviews podcast this week and discussed AEW’s possible TV deal with Warner Media Group, which operates Turner Sports (TBS, TNT). Maglio had stated that AEW’s TV deal would actually be a time buy, where the company would be paying Turner to air their show.

“As excited as people are, they have cool t-shirts and a cool roster, you know, but they’re unproven, let’s be realistic,” Maglio said. “My understanding based on the people I’ve spoken to is that it would be more AEW paying for its time on TNT than Turner paying AEW for its show. Another very good wrestling reporter and I had been talking about whether that would be the case or whether it would be a revenue share, and we’d both heard rumblings and talked to people.”

A close source with AEW responded to the report, telling Wrestling Inc. that it is “total bullsh-t.”

In addition to Turner, Showtime is reportedly also in talks with AEW regarding a deal.

AEW is reportedly planning to air a weekly two-hour live show that will premiere in October.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Maglio of The Wrap appeared on the 411 Wrestling Interviews podcast to discuss AEW’s possible TV deal with Warner Media Group, which operates Turner Sports (TBS, TNT). Turner is one of the top media outlets that is in talks with AEW regarding a potential deal.

Maglio reported on The Wrap last week that Turner is in “advanced talks” with AEW for a weekly TV show that would likely air on TNT. The report stated that the deal is “definitely not signed” and the talks are “pretty complex” and “not imminent.” It was also noted that the AEW TV show might not be year-round, suggesting that an off-season for the promotion could be likely.

During Maglio’s appearance on 411 Wrestling Interviews, he stated that AEW’s deal would likely involve the company paying for their time slot.

“As excited as people are, they have cool t-shirts and a cool roster, you know, but they’re unproven, let’s be realistic,” Maglio said. “My understanding based on the people I’ve spoken to is that it would be more AEW paying for its time on TNT than Turner paying AEW for its show. Another very good wrestling reporter and I had been talking about whether that would be the case or whether it would be a revenue share, and we’d both heard rumblings and talked to people.

“Maybe a couple of months ago it might have been a little bit of a different story. But the truth is, when you’re talking to Turner, [they’re] a very well-established, very well-off company inside of gigantic parent company…it’s not the UFC. It’s not WWE, it’s not MLB. They have MLB, they have NBA. They know what they have to pay for. And I think currently, AEW has way more to prove than Turner has in terms of trying to get them to come to their networks. I think AEW needs this deal more than Turner does.”

Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter took to their message board to dispute the story. According to Meltzer, the time buy story is false and one of the reasons that AEW has not secured a television deal yet is “because of multiple bidders.”

“One hour is false. Time buy is false,” Meltzer wrote. “It’s the exact opposite. Look at sports rights, Bellator, Matchroom, UFC on ESPN, people are offering tons of money both for weekly live programming and also to get their streaming services starting. That’s the reason this thing is starting this year.

“One of the reasons the deal hasn’t been signed yet is because of multiple bidders.”

According to a recent report from Prowrestling.net, Showtime is also in talks with AEW regarding a deal.

Maglio responded to Meltzer on Twitter, however he didn’t address his assertion that AEW would be paying for their time slot. Instead, he responded to Meltzer stating that a “one hour” deal is false, noting that he was simply stating his opinion. He also addressed Meltzer shooting down last week that AEW programming would be seasonal, noting that AEW themselves had publicly discussed that option.

“Never said AEW show would be 1 hour,” Maglio tweeted. “Said 1 hour makes more sense than 3 when asked if it’d be a 3 hour show. We all assume 2. Dave also apparently made a thing out of me reporting that a source on Turner talks said not doing 52 weeks is a possibility. You know who has also said an off-season is a ‘possibility’? AEW.

“Many things are possible when a deal is not signed. I’ve also said multiple times an off season would be problematic and my personal opinion is that it’ll be 52 weeks/year.

“Job is to report what told by sources.”

You can check out Maglio’s tweets below:

https://twitter.com/TonyMaglio/status/1119043488967012353

https://twitter.com/TonyMaglio/status/1119044463542906883

Source: Wrestling Inc.