Tag: Tony Khan

CM Punk & Tony Khan Involved In Heated Exchange At AEW All In 2023

We have even more details on what went down before Sunday’s AEW All In 2023 pay-per-view event went on the air, including potential issues between Tony Khan and CM Punk.

According to a report from Wade Keller of PWTorch, CM Punk was already said to have been pissed off about not being picked up at the airport by anyone associated with AEW. Instead, he took a train to his hotel and got lost along the way. It’s worth noting that Punk wasn’t aware at the time that no one from AEW was picked up at the airport due to travel issues and shuttles not being available. So he wasn’t being singled out.

The report notes that Punk reportedly approached Tony Khan in front of other people in his locker room. Punk came at the AEW President in a “heated, intense manner” and “chewed out Khan with harsh phrasing.”

CM Punk almost didn’t come out for his match with Samoa Joe to start the show after his backstage fight with Jack Perry. Joe was reportedly furious about the situation and had to convince Punk to go out to the ring. While Joe was able to calm Punk down enough that he would agree to continue on with the match, both men were not happy about what had just unfolded. It is said that as of Tuesday morning, CM Punk and Tony Khan had not spoken.

Both CM Punk and Jack Perry are suspended from AEW, with Punk being informed of his suspension through his lawyer. One source said CM Punk appeared to be saying “goodbye” while in the ring and walking to the back just after his match with Joe. There are some rumors that the relationship between CM Punk, Tony Khan, and AEW is beyond repair at this point.

CM Punk and Jack Perry will not be wrestling at All Out 2023 in Chicago, IL on Sunday unless the suspensions are lifted. Of course, Punk is a big draw in his hometown of Chicago.

Finally, it was added that CM Punk has been fined for previous incidents. One source said that Punk was fined in the “five figure range” for his off-air comments about “Hangman” Adam Page following a recent episode of AEW Collision.

On Tuesday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez confirmed what was already known from several weeks ago, which is that Jack Perry wanted to use real glass for a segment on AEW Collision. This is something CM Punk refused to allow on “his brand” and told Perry that if he had a problem with it, he could go work on Wednesdays.

While CM Punk’s side put out a story about Jack Perry wanting to do the spot so he could get “cut” and avoid working the following week, Perry had a pre-planned vacation.

While the glass spot involving a limo on the “Zero Hour” pre-show at AEW All In 2023 was approved, Jack Perry’s comments during the match were not. Alvarez said,

“The issue from the Jungle Boy side was the belief that ‘I got this okayed, it was cleared with the company and then this guy didn’t let me do it.’ He felt ‘he’s not letting me do it because I’m friends with The Young Bucks.’ That was what was in his mind, apparently.”

As far as CM Punk’s All In 2023 travel issues are concerned, Alvarez said,

“I have heard two versions of this story. One version is that CM Punk arrived, nobody was there, he couldn’t get a hold of anybody and so he decided that he was going to take the train. The other version I heard is that when he arrived there was nobody there but he did get a hold of people and he offered or they asked if he wanted to take the train. But that he was fine with taking the train. That’s the other story that I heard…”

He continued, “The question that everybody’s asking, why did this guy not take an Uber or a cab? When we were there, there were two occasions when we were in the UK where it was impossible to get an Uber. We opened up the app and it was ‘no drivers available.’ Maybe that happened to CM Punk, I don’t know…it is possible that he could not get an Uber.”

Alvarez also provided details on what happened after Jack Perry’s match with HOOK on the AEW All In 2023 “Zero Hour” pre-show. He stated,

“Jack goes through the curtain…He goes through the glass and they’re working on his cuts. This was shortly before the show was supposed to go on the air. CM Punk walks by and he says ‘do you have a problem with me?’ Jack Perry says something to the effect of ‘well, you heard what I said out there.’”

This led to Perry telling Punk that if he had a problem with what he said, he should do something about it. This led to pushes being exchanged, ending with Punk putting Perry in a choke. Samoa Joe broke things up.

AEW President Tony Khan reportedly witnessed the fight, and there are reports that it happened so close to him that several monitors were knocked onto him. Alvarez stated,

“CM Punk, according to several people said something to the effect of, ‘you know I can beat your ass, right?’ Then there was an incident. It was very quick…Pretty much 100 percent (of the witnesses said) Punk made the comment and either shoved of pie-faced Jungle Boy, grabbed him in the guillotine front headlock and it was immediately broken up. Samoa Joe was right there, everybody was right there. Nobody got their ass kicked, there was nothing like that.”

He continued, “They got close enough to Tony Khan that I believe monitors were knocked down onto Tony Khan. He was right there and he saw everything and a lot of people were right there and they saw everything.”

“Several people said he [CM Punk] threatened to quit and he didn’t want to go out for the match…I believe they went to FTR and The Young Bucks and they were like, ‘can you guys open the show?’ and the response was, ‘we’re not ready to open the show.’ Then they went to the six-man with Kenny and Hangman and all those guys and they were like, ‘can you open the show?’ and they were like, ‘I guess we can’ and so they were getting ready to go out. I was told that Joe was furious. He’s at Wembley, there’s 80,000 people there and he’s about to go out and apparently, he talked Punk into doing the match.”

Source: eWn

Tony Khan Allowing The AEW Roster To Skip Dynamite To Attend Bray Wyatt’s Services

There could be a few top names missing from this week’s or next week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, as Tony Khan is allowing any talents in his promotion who want to attend Bray Wyatt’s services to do just that.

According to a report from Fightful, Khan notified the entire roster on Monday that they are not required to attend AEW Dynamite if they want to attend the services for Windham Rotunda. The AEW President is more than willing to re-write episodes of Dynamite if need be.

As of this writing, there is no word on when Bray Wyatt’s services will be taking place but many talents who will be attending the services will need some travel time.

Source: eWn

Tony Khan – ‘Mark Briscoe’s Injury Changed Everything For ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023’

Speaking during a media call for Death Before Dishonor 2023, AEW President Tony Khan revealed that certain plans had to be altered due to Mark Briscoe’s recent injury.

Khan noted that he had hoped to get Eddie Kingston back from NJPW in time for Death Before Dishonor but the current situation didn’t permit the same.

You can check out some highlights from the media call below:

On the obstacles to Khan’s preferred plans for Death Before Dishonor: “I was hoping maybe even some possibility that Eddie could fly back to participate in Death Before Dishonor and then go back to Japan, and I certainly would have accommodated the travel if that was possible. It wasn’t possible. Mark Briscoe, I had slotted for something different on the card. It turned out that also was not viable for another reason. There have been so many things that came up and it can be like a domino effect. It’s very challenging. With Mark Briscoe’s injury, it was very challenging because Mark had been dealing with injuries for a while and I think some of us almost took it for granted because Mark is such a fighter and amazing person with an amazing spirit. People sympathize with Mark for many reasons, and he’s such a compelling wrestling character and always has been. I felt Mark could be an emotional hook for this pay-per-view in a lot of ways and it was a pivot. With Eddie going to Japan, I thought it would be cool with Eddie having a big moment winning the STRONG Championship and he passed on some wisdom to Mark Briscoe. I knew he was dealing with some injuries, but honestly, he had been dealing with them for a long time, and I think the pain had become too much to manage and it had become very challenging for him. To be honest, he hadn’t told many people about that, including our doctors. The people who knew really well knew he was hurting. I think Mark was no selling it. I know he was no selling the doctors on how much pain he was in. That’s why they were surprised that this had become a lifestyle challenge for him. When he came to me and said, ‘It’s worse than I was letting on. I’m not sure I can do this.’ That meant changing everything.”

On working around Briscoe’s injury: “If Mark comes to me and says he needs something, I’m going to do it, no matter what it is. If he needs time to heal up and needs me to pivot the pay-per-view, I’m going to do that for him, without questions. I’ll do it for pretty much anybody, but I’ll do it with a smile for Mark Briscoe. It meant changing pretty much everything again.”

Tony Khan Talks Why Doing A Women’s Blood & Guts Was ‘Not A Feasible Idea’ This Year

The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Young Bucks & Hangman Page) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli), Konosuke Takeshita and PAC in a Blood & Guts match will take place tonight on AEW Dynamite. 

During the ROH Death Before Dishonor media call, AEW President Tony Khan was asked about a possible women’s Blood and Guts match. 

“It would have been an interesting idea, it could have been a great match,” Tony Khan said about the idea of a women’s Blood & Guts during the Blood & Guts and ROH Death Before Dishonor media call. “I definitely think Jamie Hayter’s injury, is probably a five-on-five there given some of the depth issues, and especially given Willow Nightingale just got back and putting her in that kind of match after she had a major head injury in Japan, probably wouldn’t be very smart. We’ve had some other major injuries there, and when there was some fan momentum for that idea, I think the Outcasts vs. Jamie, Britt, and some others, was really running red hot and Jamie Hayter was a part of that. Some of the momentum for that, when Jamie Hayter was running hot as champion, was there, and I’m not sure at this moment, given some of the injuries we had, that was feasible. Also, with so many of the women competing this week in the Owen Hart Cup tournament, it is a very hard-hitting match and there is a lot of attrition for it. Santana still hasn’t been back from last year. The women’s division is pretty beat up, they’ve been beating the hell out of each other. Probably was not a feasible idea for them this year.”

Source: eWn H/T to Fightful

The Official Theme Song For AEW Collision Revealed

AEW President Tony Khan took to Twitter on Friday to announce that he’s licensed the music for Elton John’s 1973 hit “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.” The song will serve as the official theme song for AEW Collision.

As we previously reported here on eWn, Tony Khan also announced that Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness will be doing commentary for AEW Collision with analysis from Jim Ross.

Khan wrote,

“It’s official!

Our opening theme for Saturday Night #AEWCollision on TNT is
Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting by Sir Elton John!

While @FulhamFC and @WatfordFC will never be best mates on the pitch, you’re now a great friend to @AEW, @eltonofficial, and we salute you, Sir!”

Source: eWn

Tony Khan Addresses Whether AEW Will Have A Brand Split

In a new interview with Rasslin, AEW President Tony Khan was asked about the rumored brand split ahead of the June 17th launch of Collision.

According to multiple reports, AEW wants the brand split for Dynamite and Collision due to CM Punk, who is slated to be the top star for Collision, as he has heat with several wrestlers on the roster.

“I am going to feature certain talent on certain shows, but I haven’t drawn any hard lines or locked us into any kind of split of a roster,” Khan said (h/t Fightful). “I think people are gonna be featured on certain shows, but I also think that gives us a great opportunity to showcase certain wrestlers on both Dynamite and Collision at certain times and certain stories that can cross the shows. I think the champions of AEW will be the champions on every show, and frankly, every promotion in the world. We’re not shy about the AEW wrestlers going out and taking on the top stars, top competition from other companies.”

“The roster we have is so strong, I believe we have so many great wrestlers, it’s impossible to showcase them all in three hours of television,” he added. “Now, it’s a much better opportunity with five hours of television. Across five hours of television, we can really utilize the roster much more frequently and utilize our great wrestlers more than they’ve ever been used before, so I’m very excited.”

Source: eWn

Bryan Danielson’s Reported Influence On Tony Khan & AEW Booking

Bryan Danielson has had a hand in AEW’s creative department as of late, and according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he has become more important as of late in regards to that. 

The American Dragon has been described as someone that has added good input into any conversation regarding AEW booking, and he has been having an influence on Tony Khan himself. When the two men are in a room together, Danielson has been pushing Khan to thank harder and improve upon his thinking as he tends to add even more enthusiasm to Khan regarding this area of the business. 

The June 2 episode of “AEW Rampage” was an example of Danielson’s creative abilities as he added to the overall outline of it being a Championship Friday show, and the fact that the episode was well received showcases the impact he has brought.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Confirms CM Punk Return For AEW Collision Debut

Tony Khan took to the TBS airwaves during Wednesday night’s “Dynamite” to announce that former AEW World Champion CM Punk will indeed be featured on the “Collision” debut on June 17 at the United Center in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois. The announcement was met with a mix of cheers and boos from the live crowd in San Diego, California.

Tony Khan Confirms CM Punk Return For AEW Collision Debut
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images
BY ROSS W BERMAN IV/UPDATED: MAY 31, 2023 9:19 PM EST
With “AEW Collision” on the horizon, one question has lingered in the minds of AEW fans, when will CM Punk return to the company?

Tony Khan took to the TBS airwaves during Wednesday night’s “Dynamite” to announce that the former AEW World Champion will be featured on the “Collision” debut on June 17 at the United Center in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois. The announcement was met with a mix of cheers and boos from the live crowd in San Diego, California.

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Wrestling’s Secret Signals Explained (And Why This One’s Alarming)
Punk had long been rumored as returning to the company, with his difficulties with some members of the locker room creating the necessity for “Collision” and what is rumored to be a roster split for AEW. Khan had been tight-lipped about Punk’s possible return, even as he continued to tout the “Collision” premiere. The announcement that the show would take place in Chicago’s United Center, the location of Punk’s AEW debut, further fed the speculation that Punk would be returning to action.

“AEW Collision” will air on Saturday nights at 8 PM ET on TNT and run two hours, making it the second major show for AEW behind its flagship program “Dynamite.”

Punk has not been on AEW programming since his infamous tirade after AEW All Out in September of last year that led to a backstage brawl between Punk, Kenny Omega, Matt and Nick Jackson, Punk’s friend and trainer Ace Steel, members of the AEW talent relations staff, and Punk’s dog Larry. Omega recently downplayed rumors of animosity, seemingly making light of the situation during his feud with the Blackpool Combat Club. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Comments On Rumors Of A Brand Split In AEW

With Collision set to debut next month, will AEW split its roster between their new show and Dynamite?

AEW‘s newest weekly show, a two-hour Saturday series called Collision, is set to begin next month, June 17, from the United Center at Chicago. Much of the conversation has been about whether CM Punk will be there (the location announcement seems to confirm that he will be), but there’s perhaps an even bigger topic to be addressed for the company’s long term future.

In a media call in the lead up to this week’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view, Tony Khan spoke about Collision and addressed rumors that AEW would be doing a brand split between Dynamite and Collision, similar to what WWE does with Raw and SmackDown. “I haven’t given a lengthy explanation yet for what I’m planning regarding the future of the roster and how people will be allocated across Dynamite and Collision and our other shows. It’s a great question, certainly. I can see why wrestling fans all over the world would be interested and curious about that. That’s frankly by design that we want to build that curiosity in and get people wondering exactly what you’re asking, ‘what’s the future of the AEW roster, and what does this all mean going forward after Double or Nothing?’ It’s a really good question and something we’ll be excited to follow up on.” (h/t Fightful)

Source: TheSportster

Tony Khan Set To Make ‘Huge Announcement’ On Next Week’s Episode Of AEW Dynamite

Let us know if you’ve heard this one before – AEW President Tony Khan will be making a “huge announcement” on next week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.

For those unaware, next Wednesday is the same day of Warner Brothers Discovery’s upfront presentation. At the presentation, it is expected that AEW’s new show, “Collison” will be announced and it’s expected to be built around the returning CM Punk.

You can check out a video of Tony Khan’s announcement below:

Source: eWrestlingNews