Tag: Tony Khan

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

Tony Khan Refuses Comment Once Again On CM Punk’s AEW Status

After what seemed like a long silence, the situation between AEW and CM Punk returned to the news cycle in full force over the last week, after a message board post led to a since-deleted Instagram story by Punk that may have likely hurt his chances of returning to AEW. However, with Punk still recovering from injury, there is still time before AEW owner Tony Khan will have to make a decision on whether to bring Punk back, let him go, or find an alternate solution.

Till that time comes, the future of Punk in AEW will continue to be a topic Khan gets asked about, much like he has ever since the media scrum incident following All Out in September that began this whole situation. And Khan was indeed asked about Punk while speaking with talkSPORT, and for those who have followed Khan throughout this, the song remained the same regarding his answer. “I cannot comment on that,” Khan said.

Khan was a good sport about the question, however, realizing that these questions won’t stop until something regarding Punk’s future is decided. So he followed up the question with a joke that many will likely see as a shot at one of Khan’s nemeses, journalist and sometimes WWE correspondent Ariel Helwani, who repeatedly asked Khan about Punk, to no avail, in an interview between the two last October. “Well better to ask once than seven times in a row after I ‘no comment,'” Khan said. “Who would do that?”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Conrad Thompson: ‘Tony Khan Is Going To Take Care Of Jay Briscoe’s Family’

Tributes flooded in for Ring of Honor Hall of Famer Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) following the news last week of his passing. AEW/ROH owner Tony Khan was the person to announce the news.

Speaking on What Happened When, Conrad Thompson explained that he’s heard that Khan will make sure Jay’s family is taken care of:

“I don’t mean to betray any confidences, but let me say this. There is lots of rumors and innuendo from really good sources that Tony Khan is who we thought he was and he’s going to do the right thing by that family as well.”

“I don’t think he would necessarily want anybody to know that information, and I know it’s not your [Tony Schiavone] place to talk about it, but I will say that for all the criticism that gets thrown around ‘Tony this, Tony that.’ When the chips are down, he’s a dude.”

Source: eWrestlingNews

Tony Khan Says AEW Will Run Live Events

AEW has mostly only run television tapings, with the exception being a special live event, “The House Always Wins,” in April 2021. However, that looks to be changing. 

Tony Khan discussed the possibility of AEW diving into the live event business while speaking on In The Zone:

“That’s something we are talking about. We have a great live events team. It’s something we’ve talked a lot about and building out the live event business. There is definitely a lot of demand for AEW live events, and now we have this great big strong roster that wants to do these live events, so it’s something we’re going to do,” he said (H/T to Fightful).

Source: ewrestlingnews

Tony Khan Teases Update On ROH Television Situation

While speaking during Wednesday’s media call to promote this weekend’s Ring of Honor Final Battle pay-per-view event, ROH owner and AEW President Tony Khan hinted that an update on the promotion’s television deal could be coming soon. Khan acquired Ring of Honor in May of this year. Tony indicated to Brandon Thurston that an announcement regarding ROH’s TV future could come this weekend.

ROH Final Battle 2022 will take place this Saturday, December 10th at 4:00 PM EST from Arlington, TX. It will air live on pay-per-view.

https://twitter.com/BrandonThurston/status/1600559192984768513

Source: EWrestlingNews

Tony Khan Provides Updates On Hangman Page, Adam Cole, Miro, & Andrade El Idolo

AEW President Tony Khan provided several updates on Miro, Andrade El Idolo, Hangman Page & Adam Cole during the post-AEW All Out media scrum.

As many of you are aware, both Cole and Page are out with concussions, while Miro and El Idolo have been off TV in recent months.

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

On when Miro and Anrade El Idolo may return: “I think when we launched AEW, one thing I said was that we would build a big roster, and we would kind of have it be where I wasn’t really committing to everybody necessarily working every single week, or even possibly working people in and out of the cards. And I think that’s still something I’m committed to. So there’s people who aren’t on every event, but I would still like to get involved. And you know, you’ve seen people take some sabbaticals, absences, breaks from AEW for various reasons, come back and get very involved. And I think that’s still for both of those guys, potentially something that you could see.

“There are different reasons, I think they’re different [situations]. They’re apples and oranges in some ways, but I also think both of them are great, and I would like to get both of them involved in the future.”

On Adam Cole and Hangman Page’s statuses: “Well, I’ve been in contact with both of them. They’re both doing very well. I think again, they’re different situations. But for both of them, I think I’m optimistic we’d get both both of them back. But I can’t say when either of them would be exactly. But I do think they will both very well received and I there’s a lot of fans looking forward to both of the Adams returning. I think Hangman Page and Adam Cole would have a big reception on their return. The most important thing is, they’re both doing really well.”

Source: EWrestlingNews

Tony Khan Reportedly Refusing to Release Any AEW Talent

After an AEW wrestler informed the company that a WWE representative had contacted them about the possibility of returning to WWE, the company reportedly sent an email to WWE co-CEOs Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon warning them “not to tamper” with their talent.

Malakai Black has now denied the claims that he wanted to be released from his contract after it was later revealed that he had made a request. After Triple H took over creative duties from Vince McMahon a number of months ago, WWE reached out to numerous members of AEW, including Black, FTR, and Swerve Strickland, to inquire about the possibility of returning to the company.

Dave Meltzer revealed the news that AEW President Tony Khan will not be releasing anyone during his appearance on today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

“Nobody’s getting released, that’s the doctrine. [AEW President] Tony Khan made that very clear I guess in the last couple of days. So now it’s just, [Malakai Black’s] not being released, Buddy Matthews isn’t being released. Now they may be back sooner than before. They were wanting to go and trying to get a way out.

It’s not to say it’s hard and fast, and there’d be no way they’d never give anybody a release. But I think it’s pretty much the deal that if this happened in any other company, would those people get releases, and the answer is no. They signed the contract, so basically now their option is to sit at home – and [Tony Khan] can extend the contract if they sit at home – or wrestle. So now they’re gonna wrestle. He [Malakai Black] waved goodbye and now he’s coming back and he’s gonna blame me.”

“They really came after [Tony Khan], it’s pretty blatant that [WWE] came after so many of the guys. Basically everyone who had worked there, there might be an exception, every name that you would think of that had a previous relationship with Triple H was contacted and told to ‘try and get your release and come in.’ Several went to Tony and said, ‘they’re contacting us we have no intention of going’ and several said ‘we want the release’ and have been told no.”

You can listen to the audio below:

Source: PWMania

Tony Khan Says Surprises Might Be In Store For Tonight’s Dynamite and Rampage

Tony Khan has continued to hammer home that tonight’s AEW Grand Slam event, featuring a live Dynamite and a Rampage taping, will be a major event. 

During his appearance with Busted Open Radio Wednesday, Khan said he might “have a trick up his sleeve” for tonight’s show, and that surprises might be in store for both Dynamite and Rampage.

He said the event is “the closest thing to a PPV on TV we’re going to get.” Khan also noted that the show is a big value to fans in the area and urged them to come to the show. 

Source: EWrestlingNews

CM Punk Meets With Tony Khan To Determine Future In AEW, Possible Exit From Company, Punishment For Those Involved In The CM Punk/The Elite Altercation

Tony Khan and CM Punk reportedly sat down to talk about his future, including how he might potentially exit the company.

As per a report by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, CM Punk’s fate — as well as the fate of friend and AEW producer Ace Steel — should be determined by the end of today (Wednesday) and there is a chance Punk is released from his contract, with the minimum punishment for his actions after Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view being a suspension.

Barrasso writes, “Multiple sources have shared that Punk and Ace Steel will either be among those suspended or will no longer be with the company by the end of Wednesday. Punk met with AEW owner Tony Khan on Tuesday, so the two had an opportunity to discuss how that exit could be handled.” In other words, if it is determined that Punk will be gone from AEW, the two didn’t just meet about his employment, but it sounds like there was a discussion about what to do with the title and how to write him out of the promotion.

Barrasso also adds that an external third-party investigation is being conducted which could explain the delay in a decision, but that all of Kenny Omega, Matt and Nick Jackson, Pat Buck, Christopher Daniels, Michael Nakazawa, and Brandon Cutler will be suspended for their role in the physical altercation. None are expected to be at Dynamite tonight. As for Hangman Adam Page — who Punk mentioned by name — , he had already left the building when Punk’s comments were made, thus he was not part of the altercation.

If the meetings went well and the suspensions are served without issue, there is a chance that all parties involved can put what happened past them. If so, the potential to turn this real-life situation into a storyline is there and it could equate to big numbers for AEW. That’s assuming cooler heads will have prevailed and all parties involved are willing to do business.

There is always a chance CM Punk has no desire to stick around after this. If that’s the case, he may elect to leave on his own before he’s told to.

Source: TheSportster