Tag: Tony Khan

Tony Khan Addresses Report Of AEW EVPs Losing Power

Last week a report came out on the AEW EVPs (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Cody Rhodes) having their creative powers “essentially completely taken away” and everything was now running through AEW President Tony Khan.

Yesterday, Dave Meltzer reported the roles of the EVPs hadn’t changed since December of 2019. Even with Khan taking on more control of booking, there wasn’t a recent loss of power for the EVPs.

Khan spoke with PWInsider this week and was asked for clarification on where things are when it comes to creative in AEW. Khan reiterated things haven’t changed recently, but he did take on more control to make sure shows were more organized.

“Yeah, I saw those reports this week and I thought that was pretty disingenuous stuff from some of the internet wrestling writers because nothing has changed in recent months and really, the structure changed for me at the end of 2019 and it was because of me,” Khan said. “I felt like I needed to take over and be more accountable as the CEO and as the Booker. I was the final say, but there were probably too many different people with input on segments and this show wasn’t as organized at the end of 2019 as I thought it could be.

“So for the past two years, we’ve been a lot more organized and I’ve written every show by hand, which allows me to know which segments are where and I think the shows have gotten significantly better. The fans have enjoyed them more. They’ve performed better in terms of the ratings and it’s been a good change for us, but I saw somebody reporting that recently in the news and it’s not because — we talked about this, like over a year and a half ago we talked about this, and I went on the record. I talked to you about it and Dave Meltzer, this week in The Observer, even wrote a pretty good account of it that nothing has really changed.”

Khan continued that it was actually his 2020 New Year’s resolution to take on putting the shows together and avoiding content he wasn’t in favor of airing.

“This is all stuff that came into effect at the beginning of 2020,” Khan recalled. “I had said my New Year’s resolution, myself, [was that] I was going to get very organized or I told myself if there’s something I didn’t feel good about, I wasn’t going to do it and that I was going to create much more of the work product myself, that I was going to lay out the matches, the stories and format everything into a nice package, myself, and I’ve been doing it for over a year and a half with the collaboration and help of a lot of great people, including the people I started with.

“I think the biggest difference has been instead of five people getting in a room and putting a format together, I get in a room and put a format together. I also get very amused when people refer to QT [Marshall], like the guy on the creative team. He’s effectively my assistant and he’s great. He works his ass off. He’ll show up in my room whenever I need him, and I sometimes will call him up at one in the morning to come up and I want to reorganize the show or make card changes, or I’m putting stuff together for Elevation or Dark or whatever I need. He’s usually there for me, but I’m very hands on with this stuff and it’s been that way for a long time. So I thought it was really disingenuous.”

With the signing of stars like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole, Khan believed their additions have obviously made a difference in the AEW product. Khan also said he has just gotten better at the job over the past couple years, allowing him to put together better quality shows.

“Somebody talked about it this week, like it was news and then people acted like there’d been some change, but there’s been no change,” Khan stated. “I’ve been in that position for a long time. And I think we’ve had our shows, in my opinion, have gotten stronger, recently. And there are a number of things you can attribute that to.

“One of the things I think you can attribute it to is the great star power that come in, and we’re getting a lot of great wrestlers who bring tons of great attributes, including their experience, their great ideas, and trying to integrate those things.  Then me — myself personally — I think I gotten better and more organized over the last couple years at doing this job and have learned a lot in the past two years.”

AEW Dynamite celebrates its two-year anniversary tonight at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Has Spent More Than $10 Million On AEW’s Video Games

Tony Khan recently revealed he has spent eight figures of his own money on AEW’s video games.

Tony Khan recently revealed he has spent eight figures of his own money on AEW’s video game division, most of which will have gone on its upcoming debut console game.

AEW might still be less than three years old, but its early success makes it hard to imagine a wrestling landscape without it. Big names are joining the promotion’s ranks, and wrestlers who were relatively unknown when AEW launched are now household names in wrestling circles. Tony Khan also continues to prove he isn’t afraid to take risks to make sure AEW’s success continues to grow.

One area where Khan is very keen to make a splash is wrestling video games. The company has already released two mobile games, but its first mainline console game will be the real acid test. Khan mentioned during a recent media call that he has spent eight figures of his own money, so at least $10 million, on AEW’s video game division.

Although very little has been revealed about AEW’s first major video game, it seems likely that the majority of that investment has been on the console game. Development must be going well as Khan added he is confident he will make that money back. Since WWE and 2K don’t share specific development costs, it’s unclear how much it costs to create a wrestling game, but eight figures feels like enough that the game has to be a success.

AEW has shown off very little of the game so far. A trailer very early in development and some shots of what Darby Allin will look like in the game. However, the last we heard, Kenny Omega, who is close to the project, was hopeful AEW’s first big game will be here by early 2022.

That potential launch window was made a lot more interesting over SummerSlam weekend when WWE 2K revealed WWE 2K22’s has been delayed. The game won’t be here until March 2022 which might well coincide with the arrival of AEW’s first game. The Wednesday Night War might have ended, but six months from now we might have an all-new type of wrestling battle to watch pan out.

Source: TheSportster

CM Punk Debuts For AEW To Open Rampage, Will Wrestle At All Out – AEW Media Scrum With Punk and Tony Khan

CM Punk returned to wrestling after seven years and announced that he’s back, signed to AEW and will wrestle at All Out on September 5th.

AEW Rampage opened up with the biggest surprise that wasn’t really a surprise. CM Punk began the hour-long program by coming out to the ring and announcing he was back in professional wrestling and sticking around as part of the AEW roster.

Punk said, “I didn’t plan what I was going to say because I didn’t know how I was going to feel.” He added, “But I feel you Chicago. I hear you Chicago.” The fans started chanting his name, just like they did when the show began. Punk said he’s heard the fans for seven years.

Punk said, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that there wasn’t time to say everything he wanted do. The good news, he’s got the time, he’s not going anywhere and he’s with AEW so he’ll show up on Wednesdays, Fridays and pay-per-views. “If at all, through my journey, any of my personal decisions made you feel disappointed or let down, let me just say, I understand.” He asked fans to understand they understand he was never going to get healthy if he stayed in the same place that got him sick in the first place. Essentially, he needed the break he took.

“Can I tell you a story?,” he asked. He sat down, as he did with his pipe bomb that made him a star, and said he felt he had to leave. He mentioned he knew he had made a place in Ring of Honor where wrestlers could learn to love professional wrestling. He knew by going to WWE he was signing up for hard times. In August 2005, he left professional wrestling. August 20, 2021, (he) “I’m back.”

“I’m back for you.” He added that there’s a lot of young talent that he wants to be around. I’m back because I want to work with the young talent and because there’s some scores to settle in the locker room. He dropped the names of Darby Allin that he’s excited to work with — Allin was up in the rafters watching with Sting.

Punk said the most dangerous thing Allin could do is to wrestle CM Punk in Chicago. Punk said that will see Allin, Sting and the fans on September 5th at All Out live on pay-per-view.

A huge announcement was capped off when Punk said he appreciated everyone waiting. He said, “Grab a free ice cream bar on me.”

Source: TheSportster

Below is the AEW Media Scrum with CM PUNK and TONY KHAN after Rampage:

AEW Dynamite Moving To TBS Next Year, New AEW Rampage TV Show To Premiere Soon

AEW President, CEO, General Manager & Head Of Creative Tony Khan appeared on Busted Open Radio and announced a new agreement with WarnerMedia.

The new agreement will see AEW Dynamite move to TBS in 2022.

It was also revealed that a new TV show, called AEW Rampage, will premiere on Friday nights at 10pm ET. The one-hour TNT show will premiere on Friday, August 13.

Rampage will move to TBS with Dynamite in 2022.

Khan also revealed that AEW will begin airing quarterly TV specials on TNT in 2022.

Khan noted that AEW has renegotiated their contract with TNT and TBS. More details will be announced soon as the WarnerMedia Upfronts are being held today, which explains the timing of Khan’s announcement. The 2019 Upfronts are when WarnerMedia presented AEW for the launch of Dynamite.

On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer answered questions from fans regarding the deal. About the four supercard specials that will be airing TNT, it is similar to WCW’s “Clash of the Champions” specials, however that is trademarked by WWE. AEW will have to use a different name similar to AEW using “Beach Break” instead of “Bash at the Beach.”

Rampage is scheduled to air on Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET on TNT, which will be after SmackDown has ended. Meltzer noted that the show is expected to be aired live at times, especially on a week before a PPV. While everything is up in the air right now, the expectation is that Rampage, on most nights, will tape on Wednesday.

Rampage and Dynamite will both move to TBS in January.

It has been reported that this new deal between Warner Media and AEW has presented a “financial upside” for AEW. Some fans have questioned if AEW’s use of blood and profanity will change when they move to TBS with that station being more sitcom heavy. However, it was noted there will not be a change, and they’ll be under the same standards of practice.

Many fans have pointed out that the TNT Title might have to change its name due to changing stations. However, Meltzer said that the plan right now is to keep the title as is.

AEW is seeing an increase in revenue with this expanded TV deal. This has fans speculating on if this allows AEW to have the financial means to sign big free agents like Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan. Meltzer dismissed the likelihood of Lesnar signing with AEW. As for Bryan, he said that AEW’s added finances most likely won’t make a huge difference. Bryan is a free agent after his contract reportedly expired, but it is unknown what his next move will be.

In terms of financials, it was originally reported that AEW is making an “eight-figure payday”. Meltzer confirmed that AEW is making over $10 million with this expanded TV deal.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW/Impact Partnership Continues, Tony Khan, Jerry Lynn, Matt Hardy And Private Party Appear On Impact

AEW President & CEO Tony Khan appeared on tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode, along with several AEW wrestlers.

The opening segment on tonight’s show featured a clip of AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers, and Don Callis hanging out and celebrating their main event win over Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Moose and Chris Sabin at last Saturday’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view. The clip was from backstage after Saturday’s win. Callis noted that he and Omega were headed back to Jacksonville for Dynamite and to “disappear for a while,” but he didn’t want anyone to forget what they’ve done while here at Impact. He also said that Omega and The Good Brothers were already planning what’s next and while they are taking a hiatus from Impact, they will be back.

Tonight’s show also featured an in-ring segment where The Good Brothers came to the ring to brag about last Saturday’s Hard To Kill main event. They were interrupted by Sabin, who said he wanted a rematch for the titles. The Good Brothers pointed out how Alex Shelley wasn’t here again tonight, but Sabin said he had another guy. That’s when James Storm made his return to the company. Storm and Sabin went to the ring to make a case for a title shot, but were interrupted by AEW’s Matt Hardy and Private Party. Matt praised Private Party and said they should be the ones getting a title shot. He also plugged the six-man match on this week’s Dynamite, which will see Hardy and Private Party take on Matt Sydal and Top Flight. Hardy also mentioned that he saved Impact from collapsing in 2016, and that he and brother Jeff Hardy technically never lost the Impact World Tag Team Titles.

It was then announced that the main event would feature Storm and Sabin vs. Private Party with the winners being named the new #1 contenders to The Good Brothers.

Khan and Tony Schiavone later released another “paid advertisement” segment on tonight’s Impact, but this time AEW producer Jerry Lynn was featured at Khan’s side. They plugged tomorrow’s AEW Dynamite and revealed that they were in Nashville for tonight’s show.

Shortly after the tag team main event began, Khan and Lynn brought two chairs out to get a closer look at the action. Hardy was also out as he accompanied Private Party to the ring. The finish saw Lynn interfere to help Private Party get the pin to win, and become the new #1 contenders to The Good Brothers’ World Tag Team Titles.

After the main event, The Good Brothers faced off with Private Party until Sabin and Storm attacked them. Impact went off the air after a big brawl broke out.

There is no word on when Private Party vs. The Good Brothers will take place for the titles, or if Sabin and Storm will be added to the match due to the interference.

On a related note, Swann appeared on tonight’s show and mentioned that he’s not sure if his feud with Omega is finished, but he did know that Omega was not in the building tonight. Swann then continued his feud with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose.

AEW has announced that Omega will be on tomorrow’s Dynamite show to “reflect on his dominance” as of late. Callis will be with him, but there’s no word yet on if any other Impact stars will be appearing.

Tony Khan Addresses Coronavirus Backstage At AEW Dynamite, Possible AEW Schedule Changes

AEW President and CEO Tony Khan addressed the coronavirus pandemic during a backstage meeting at last night’s AEW Dynamite tapings from West Valley City, Utah.

Khan reportedly told all AEW talent and staff that no one is under any pressure to work next week’s Dynamite episode from Rochester, NY, or any upcoming shows as long as the outbreak is happening, according to Wrestling Observer Radio.

Khan told the AEW crew that anyone who feels illness or stressed about traveling has permission to stay home, and nobody will be judged by the decision they make. It was also said that no one will lose their spots or push over decisions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regarding next Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite from Rochester, NY at the Blue Cross Arena, there has been some speculation on the event possibly being rescheduled after it was reported that the city has canceled their St. Patrick’s Day parade following the first confirmed case of the virus. The Health Commissioner in Rochester has recommended that they cancel all events with 50 or more people planned to be in attendance. Right now it is a recommendation, but not a mandate.

Currently the Blue Cross Arena still has Dynamite listed for next Wednesday. However, on their Facebook page, the arena has next Wednesday’s AEW date on the calendar, but they also have a July 8 makeup date. However, the link for tickets for the July date redirects you to tickets for next Wednesday’s show.

In other news on AEW and the coronavirus pandemic, @TicketDrew, who often has wrestling-related scoops on scheduling and events, noted this morning that AEW’s next two televised shows have been re-scheduled. This has not been confirmed, but these two dates would be next Wednesday’s show in Rochester, and the March 25 “Blood & Guts” show in Newark, New Jersey. Drew first said that Newark didn’t look to be re-scheduled, but then came back thirty minutes later and reported that Newark had been re-scheduled. He did not provide a makeup date.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Confirms The Name Of Their “WarGames” Themed Match At “AEW Dynamite: Blood And Guts”

AEW announced a special episode of Dynamite called “Blood & Guts” that will take place on March 25 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The show will feature two rings covered by a giant cage for a WarGames-like match.

At the AEW Revolution post-event press conference, Wrestling Inc. asked AEW President Tony Khan about the match and using the “WarGames” name, which is owned by WWE. Khan quickly pointed out that the match is not called WarGames.

“I have not used that term and will never use that term,” Khan said. “You’ll never see me using that expression.”

Khan confirmed to us that the match will be called “Blood & Guts.”

“The expression we’re using for this match is Blood & Guts,” Khan stated. “It’s everything to us, it’s a heart and soul struggle, but it’s also a metaphor for our company in that it’s both a serious thing in that it’s wrestling-centric, but we’re also having fun with it.”

Khan said that “it’s a blood and guts match”, and it’s “going to be awesome.”

“Blood & guts” is a play on a phrase Vince McMahon used when referring to AEW during an earnings call last year. When asked about WWE having more competition, McMahon said that he hopes that AEW doesn’t continue “the blood and guts and gory things that they have been doing.”

You can listen to Khan’s comments about the “Blood & Guts” episode below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Randy Orton And AEW President Tony Khan Spar On Twitter After Khan Responded To a CM Punk Tweet

Tensions between WWE and AEW escalated on Monday when Randy Orton went back back and forth on social media with All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan.

Things kicked off earlier today when CM Punk tagged Khan in a tweet promoting his appearance on tomorrow’s episode of WWE Backstage. “It IS weird trying to catch up on 5+ years of rasslin’, I’m doing what I can. There’s bright spots, mostly women from what I can tell. There’s BAD too. I’m gonna talk about it, and no one is safe. Join us,” he wrote.

Tony Khan responded hours later saying, “No one is safe? Sounds like a plane full of wrestlers in Saudi Arabia!” This was obviously in reference to WWE’s recent travel delays after Crown Jewel.

“What’s that whole thing about glass houses and stones,” Orton replied along with a news article on allegations made against Tony’s father Shahid Khan, who funded the promotion.

Tony wrote back: “I thought you only tagged me in your posts when you were grasping for leverage. That article’s over a year old + is about baseless claims made about my dad years ago. That’s the best you can do, nothing. Meanwhile in the time since that was written, you used the N word on twitch.”

And lastly, Randy ended the night firing back with: “Jacksonville Dixie: Why else would I tag you? If I wanted to talk business, I’d call your father.” He also added a kissy-face emoji.

You can see the tweets below:

Jon Moxley And AEW President Tony Khan Help Pro Wrestler Who Lost Everything In House Fire

This past Thursday, a house fire burned down the home of former pro wrestler Don Wright and his family. While raising five grandkids, Don and his wife Sandy were away when their home was destroyed. Now, they must start anew.

A GoFundMe has been created to help out the Wright’s. Donations will help with clothes, food and school supplies, as school will be starting up for the children (ranging from 4-14 years old) after the summer.

The original goal of $5,000 has been broken, thanks in large part to generous donators. AEW’s Jon Moxley and Tony Khan each donated $5,000 to help break the goal needed.

If you live in the Tenessee area you can make donations to the Trinity Memorial Funeral Home Monday through Friday from 9-5pm. Southern States Wrestling will also be holding an auction and wrestling card to benefit the family on August 10th. Taking place inside The Model City Event Center in Downtown Kingsport, the matches for the event or what will be auctioned off haven’t been announced yet.

You can read the full description of the fund below:

A good friend of mine, and an amazing coworker, has lost her house and car this morning. She has 5 grandchildren, that all live with her, and they have lost everything. They only have the clothes on their backs right now and the food given to them by a neighbor. They need clothes, food, any appliances or furniture, and money to replace things. School will also be starting in a few months, and any help will be appreciated. They have no clue when their insurance may help them, and need any help until then. They believe the fire was caused by electrical issues, but will know more later. They were fortunate enough not to be in the house at the time. Sandy is an amazing person, and is always giving to her coworkers and her grandbabies. We would appreciate any help!!Sincerely, Sandy’s friends and coworkers ❤

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Talks AEW TV Deal With TNT, Reveals An Upcoming Tag Team Tournament For Their Weekly Show, Women’s Tag Titles

All Elite Wrestling’s founder and president Tony Khan recently appeared on The Steve Austin Show to speak with legendary WWE Hall of Famer, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Among a variety of subjects Austin discussed with Khan, he showed great enthusiasm on tag team wrestling’s role moving forward in AEW.

Khan emphasized how “super-focused” he and the rest of the AEW staff are on the company’s tag team division, and he has plans to establish a tournament to showcase what these teams have to offer audiences.

“When we launch our weekly television show in the Fall, we are going to be doing a tag team tournament that is going to have some of the greatest tag team wrestling matches ever on television,” Khan said. “We are going to be starting that, which is going be one of the main focuses on our TV. There are going to be teams that are going to compete for a first-round bye in that tournament, which is a big deal, and we have got some of the best tag teams in all of pro wrestling competing for our Tag Team Championships coming up in the Fall.”

For now, AEW staff and fans alike have their attention on the persisting feud between The Lucha Bros. and The Young Bucks. Khan reminded listeners that it was back in February when this rivalry between the two teams first began in AEW. He sees parallels between The Lucha Bros./Young Bucks feud and the Eddie Guerrero/Art Barr feud from the AAA World’s Collide event back in 1994.

“What is exciting about the match between The Young Bucks and Lucha Bros is that we have been working on this issue for a long time,” Khan explained. “If you look back to when we first went to Las Vegas for the ticket on-sale party, when we announced the on sale date for the pre-sale code for the Double or Nothing sale, we went to the MGM, which was right after the Super Bowl… The Young Bucks had said that they thought they were the best tag team in the world and the Lucha Bros showed up. They are the AAA Tag Team Champions – that’s cool to me because I am a huge fan of wrestling and I remember When World’s Collide PPV very fondly, with Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr kind of changing the game down in Mexico. I thought that this was more of a modern tag team classic [between Lucha Bros and The Young Bucks], and we have tried to establish this issue in so many ways.”

Khan also touched on some of the details regarding AEW’s premier on TNT this Fall. When it came to making a decision on which television network to pursue, Khan reached out to a friend that could help make everything come together seamlessly.

“[TNT was a good choice for AEW because] my friend, Kevin Reilly, is the president of TNT and TBS. It’s going to start in the Fall,” Khan stated. “There will be specific details on that very soon, and it’s going to be really exciting for pro wrestling to return to TNT in prime time, weeknights, for a 2-hour live wrestling show. I can’t tell you the day of the week, but I think it’s going to be the best pro wrestling show anyone has ever done. All Out is going to be our last pay per view going into it.”

Khan looks forward to seeing everyone’s hard work pay off during the the final show before their TV debut.

“We have set up this issue with Chris Jericho and Hangman Page and we are going to continue setting up these huge issues; And now we have set up another big event with Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley.”

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s podcast finally returned this week with a new episode and AEW President Tony Khan was the featured guest.

During the interview, Khan revealed AEW will have Women’s Tag Team belts down the road to go with the planned Women’s Championship.

“I want to focus on a serious main event picture,” he explained. “Both in the singles and the tag team, and then when we establish the women’s singles — ya know, this may be the first time that it gets announced, but just so you know — eventually we will establish a Women’s Tag Team title and focusing on the Women’s singles and the Women’s Tag Team title.”

“I’m not gonna pretend we’re not gonna do it when we talk about being serious about tag team wrestling,” Khan continued. “As we focus on having the best World Championship in singles and tag team, men and women, that’s gonna be the focus of our promotion when I talk about wins and losses mattering.”

Listen to the interview at the link below.

https://player.fm/series/11715/236348315

Source: The Steve Austin Show via Wrestling Inc.