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AEW President Tony Khan took part in a media call to promote AEW All Out this afternoon.
AEW President Tony Khan took part in a media call today to promote AEW All Out.
Khan was asked about the FTW title. He said that they are working on a TV pilot that was different and the FTW title will feature into that. He said that they are still working to establish it.
Khan was asked about Britt Baker vs. Big Swole being on the Buy In. He wants to have matches that fans will entertained and emotionally invested in for free so they want to pay for the rest of the show. He said he loves wrestling fans and noted there were complaints they are going to get something for free. He said the PPV was going to be wrestling heavy and this is a storyline heavy feud. He said last night's Dynamite was a lot more storyline related stuff to set up the PPV.
Khan confirmed the Tooth and Nail match will be "cinematic." He said they can have good wrestling matches but this will be different and fun.
He was asked about the inclusion of NWA footage and Thunder Rosa and what the extent of the working relationship is. He said it's due to the good relationship he has had with Billy Corgan years ago. They met through Chris Nowinski before Khan got into the pro wrestling business. He said the NWA wasn't running right now and it's a good opportunity for everyone. He said the NWA is going to start running again but he thought it was a good opportunity for all sides. He praised the Thunder Rosa vs. Hikaru Shida potential for the PPV. If Rosa wins the belt, you'll see her although there are no current plans for additional NWA stars, although some of their talents have worked for the NWA before AEW.
Khan was asked about keeping surprises quiet. He said it's a mix of keeping things close to the vest and having a small "family" circle.
He was asked about Brock Lesnar on being a free agent. He said he can't comment on that at this time but he's enjoyed him for many years as a fighter and a worker. He's one of the greatest athletes in the history of the wrestling business but can't comment on it right now.
He was asked what the biggest lessons he's learned since running AEW. He said there are times when you are at 7:59:59 and don't realize things you should until after its 8 PM and they are on the air. He noted that they were very storyline-heavy in the second hour last night and they put a lot of pressure on Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb for that hour. He said 4 times a year, he treats the go-home shows different from the other 48 weeks where he wants it to be all wrestling. He learns from every mistake and tries not to make them again. Revolution was a perfect day in his opinion. He had been talking late with talents, then the next day Fulham won a game and then had a great PPV. With the pandemic, everything changed. They were the #1 wrestling company for attendance per show until the pandemic and then things changed. He said that he feels they held back "maybe too much" last night so that fans can get excited for all the big wrestling scheduled for the PPV.
He said there have been major highs and lows during the pandemic. He felt Double or Nothing kicked the crap out of Wrestlemania. Everyone was operating under tough circumstances with the pandemic and AEW were the only ones with a good testing plan at that point, so to set up a bubble and do a PPV, they were really happy. They have come a long way since then. He can't give you a packed arena with fans but he's trying to give you a wrestling version of a drive-in movie theater. Having live fans back is one of the great highs for him. They have a lot of space they didn't use because they didn't want to overtax the security personnel. He said they are working towards doing 15% capacity. The only way to do pro wrestling right now is the way they are doing it - outdoors, fans in their own pod, masks on, and being reminded to keep your masks on.
When it came down to medically testing and how that was developed, his priority was and is keeping everyone safe and healthy. They shut down at first and then began testing and putting talents in the bubble. They've had everyone socially distance and they rigorously test. He started to look at safely using the outside space to see how they could bring back a sense of normalcy. He got the idea from watching Jimmy Fallon having his crew sitting in the crowd. He looked at how they could replicate this and Daily's Place has three different bowls with no bad views. His first thought was how they could safely get people into the building, which his marketing staff helped put together. He praised the creative ingenuity of his team for all their work. They did a soft opening with invited friends and sponsors and staff to see how the process could work. They brought in more security and will continue to evolve.
Khan was asked about Serena Deeb and the women's division. Khan said some of their best women's wrestlers have been trapped outside of the United States because of the pandemic so they are seeking and looking at and bringing in more talent. He praised Thunder Rosa and said he hadn't seen Deeb's work in some time but she came in and got rave reviews and he would love to have her back. They have been looking to bring in and expand with more women. He pointed out Tay Conti's story with Dark Order and said that could be interesting to see where it goes. With some of the women not being available, they have looked into some other talents. He is proud of Rosa and Deeb for hitting a home run last night, tasked with being the wrestling foundation of hour two last night while they were setting up for the PPV with storyline-based material.
Khan said the PPV is going to be very special and he's excited about what they have planned.
Khan said he remains a fan but running a company has changed his perspective tremendously. He learns every week on the job and he gets to have surreal moments, such as working with Tony Schiavone, who he has been listening to his entire life. Before he knew he was starting AEW, Schiavone talked on his podcast about how he regretted leaving WWE because there were things he liked. He is happy that Tony is with him and said he wants to be in a position where they don't overproduce the announcers. He praised Tony for being a workhorse in post-production especially during the period where they had to produce six weeks of material very quickly at the onset of the pandemic. He shares an office with Chris Jericho and Matt Hardy and that's pretty surreal to have them in big matches.
Khan said there's going to be some fun surprises over the next week and doing what he does here is one of his great loves.
He was asked about talents like FTR becoming available and how that changes plans. He said it does plans but when you have one of the best tag teams in the world available to you, that's a great reason to change your plans. He thinks FTR vs. Omega and Page have a chance to hit the bar that the AEW Tag Team Championship bout did at Revolution. He said that being in Atlanta with less than 30% of your roster and not knowing how many episodes you are going to have to stretch this content, if you got through that, you can come out stronger and pivot with anything. He said there are people in all promotions who have made the most of being available during COVID-19 and everyone is trying to be creative and deal with the hands that they have.
Khan was asked about the process of putting together the lineup for the PPV. He said the tone and situation of the cinematic match suits itself for the Buy In. Britt has had some legitimate injuries and last night, that was the first time Britt did anything physical. That's part of the reason it's cinematic. They have some stipulation matches but they expect some great wrestling. He said Jericho and Cassidy is going to be a great match. Hardy vs. Sammy is a Last Man Standing match essentially and put over the story for the bout. The Casino Battle Royal will show how far they have come in terms of depth in the roster since the first one. He ran down and hyped up the card. He said MJF is arguably the future of the company and is excited for the big fight feel of MJF vs. Moxley.
I asked about the relationship with WarnerMedia, the planned new series and how things have changed with WarnerMedia's corporate changes. Khan said thre relationship is great and its the lifeblood of the company . Khan clarified that when Kevin Reilly mentioned AEW Dark, he had stated that mistakenly. They plan to do a totally different hour and Dark will remain on YouTube. The new show will launch within the next year. They have a lot of market testing to do and planning still to go. The pandemic sidetracked those plans and made it more difficult. They have been fortunate that AEW Dynamite has been on the entire time and has been a top 10 show on Wednesday nights. That was a goal for Warner and for AEW. Hopefully as things get back to normal, they will proceed.
Khan said without Kevin Reilly, there's quite possibly that there wasn't going to be AEW. Meeting him led him to going down the road to creating it. He said that it's fitting timing that this is the two year anniversary of All In. That was an important show for pro wrestling. He was going to start a wrestling company before All In but All In helped that process. Jon Moxley's quote about meeting Khan was that this could have gotten really screwed up (creating AEW) but it wasn't. He said that when he went to All In, he knew he was going to do something and good or bad that night, he was going to start a company. He had gone to Kevin Reilly in April 2018 on a whim and the worst that could happen was to be told no. He said that he got aggressive and told Reilly that if he was going to bid on wrestling rights, he should bid on Khan's project. He pitched and built it over a year with marketing and execs and there was even a time where he knew it was a viable business, but wasn't sure it was even going to be on TNT. He realized by December 2018 it was a viable business and he had different plans and models and knew speaking to people like Chris Jericho that this was going to work. To go to All In as their friend and a fan and then to work with them in the same building means a lot to him. He wanted to say he was really thankful for Kevin Reilly because without him, he doesn't think anyone would have made the financial investment he made and he doesn't believe AEW would exist without Kevin Reilly. Now, they have a great relationship with WarnerMedia and he never dreamed he'd be on TNT growing up when he was booking wrestling in notebooks as a kid. To be on the channel he is and working with the people he's working with, it's been a dream and WarnerMedia is a dream partner for them. The show this year has a chance to be a bigger success this year than All Out was last year thanks to WarnerMedia. He said the new bosses he is getting to know have a vision of what they see and want. He is constantly beating himself up to make Dynamite better and make it the best wrestling show in the world. He hopes that as AEW continues to establish itself, he hopes that opens up more opportunities with the WarnerMedia family. There will be a lot more projects beyond their flagship show, Dynamite, in addition to their third hour that is coming. He said his number one concern for 48 weeks a year is wrestling wrestling wrestling. He said he hears the feedback about last night's show and he listens because the fans are always right. They banged their heads against the wall in December.
He said the PPV will be something to make people smile this weekend. He said to have fans there, safely, and to get that reaction and pops and the excitement, he is excited.
Khan was asked about changes as the show evolved for this weekend. He said the changes have been all good. Britt vs. Swole was originally part of the PPV itself. He had changes for the Casino Battle Royal. Talents earned jobs during the Open Challenge. For the most part, the card has remained the same, just a little enhanced. They had talents not available due to their international status, which opened the door for Thunder Rosa and calling Billy Corgan for permission to use her. He ran down the card, putting over the plans.
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