With AEW: Full Gear 2021 taking place this weekend, Tony Khan spoke to the media in a media call to address questions which writers, journalists and fans might have. Last Word on Sports was delighted to be welcomed to the event and we recorded the questions asked during the hour, so that you may see what Tony had to say. Let’s dive in.
Question from Chris of Bleacher Report
Chris asks whether PPV times are set permanently to four hours and whether that can change in the future. Khan says that the big four events, right now, have the “perfect” length – All Out having such a great reception and being so well grossing is evident of that. “It’s a good length of card” and it “works very well”, states Khan.
Question from Jon Alba from Ad Free Sports
John states that “Hangman” Adam Page is positioned to be a big star and that the match at Full Gear could be a crowning moment. He asks Khan what he would like to say about Page’s progression in AEW over the past two years. Khan says Page is the epitome of a “homemade star” who hardcore fans knew of prior to AEW, but without having been on TV every week before becoming a regular on AEW Dynamite, he is a sort of AEW homegrown star. He got the very first shot at the AEW World Championship and ever since then, he has continued to grow as a star – Tony believed in him from the beginning and felt he has continued to grow as a pro wrestler. His partnership and connection with Kenny Omega over the years, as well as the recent rivalry which has led to this match at Full Gear, has led to this storybook match. Khan adds he believes in both Omega and Page and the third ever Dynamite was the first time Page and Omega had teamed up together. He mentions that the story, the chemistry (evident in the match with the Young Bucks at Revolution) and everything about them is unique.
Question from Jonathan of ESPN Chicago
Jonathan asks how likely is it for AEW to have big shows in Mountain Time Zones (MT) in the near future. Khan says that there will be shows on the West Coast in 2022 – this is a certainty. He also adds that he plans for Double or Nothing to return to Las Vegas in 2022.
Question from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Magazine
Sean asks about Ring of Honor (ROH) – bringing up the recent news story that all talents under the Ring of Honor umbrella were let go. He asks if there is any possibility of Khan potentially looking into acquiring ROH or at least some of the talents. Khan says that “you never know” who is going to show up on any of the AEW shows but says he can’t confirm with any degree of certainty what is going to happen in the future.
Ella Jay from SEScoops
Ella asks if AEW have any plans for an all-women’s show in the near future. Khan cuts off the question and states that he played a big role in the NWA women’s show which took place recently; sounding a little annoyed that NWA never publicly stated Khan’s role in that event. He claims to have paid the wrestlers who were on that show and describes it as being like “not being thanked for paying for the big dinner.” Khan brings up some of the big female names – such as Ruby Soho and Thunder Rosa – in AEW and how well they are doing. He also brings up the potential success of the ongoing TBS Championship tournament, which is currently taking place in AEW. He says he has been trying to make big strives with women’s wrestling in AEW.
Nick Hausman from Wrestling Inc.
Nick brings up Windham Rotunda – the former Bray Wyatt – and his 90 day release clause expiring recently. Khan states that he has never spoken to Windham about coming to AEW, despite being friends with him. Says he last saw and spoke to him well over a year ago, at Chris Jericho‘s birthday party. There are no plans.
Sebastian Diaz from Over the Top Rope Wrestling
Sebastian asks if there will be a re-branding of Dynamite (staging, lighting, music etc) when it moves from TNT to TBS early next year. Khan says the great wrestling, wrestlers etc will be the same on TBS. As for the look of the show, however, Khan states that there could be a few tweaks and if fans don’t like them, they’ll revert back to the current look.
Steven Spice from Steven’s Wrestling Journey
Steven asks how Tony and his crew come up with the matches and booking of the show every week. Khan states that he stays up really late to work hard on the booking of the show – he might spend all day or all night thinking of different ideas to use on the shows. He then takes all the ideas and figure out which ones are the “good ones and the bad ones” and “hopefully” keep the good ones. Then he has to plan these ideas around the stories, the timing of the show, commercial breaks, etc.
Nagier Chambers from Big Gold Belt Media
Nagier asks about the big moment in Minneapolis when Ruby Soho, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes got to celebrate a fan being cancer free and how it came together. Khan expresses that it was very much a joint effort – with Ruby joining them after Punk reminding Khan that Ruby is a hometown favorite.
Marc Madison of Pro Wrestling Post
Marc asks whether Khan could have imagined Eddie Kingston would become the beloved figure he has in AEW. Khan says yes – they connected very quickly and Eddie is now a “very, very close” friend of his. Khan also states that he didn’t know Kingston before he came into AEW, so their friendship developed there. He’s not surprised by how well Eddie has done in AEW.
Stephanie Chase from Digital Spy
Stephanie asks what led to Tony putting the Inner Circle against American Top Team. Khan says he is good friends with Dan Lambert – who is a big fan of old school wrestling, as well as modern wrestling. He says that he spoke with Chris (Jericho) about the heat Lambert and American Top Team were getting and said “there’s something here” and with people loving Jericho and the Inner Circle, it was a pretty much ready-made feud. A “cool rivalry” which has led to main stream coverage because of the UFC and MMA connection.
Jim from Miami Herald
Jim mentions the Dark tapings at Universal Studios and asks if the plan is to continue taping Dark there. Tony gives a pretty certain “yes” and says they will continue to tape Dark there and that there are no plans to change.
Bill Pritchard from Wrestle Zone
Bill asks about Lio Rush and if there are any plans to keep Rush and Dante Martin together. Khan says it’s a developing storyline and he can’t say too much, but says that Rush is doing well and that he is a huge fan of him as a performer. Khan says that when Lio Rush retired, Khan actively tried to bring him in. He also says that if Lio isn’t wrestling, he’s not making use of his best talents.
Samantha Schipman from Daily DDT
Samantha mentions Best Friends joining CHAOS and KENTA wanting to “GTS” CM Punk and asks what the relationship is between New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and AEW. Khan states that it is a “great relationship” which has changed a lot over the last couple of years as NJPW came to realize that Khan isn’t trying to take anything away from them. The favors that Khan has done for them – such as letting them make use of the likes of Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho – has also won them over; with his “honest approach” to business being commendable by NJPW and others. He finishes with “it’s a great relationship and I really like working with them.” Samantha gets a second question in and asks if the TBS Championship will be treated as level to the AEW Women’s Championship. Khan says to see the TBS Championship like the TNT Championship, in that it is a serious title which will be treated and booked very well. Side note: Khan speaks very fondly of Tay Conti and cites her as being one of the most improved wrestlers in the world.
Daniel McMahon Young from Gate Keepers
Daniel asks what AEW has done so well to attract non-traditional wrestling fans in the past six months or so. Khan says that wrestling brings lots of people together; whether they’re jocks, artists, musicians etc., wrestling can bring different groups and cliques of audiences together worldwide because it is a sport with something for everyone. Continuing to grow the audience worldwide through TV and event deals will further diversify the audience.
Garrett Martin from Paste Magazine
Garrett mentions that fans are expecting the coronation of Adam Page as the face of the company this weekend and how his paternity leave impacted AEW, if at all. Khan states it had an impact; losing one of the biggest, growing stars in the company for so long was a challenge. He adds that, with his absence, he had to make the best of the shows in his absence – which he believes he did. All Out is an example of this, with how well received and how well grossing it was. He ends with how glad he is to have Page back.
More from LWOS Pro Wrestling
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TNT and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube.
