AEW’s Tony Khan stopped Tanahashi vs. Moxley from happening ‘many times’
AEW head Tony Khan admitted that he put the kibosh on Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi happening, not once but many times in the past.
During his weekly appearance on Busted Open Radio, Khan said there was backstory with how the match came to be, saying that in the past, “I would never allow it to happen.”
“They tried to do it so many times…I have always been there to stop it from happening. It’s such a huge match that we had to be involved if it was going to happen,” he said, joking he was like Vince McMahon at WWF Armageddon when McMahon drove out to the ring in a truck to prevent the six-way cage match from happening.
Khan said “it’s fate” that now is the right time and place for Moxley vs. Tanahashi to happen as it will be the main event for this month’s cross-promoted Forbidden Door pay-per-view with NJPW. The two will battle over the interim AEW World title.
Earlier this year, Moxley had challenged Tanahashi for May’s Capital Collision, saying he wanted the Japanese legend to stop ducking him.
The two will come face-to-face for the first time ever on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.