Arn Anderson: Tony Khan is a ‘class act,’ treats AEW talent really well
Arn Anderson holds no ill will toward AEW or Tony Khan after his departure from the company in 2024.
On the June Q&A edition of his Arn Show podcast, the legendary Four Horsemen member was asked about the circumstances of his AEW exit. Anderson said that, with Cody Rhodes leaving AEW for WWE, Anderson’s angle was up and he was no longer able to play the role AEW brought him in for. They tried to pair Anderson with Wardlow, but it didn’t really go anywhere.
Anderson spoke highly of Tony Khan as a boss and felt like Khan used him as best as he could given the circumstances.
“Tony treated us really well. I’ll never say anything [bad] about Tony Khan,” Anderson said. “He’s a class act, used me the best he could in the situation. Just one of them things. Timing is everything — it was just bad timing.”
The 67-year-old Anderson agreed that Khan treats all of the AEW talent well and goes out of the way to do things he doesn’t have to do. Because Khan treated him with respect, Anderson believes he should show respect for Khan in return.
“You should turn around and treat your employer with the same respect that he has treated you with,” Anderson said. “Because he doesn’t have to put you in a first-class hotel, he doesn’t have to fly you first class, he doesn’t have to provide transportation back and forth to the airport, to the hotel. I mean, Tony Khan treats his talent first class.”
Anderson’s son Brock also spent time in AEW and later went on to have a stint on the MLW roster. The introduction of Brock in AEW was “about as good as you could get,” Anderson feels, with Brock getting to work alongside Rhodes.
During his time with AEW, Anderson served as an on-screen manager/advisor/coach for Rhodes. Anderson is like an uncle to Rhodes in real life and is very proud of the success he’s had in his career.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.