Tony Khan addresses potential ‘burnout’ from running AEW
Tony Khan addressed potential burnout from running AEW during the Full Gear post-show media event on Saturday night.
The AEW president was asked if he’s ever hit a stage where he has less motivation in his role as head of the promotion.
“No. I haven’t taken a break from wrestling in a long, long time,” Khan responded. “I love it and I’m very much in the zone. I love coming to work every week. I’ve never missed a show and I absolutely love it.”
He added:
“Every day I come into work I’m so grateful to be in the chair. And I think all the time about how fortunate I am. I’m also really glad that you all, for the most part, a lot of the wrestling fans, seem to like the work I’m doing and want me to be in the chair. Because I’m also cognizant that it’s not always that way for people.”
“A year ago I felt like I was working really hard, and I was trying my best, and I feel like after a year later being in the same building in the same place, it feels like we’re in a better place than we were a year ago in many, many ways.”
Khan continued to say that it takes a special kind of sports fan to follow a sport year round with no off season. He mentioned there were a couple of times in the 1990s when, as a fan, he missed a few shows in a row but would always “rediscover his love” of wrestling sometime later. Now he says, he never thinks about being away from it.
Khan continued:
“Being entrenched in it now for seven years, every single day without a week away from it, I’m obsessed with it. I love it so much. I never think about being away from it. I eat and breathe and sleep it, so it’s really a pleasure to be here and I never take it for granted how special it is to be able to do this.”
Dave Meltzer addressed Khan’s comments on the post AEW Full Gear episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, saying:
“[Tony] doesn’t burn out. I think it’s pretty clear that Tony Khan’s always going to be the booker of AEW. If you like the product the way he presents it, it’s good. If you want some other type of product, it’s not going to be that product.”
Khan’s comments about burnout are available at the 1-hour and 43-minute mark of the below video:
Dave Meltzer and Garrett Gonzales addressing Khan’s comments on Wrestling Observer Radio are available in the clip below:
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.