Tony Khan media call notes & audio: World Cup, Sareee, MyAEW growth, free agent surprises
Tony Khan hit on a few different topics during Thursday’s pre-AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door media call including his interest in buying TNA Wrestling, the growing roster of content on MyAEW, the contract status of Jack Perry, visa issues affecting the PPV, NJPW’s ownership change, and more.
While we have a few stories on our website already, here’s some of the other interesting answers with full audio below:
- Asked about if the World Cup is affecting AEW, he said he’s watching it very closely both for the sport itself and the dates in terms of putting his matches in the best possible position. He said last night’s Dynamite was a great night to put Mistico and Bandido in prominent positions before the Mexico WC game started. He mentioned there are opportunities to work with FIFA and venues, mentioning Claudio Castagnoli going to do FD media when Switzerland played in the Bay Area recently (pictured above).
- He confirmed Redemption will be the tenth PPV on the calendar this year, meaning the July addition won’t eliminate a future month.
- He said the ROH Tag Team titles weren’t factored into the booking of the Young Bucks vs. Sky Team vs. Unbound Co. three-way for Forbidden Door and that it was “presumptive” to assume any result for Friday’s CMLL show that would result in that happening.
- There were several questions about the MyAEW streaming service, one being whether NJPW, Stardom and CMLL could be more strategic content partners. Khan says those conversations have taken place with CMLL, but pointed out that NJPW has New Japan World.
- In another, he was asked if there was interest in library acquisition like Lucha Underground and PWG. Khan said he is interested in promoting companies and their wrestlers, but buying a library depends on the situation and that the only one he’s ever done is ROH.
- Khan said “absolutely yes” to a question of whether he has interest in MyAEW being a broadcaster for a week of indie wrestling action ahead of a big event like next year’s Revolution might be shaping up to be. He said there’s a lot of interest from promoters to do something around an AEW event, specifically pointing to August’s All In as a possibility of that happening.
- He was asked about the status of Toni Storm, Keith Lee, Britt Baker and Jay White. He said all of them are in different positions and some are closer to coming back than others. He didn’t give any further info.
- Khan said Sareee came to AEW ready to wrestle against Skye Blue and was armed with clearance from her doctor, but AEW medical personnel didn’t clear her as they didn’t feel it was safe for her to wrestle that night in the Owen Hart tournament. He hopes to have her debut at some point in the future.
- Asked about the potential for major surprises and debuts at Forbidden Door given the free agents linked to AEW, Khan pointed out that many of the names that have been linked are still under contract with another promotion.
- Asked if he’s interested in more dual contracts, Khan said it’s worked out quite well with CMLL and while there are opportunities to do that as well with NJPW and/or Stardom, “it takes two to tango” and hasn’t been a focus as of now.
Josh Nason
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.