Tony Khan reacts to WWE booking two shows against AEW All In
Tony Khan sees WWE’s latest move as a compliment.
During the AEW Forbidden Door media scrum, our own Dave Meltzer asked Tony Khan if he had heard that WWE announced on Sunday that a AAA show and this year’s NXT Heatwave would run back-to-back on the same day as AEW All In on August 30.
“I did see that. I did see that,” he said. “I saw that one, yeah.”
When Meltzer said he saw it as “quite the compliment,” Khan agreed.
“It’s good. It’s double the compliment Jimmy Crockett got. That’s good, twice as nice as they were to Jimmy. That’s great. I’ll be sure to take it that way. I think we’re going to have a great AEW All In and really looking forward to going back to Wembley Stadium. It’s going to be the biggest night in AEW wrestling,” he said.
“I can’t speak to what the other promotions are doing but I did see that announcement,” he continued. “I saw that with our own show going on tonight, so not a lot I can do other than just hope we have a really good show and plan and prepare that we will have a very good show for AEW All In.”
Khan took questions during the media scrum as well as Owen Hart Foundation tournament winners Mercedes Mone and Will Ospreay and AEW Women’s Champion Thekla. Here are the highlights:
Mercedes Mone
- On her Owen Hart Foundation touranment win, Mone said that she’s ready to win the one title she hasn’t won yet. She used to hate London, but has now grown to love the city.
- She asked if she was ready for Thekla. She declared herself the greatest women’s wrestler of all time and labeled Thekla as a “walk in the park” later in the interview, saying she wasn’t afraid of a five-foot spider.
- Mercedes was asked what it was like to wrestle someone who looked up to her. She said she was really proud of Maya World, but she is still in her prime at 34.
- She continued to talk about Eddie Guerrero’s influence on her wrestling, saying she wouldn’t be here without him. She felt that he was a part of her life even though he is no longer with us.
- She rejected the idea of forming her own faction.
Thekla
- Her response to Mercedes Mone winning the Owen Hart Foundation tournament: “Good for her.”
- She didn’t care about Mone’s title win, saying “I’m going to retain, I don’t care.”
- She was happy that Stardom head Taro Okada was coming to Dynamite and said she wasn’t done burning Stardom to the ground after her victory Sunday over Starlight Kid.
- Regarding what’s next for her and the Triangle of Madness, she said to “expect the worst.”
Tony Khan
- Regarding a question on more fan fests, he said there would be more opportunities for those in the future.
- Has no ideas on pay-per-view buys for Forbidden Door, but pre-buys went really well.
- Someone asked about Yota Tsuji’s comments regarding the IWGP Championship and Tsuji’s decision to boycott Forbidden Door. Khan said he appreciated the representation of NJPW. He has a lot of respect for Tsuji and the IWGP title and wanted him here. Khan mentioned that Tsuji also said he respected AEW and himself, so there were two sides to what Tsuji said.
- Regarding a possible cross-branded tournament with NJPW, Khan said it was interested but there would be logistical issues getting something like that together.
- Khan was asked when All In would be returning to the United States, Khan said there were a lot of great spots not just in the US, but specifically mentioned North America.
- He said that while people were banged up, he is thankful no one suffered any long term injuries tonight.
- On the “void” during WrestleMania weekend, Tony Khan said there were plans and something “to keep an eye on.”
- He said it was a dream come true to do this and when starting the company back in 2018, he never imagined having all the names he has under one roof.
- Mike Mansury was the person behind the circular steel cage. Khan said he hoped to bring back Death’s Door for a future event.
- Khan reiterated his ideas regarding booking. He said he would trust his instincts and felt he was disciplined for the first several years of the company after taking over booking in late 2019. He said he was thrown for a loop around 2022 as more shows were added. But he said they did better in 2025 than 2024, and this year is better than last year.
- Says Maya World has earned a “really great place” in AEW and was further ahead than she was before the tournament. Khan said he was excited for her future.
- Someone asked about keeping the pay-per-views special while also booking high-caliber matches for television. Khan said it’s a challenge but it works both ways as he tries to find a right balance between both.
- He said Willow Nightingale could potentially return soon.
- Regarding Jay White, he just got cleared this week and the Bang Bang Gang are very important to AEW, noting White’s longtime feud with The Dogs.
Will Ospreay
- Says he’s ready to fight for his dream and to win the AEW World Championship in Wembley, he’s on cloud nine right now. He thanked everyone for their support from day one including his parents, Tony Khan, and promotions he’s worked for in the past including RevPro and New Japan.
- When asked what he told Strickland after the match, he said it was a personal thing between himself and Strickland, he can’t elaborate further.
- Ospreay recounted being told he would need surgery while at Nintendo World in Orlando and how emotional he got after hearing the news. He talked about how he couldn’t do anything after getting the surgery and hated the idea that his kid saw him be so frail as he covered. He said he fought to come back not just for himself but also for his kid.
- Dave Meltzer asked to name moments in his career that led to his victory at Forbidden Door. He mentioned wrestling Shingo Takagi to win his second Best of the Super Juniors tournament, followed by standing in the ring with Bryan Danielson. He believes he is the best wrestler in the world right now.
- He said he’s never been frustrated after a match, he only can go out there and do his best. He doesn’t like pressure.
Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.