Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Friday's in-ring debut of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos:
"[Junior] dos Santos is one of the toughest people in the world, and he is a huge attraction in the MMA world. He's a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and a big name and to get in the ring with these heavyweights, it made a lot of sense to take a former UFC champion and put him in the ring with Jericho who is a former AEW champion, and Sammy Guevara, the TNT champion, and Jake Hager, who's got an undefeated MMA record as a heavyweight. So for all these reasons, it made a lot of sense for Junior, I think an Jorge Masvidal also a top name in MMA. It's great to have him at ringside and we've seen he's not afraid to get involved. He's already thrown that flying knee at Jericho and he's a dangerous presence and they've said if anybody tries to put their hands on Dan Lambert, who's got about as much heat as anybody in wrestling right now, Masvidal is not afraid to knock them out again.
So I think it's a great situation...and Scorpio Sky, I'm glad you've talked to him. Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page, two very tough guys. And when I first put them together as a team, to be honest, I thought they could build this great chemistry. It's been even beyond what I was hoping for. They've just been tremendous. And then looking at their backgrounds, I felt like it's a very natural fit. And American Top Team has really come together as a faction, I think with Sky Page and these big UFC and MMA various companies fighters coming together. And some big names that have helped us get huge press, particularly when Masvidal, dos Santos, Paige Vanzant, Arlovski, Kayla Harrison, and many others have gotten involved. When Masvidal knocked Jericho out with the flying knee, that's some of the most press AEW's ever gotten and it was huge mainstream buzz for us, which has been great and it's a huge match on the card on Rampage. So really trying to build it up and starting out this huge weekend of live wrestling on TNT with a stacked Rampage."
The future of MMA talents in AEW:
"It's ongoing... Dan Lambert being up here with American Top Team. Dan Lambert's the manager of Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page and he's also owner of American Top Team. Sky and Page are in American Top Team and that means their teammates are going to be a part of AEW, which I love. So it's great. I expect more involvement and active involvement from American Top Team, as long as Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page are running wild in AEW and they're in American Top Team."
Paige Vanzant in AEW:
"Paige is very great and she's a wonderful person, great talent. One of the toughest people I've ever had the pleasure of having on AEW Rampage and Dynamite. I think Paige would be great for us and she's just been very kind to keep coming and helping us by giving us the great exposure she gives. And she's a very important part of Dan's American Top Team also."
Ruby Soho's run thus far in AEW:
"Huge, huge success for us so far. She came in and made a huge splash by winning the Casino Battle Royale at All Out. And this match is very important because now as we're determining the fields for the TBS championship, in terms of who's getting in the tournament, the seeding of the tournament, could somebody injure another participant before the tournament, knock them out, there's a lot of things that could happen. And so it's more important than ever for people to get wins and stay healthy. So this is a big match for both The Bunny, who's been a really important heel I believe, and had a great pairing with Penelope Ford that we've seen ahead of that aforementioned Casino Battle Royale. And they made a run at it together. And of course that led to a great story and a lot of great matches against Tay Conti and Anna Jay, singles matches and that big tag match we just had. So, I think it's a great thing to see Ruby Soho come into AEW and thrive in this environment. She had some great matches, had a great match on Elevation with Sakura. And I believe this will be, again, one of the three huge matches we're putting on this stacked Rampage card for Friday night. And it's just this huge weekend wrestling. This is a great way to kick it off."
More Tony Khan on Page 3!
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
