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AEW President Tony Khan took part in a media call this afternoon to promote the Full Gear PPV.
Khan was asked about there being 10 matches on the show and whether this is the format we should expect going forward. He said that for the big four PPVs, its been what they've done and they've gotten good response to have a four hour main card plus a Buy-In. They like the length and feel it's worked well for them.
Khan was asked about Hangman Page and his journey over the last several years. Khan said they've talked about homemade stars in AEW and he's a great example of someone who was blossomed under the eyes of the fans from the beginning. Khan has thought highly of him as a top wrestler when he brought him in. There's a lot of history now with Kenny Omega and Hangman and Adam isn't the wrestler that he was when the company started. He's always believed in them as having something special between them, dating back to their teaming on the third-ever Dynamite. He ran down the history between the two leading to Sunday's PPV.
Khan was asked about the potential of having PPVs on the West Coast and the Mountain Time Zone. Khan said they are coming to the West Coast next year. It's been difficult to not travel as much as they wanted. In 2021, they have been making up dates they originally had for 2020 that had been canceled due to the pandemic. They are caught up and they will service the fans on the West Coast in 2022. He wants to bring Double or Nothing back to Vegas.
Khan was asked about the Ring of Honor and whether there was interest in pursuing the ROH video library and/or members of the roster. He can't say anything with any certainty but they will see what happens on the business side and regarding talents, keep an eye out because you never know who could show up. He is familiar with what is going on in ROH and he has a lot of friends there but he can't state with any certainty what could happen with the business side.
Khan was asked about the potential of doing an all-women's show. Khan said that he paid a lot of the highest paid talents that worked the NWA Empowerrr event and sent them, so he feels he has contributed to help this year with women's wrestling and wished the NWA had made that more clear. He's pushed to add and built the women's division this year, they are doing the TBS title tournament, they've added Ruby Soho and Thunder Rosa to the company and he's working to build the division. He is trying to make great strides at improving women's wrestling.
Khan was asked about the former Bray Wyatt. He said the last time he saw him was a late night at Chris Jericho's birthday party last year. He's a wonderful person and a great talent.
Khan was asked whether there will be any rebrand or refresh for Dynamite when it comes over to TBS this January. Khan said the wrestling and wrestlers and what people love about Dynamite will be the same. They may tweak the look and presentation and it will be fun and "if you don't like it, we'll go back", Khan said, laughing. He's excited about the move to TBS. There will be a lot less time-shifting for sports when they go to TBS. He said they've had some great momentum and now are working uphill to get the numbers back after being shifted over to Saturdays for a few weeks.
Khan stated they will have the first-ever Battle of The Belts in 2022. That appears to be the Clash of Champions special.
Khan was asked about a moment on last night's taping where they celebrated a fan being cancer-free. They wanted to have a nice moment for the crowd and have CM Punk in front of the live crowd as well as giving Ruby a moment in her hometown as she's a big star.
Khan was asked about the Owen Hart tournament. There will be updates after the Full Gear PPV. This show is jam-packed and he didn't want the tournament to be overshadowed. There will be more announcements after Full Gear on Dynamite and Rampage.
Khan was asked about Eddie Kingston and whether Tony could foresee what he could be to AEW when he first brought him in. Khan said he connected with Kingston immediately and tried to find a spot for him too. Cody had a list of people he wanted to work with during the TNT Title Open Challenge. Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston were two of them. He knew the second Ricky was in the ring and he knew immediately he was going to do the Team Taz thing with. Kingston he didn't have that for. He knew he had to do something with him, such a massive talent and he and Cody had a great match. He gave Eddie the chance to be the Eddie Gilbert for The Lucha Brothers, Butcher and The Blade for that stable. They went into a heel/heel build in 2020 that he was inspired by the Midnight Express vs. Tully & Arn in Jim Crockett Promotions. He had the three different heel stables that appeared were going to go at it leading into the Casino Battle Royal. He earmarked Kingston to wrestle Jon Moxley which is why he and Lance Archer was the last two guys. Lance was to be the next guy but picked up COVID when going to a veterinarian and they went with Mox and Kingston. The had a great match and a great rivalry and a team coming out of that He knew Eddie was loved by the hardcore fans but he doesn't want to undersell how far Eddie has come in front of and behind the scenes. Since he's gotten to AEW, he's always believed in him and he's happy to have him in one of the biggest matches or the year this Saturday against CM Punk.
Khan was asked about Inner Circle vs. American Top Team and protecting the talents against legitimate MMA fighters. The story came up through his relationship with Dan Lambert. Lambert was visiting and is a big fan of old school wrestling. He had in ATT some of the best wrestlers in the world. He said they got some of their best mainstream attention for this, on the level of Mike Tyson, Shaq, Snoop Dogg and others who have been involved.
Khan was asked about Paige VanZant doing pro wrestling. She is tremendous and he would love for her to do more.
Khan was asked his thoughts on the Dark tapings at Universal. Khan said they are going to continue doing them when they can. When they do live Rampages, they do Dark there. They will tape Dark tomorrow in Minneapolis.
Khan was asked about the Lio Rush and Dante Martin team. Khan said there's a story that is developing but he's not going to say where it goes. People have liked it. Khan really likes Lio and he's a tremendous talent. Khan said Sonjay Dutt did a great job of coaching the match last night. He praised Lio and was glad people got to see his talents on display last night.
Khan asked about New Japan talents and what the relationship with NJPW heading into 2022. Their relationship has changed since AEW started. They were pretty upset at him when AEW started but he thinks they saw over time that he wasn't trying to prevent them from doing what they wanted. They allowed Jericho to go over there and even had an AEW Eliminator match with Hiroshi Tanahashi. He was happy to see the reaction for the Roppongi Vice theme as he felt it was right for the fans and in terms of building anticipation for the return of Trent. He has a great relationship, which is why it was comical to him that on a weekend, it was being signal boosted by a PR person that WWE and New Japan were going to work together. They knew what was planned and he's really liked working with them. That's why he thought it would be fun to cut a promo right before a live show to get buzz for that show. He knew they all these plans and they were working together. He asked New Japan if he should do the promo and he thought it was hilarious.
He was asked about the TBS title and how it will be treated. He said the TNT and TBS titles will be sibling championships. They've had some monster ratings for TNT title matches. He talked up the women's division and this weekend's Britt Baker vs. Tay Conti match. He was shocked she was let go elsewhere and wanted to snap her up immediately. He started with a field and they are up to a great eight and he's looking forward to the tournament and that's how it's going to be treated going forward, like the TNT belt.
Khan was asked what has been the company's strength in attracting non-traditional fans. He said wrestling, in his childhood, brought diverse groups of people together. It's an intersection of people from different interests and backgrounds. Wrestling isn't popular in just one part of the world. It's big in some parts of the the world where sports aren't as popular. AEW has gotten great penetration. As they go into their final PPV of 2021, it's their first chance to show off this new roster. The company has grown and he's excited. People will see how far they've come from a year ago. Trying to add AEW in more countries and expand the TV.
Khan was asked how Adam Page having his child changed the trajectory of the build for Full Gear. Khan said they sometimes have to make lemonade when you have lemons. Things weren't what he originally expected when Page wasn't available around All Out but he's back and they've got a great roster and he's excited to see how thing play out.
Khan noted during the call that All Out topped 200,000 PPV buys.
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