Tony Khan has responded to the recent reports about the behind the scene changes in AEW and adjustment to the creative process within the company. The AEW owner spoke to Mike Johnson of PWinsider and tried to clear the air on the changes that have been made since their inception in 2019.
Khan mentioned that he saw the reports that came out earlier this week and thought that they were pretty disingenuous. He claimed that nothing has changed in recent months. The AEW president explained that the structural changes occurred back in 2019 because he felt like he needed to take more responsibility:
“Yeah, I saw those reports this week and I thought that was pretty disingenuous stuff from some of the internet wrestling writers because nothing has changed in recent months and really, the structure changed for me at the end of 2019 and it was because of me, I felt like I needed to take over and be more accountable as the CEO and Booker.
Tony Khan’s comments confirmed reports of the reduced influence of AEW EVPs on the creative are correct. Though he continued his explanation claiming that the account saying that nothing has changed recently was pretty accurate. He then revealed what has been the biggest difference in the creative process:
“I think the biggest difference has been instead of five people getting in a room and putting a format together, I get in a room and put a format together.”
TK discussed how it was part of his 2020 revolution to take on a more organized approach and create more of the product himself. He said that his goal was to lay out the stories and matches and then format everything in a nice package himself. He has been doing that for almost a year and a half.