On Saturday night, ROH held its first set of TV tapings of the weekend from Orlando, FL, at Universal Studios. The promotion will return on Sunday evening for another round of tapings.
The relaunch episode under Tony Khan will premiere on Thursday, March 2nd, that will air on the HonorClub streaming service. ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli vs. AR Fox will headline this show.
The Kingdom defeated The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo).
NJPW TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Blake Christian.
Christopher Daniels defeated Rohit Raju.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Josh Woods.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun & Toa Liona) defeated LSG, Joe Keys & Rex Lawless.
Ari Daivari defeated Gran Metalik.
Madison Rayne & Skye Blue defeated The Renegades.
During a Wheeler Yuta in-ring promo with Ian Riccaboni, Timothy Thatcher challenged Yuta for the Pure Title that happened later in the tapings.
Willow Nightingale defeated Lady Frost. Nightingale challenged ROH Women’s Champion Athena to a future title match.
ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defeated AR Fox to retain the title. Eddie Kingston came out after the match where he had promised Jon Moxley that he wouldn’t beat Castagnoli’s butt in AEW but this wasn’t AEW. Claudi left without saying anything to him.
ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe defeated Tony Deppen. After Joe asked for his next challenger, Mark Briscoe came out and accepted because the title was his destiny.
Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Cody Chhun, Guillermo Rosas & Marcus Kross.
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defeated Timothy Thatcher to retain the title. Post-match, Yuta says he’s in the ’96 Bulls with Jordan and Pippen while these “track suit dojo boys” think they’re so great because they train with Shibata. Clark Connors challenged Wheeler to a match.
Aussie Open defeated Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus
Eddie Kingston defeated Ben Dejo (aka Jon Cruz/Serpentico). Post-match, he demanded a shot at the ROH World Title. Castagnoli said that “a man without honor will never be ROH Champion” and left.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Willow Nightingale to retain the title.
AEW and Tony Khan having been teasing an “important announcement by Tony Khan” since last week.
Just minutes before the main event, Tony Khan was backstage with Renee Paquette hyping “huge news”. Khan said it was so huge, that he was letting a “major AEW star” make the announcement. Adam Cole announced that beginning in March, AEW: All Access would air on TBS after AEW Dynamite.
It’s an unscripted series that will follow certain AEW stars. According to Variety, the show will follow Cole, Britt Baker, DMD, Eddie Kingston, Wardlow, Tay Melo, Sammy Guevara, Saraya, Young Bucks, and Khan.
“We’re always looking for new ways to engage with fans and give them unique access to our incredible talent,” Khan said. “With the new ‘AEW: All Access’ series, they’ll have a chance to peek behind the curtain and into the lives of their favorite wrestlers like never before. To show the human side of some of these larger-than-life figures will give fans a rare perspective about who these wrestlers are when the cameras aren’t typically on.”
“AEW has such an amazingly loyal and dedicated fan base that brings in more than 4 million viewers to TBS every Wednesday night,” added Jason Sarlanis, president of Turner Networks, ID, & HLN, linear and streaming. “With ‘All Access,’ we are bringing that incredible audience a whole new way to experience the wrestling universe they love. We have a powerful partnership with Tony Khan and AEW. With this new series we are expanding the franchise in a way that invites viewers inside the world of wrestling like never before.”
AEW President Tony Khan says he’s excited to deliver some big news on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite. He teased that it’s something that will be “great for the company” and has given a hint about what it’s about.
Dynamite will take place from Phoenix, Arizona just weeks before Revolution, the company’s next pay-per-view event scheduled for Saturday, March 5.
AEW is advertising a number of matches and segments for the broadcast, including:
Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno
Orange Cassidy defends the AEW All-Atlantic Championship against ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta
A Tag Team Battle Royale to determine who challenges the Gunn Glob at Revolution
Saraya vs. Skye Blue
The Acclaimed vs. Big Bill & Lee Moriarty
We’ll hear from Bryan Danielson, the #1 contender to MJF’s AEW World Championship
Christian Cage speaks with Tony Schiavone about his AEW return
TK spoke with the Phoenix New Times to hype Dynamite and continued to hype up this mystery revelation.
Tony Khan’s Big Announcement
When asked about the big announcement, Khan told Benjamin Leatherman of the Phoenix New Times, “Hah. Well, I can’t tell you right now, but it’s something I’m very excited about and it’s great for the company.”
That’s not very substantive, but the ‘hint’ came when Khan was asked about the possibility of AEW collaborating with New Japan Pro Wrestling again for another Forbidden Door PPV.
Without answering the Forbidden Door question directly, he circled back to the announcement.
“There are a lot of exciting things in the near future for AEW,” said Khan. “All I can say is we have an important announcement coming at this show in Phoenix. And it’s an exciting development for the company, and I’m excited to share it with the fans in Phoenix and all over the world.”
Ariel Helwani is speaking out after AEW President Tony Khan called him a “fraud” after his appearance on Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
Helwani is primarily an MMA journalist, but also covers some pro wrestling. In recent months, he’s interviewed WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque, AEW President Tony Khan and several WWE superstars. He’s also worked for WWE in a limited capacity, narrating video packages and most recently, serving as an on-screen correspondent.
Several people blasted Helwani as unethical, including Khan. Several months ago, Helwani called his interview with Tony Khan “one of the most frustrating, and to a degree, not-so-fun interviews of my career.” That relationship has deteriorated even further, with Khan labeling Helwani a “fraud” and Helwani referring to Khan as “the snowman.”
Helwani hasn’t been phased by Tony Khan’s attack. After SmackDown, he wrote on Twitter that it was a “perfect” experience. “Life is short,” he tweeted. “I’m enjoying the ride. Thanks to the real ones for the support along the way”.
On Monday, he addressed the situation on the latest edition of his MMA Hour podcast.
“I see this tweet from Tony Khan, and I read it like three times, I swear to god, I thought it was fake. I thought it was fake. You know, because anybody can have a blue check, right? This guy doesn’t follow me, he’s never tweeted me, I was like, ‘There’s no way that he actually tweeted this.’
Number one, proving that he was watching, which is bizarre, why would you put the competition over and show that you’re watching some random SmackDown at some random moment in telecast?
Number two, putting down his own guy in the process, the great Tony Schiavone, Atlanta sports legend. Calling me a fraud, and then saying that I am as much as a journalist as Tony Schiavone. Now, I’m trying to think, what is the point that he is trying to prove here? He is trying to prove that Schiavone isn’t a journalist? Correct me if I’m wrong, as an Atlanta guy, doesn’t he kind of have some respect as a media dude?
So this guy is calling me a fraud, then he’s saying, Tony Schiavone is as much of a journalist as me, I guess trying to imply that he’s not a real journalist and I’m not a real journalist? Why insult your own guy in the process?
The real thing he should have done is not say anything. Why are you putting over the competition’s broadcast? Your show is coming up, nice little cheeky hashtag there on the tweet as well. You talk about an own-goal, and I know Fulham is having a better season, they certainly haven’t had a great run with the Khans involved, but, this was one of the all-time great own-goals. I just couldn’t believe it. I had to check multiple times, is this really him?”
Backstage Reaction to Tony Khan’s Tweet to Ariel Helwani
Helwani is convinced Tony Khan is still upset that he did so poorly during their interview, which he finds ridiculous. AEW reached out to him about having Khan on his show and he agreed. They didn’t put any restrictions on what he could ask and he thinks Khan is mad that he came off as foolish and a person who wasn’t comfortable doing anything but promote his product.
Backstage at SmackDown, he questioned why Khan was so quick to call him a fraud during his moment. He said the ‘Old Ariel’ would have let a tweet like this bother him. He was actually invigorated by it and thought it was hilarious.
“The amazing thing was how everything spread backstage,” said Helwani. “Everybody was, ‘Did you see the tweet? Did you see the tweet?’ I’ve just been here for four hours. I don’t even know a lot of these people. ‘This is amazing. How could he have done this? Was that really him? What a ….’ Yeah, I guess it was really him!’ Bizarre.”
Ariel Helwani’s Work with WWE
Helwani said he didn’t even know he’d be attending Elimination Chamber weekend until Wednesday of last week. He’s had conversations in the past about doing things for WWE. He did the video package for Extreme Rules a few months ago. WWE offered to pay him for it, he said no, because he wanted to avoid conflicts of interest. Someone advised him that he was stupid to refuse payment for his work. He came to the conclusion that he isn’t a wrestling journalist, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
Many years ago, Jeff Jarrett tried to get him on the creative team for Impact Wrestling. He didn’t accept the position, but working in the wrestling business has always been a ‘bucket list’ thing for him. He made a promise to himself that if he would seriously consider accepting an offer from WWE if that came up.
The Elimination Chamber opportunity came up and said, I’m going to do it. I’m not going to live and die by people’s opinions on social media. He’s going to do what brings him joy. He says yes, it was a paid gig. He joked that he technically hasn’t been paid yet and hopes he didn’t blow it with all the controversy that’s unfolded over the weekend.
Helwani gave a shout out to Triple h for going to bat for him, believing him, being welcoming and kind to him throughout their interactions. Helwani says he was on cloud nine over the SmackDown appearance until he saw people complaining on social media.
Is AEW President Tony Khan on the cusp of announcing another show to the promotion’s catalog of content?
In 2019, AEW launched their flagship weekly show AEW Dynamite, and on TV, fans can tune in to AEW Rampage each Friday night.
Online, AEW hosts their YouTube shows, Dark and Dark: Elevation each week, giving less experienced talent the chance to hone their skills off of TV.
AEW Collision
AEW could be on the verge of announcing a fifth show to its programming, according to a recent trademark filing.
In the filing made last week, AEW seeks ownership for the term ‘AEW Collision,’ with the filing reading as follows.
“Mark For: AEW COLLISON™ trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of educational and entertainment services, namely, a continuing program about wrestling accessible by radio, television, satellite, audio, video and computer networks; Entertainment services in the nature of live wrestling performances; Entertainment services in the nature of production of wrestling programs and events; Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing multimedia program featuring wrestling distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing series featuring wrestling provided through television and the internet; Entertainment services, namely, production and distribution of ongoing television programs in the field of wrestling.”
AEW has enjoyed a positive relationship with their broadcast partners at Warner Bros. Discovery, with AEW content often being among the highest-rated shows they own.
Kathleen Finch, the CCO of Warner Bros Discovery said that the company has “huge respect for [the AEW] audience,” and the company had been trying to capitalize on AEW’s popularity on their network.
There is a big announcement coming from Tony Khan on next week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
During this week’s episode of AEW Rampage, the segment was announced. As of this writing, it’s unclear exactly what the AEW/ROH President will have to say.
In addition to this announcement being revealed, All Elite Wrestling confirmed several matches for the show, including Orange Cassidy defending the AEW All-Atlantic Championship against Wheeler Yuta.
Matches Confirmed
The bout was set up on Rampage when they had a face-to-face confrontation during a backstage segment. Former AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed will be in action when they take on Big Bill and Lee Moriarty.
AEW will follow up with Saraya facing Skye Blue. At the same time, Christian Cage will sit down with Tony Schiavone for an interview after returning this past Wednesday night on Dynamite by attacking “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry.
Bryan Danielson will do a promo segment about his upcoming Ironman Match with World heavyweight champion MJF at the Revolution pay-per-view event on March 5.
There will be a Tag Team Battle Royal to determine who will fill one of the two remaining slots in the Four-Way Tag Title Match at Revolution, as the only teams confirmed for the bout are Aussie Open, and Top Flight.
AEW President Tony Khan has claimed that WWE is partaking in contract tampering by speaking to several stars under All-Elite deals.
Since being founded in 2019, AEW and WWE have been at odds, as seen with the Wednesday Night Wars which saw Khan’s promotion emerge victorious.
The two promotions have occasionally aligned, with Khan allowing AEW talent to appear via video to celebrate John Cena’s 20th anniversary on WWE’s main roster last June.
Contract Tampering
Multiple names from AEW once called WWE home, though Vince McMahon was able to bring back AEW EVP Cody Rhodes in April 2022.
Speaking on the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Tony Khan said he’s consistently approached by talent who claim WWE are speaking to them. Here’s what he said, courtesy of POST Wrestling:
“I can’t really comment on what their (WWE) internal struggles, internal strife’s are because I don’t work there and I’m not there. I can only speak to the challenges we’ve had.
“I got a lot of wrestlers come to me and allege that WWE reached out to them to tamper with their contracts and ask them to break their contracts. I can’t confirm that specifically. I can only tell you what the wrestlers have come to me and said.”
Tony Khan.
Khan didn’t name who WWE has allegedly contacted, but called the action “very disturbing.”
On WWE’s Radar
There’s no shortage of prominent names that WWE would love to snatch away from AEW and use to draw viewers to their own product.
In January 2022, it was reported that WWE had shown interest in Wardlow, and have also reportedly shown interest in Brian Cage.
The biggest name WWE has reportedly shown interest in is AEW World Champion MJF, who has teased leaving to join WWE when his AEW deal expires on January 1, 2024.
AEW President Tony Khan has addressed potentially expanding its pay-per-view calendar in the future, especially if a streaming deal comes to the promotion.
Khan was asked about this topic while doing an interview on the John Chuckery Show. For Khan, he feels the focus should remain on AEW’s big five events (Double or Nothing, All Out, Full Gear, Forbidden Door, and Revolution) as he sees those as the flagpole AEW events.
“Well, we’ve been able to really make the events keep that super special feel, where there is so much anticipation building up to Revolution, Double or Nothing, Forbidden Door now, and of course, All Out and Full Gear,” said Khan. “I think that with the current model we have, which is a la carte pay-per-view, true pay-per-view like so many of us grew up with, it makes a lot of sense. The price is about $49.99, and if somebody’s going to give us that $49.99, I would like them to feel like they’re getting a show they’ve really looked forward to for a long time and are getting maximum value.”
Expansion
Khan did state that should a streaming offer come along he would consider expanding the PPV calendar, but the events mentioned above would still be considered the big five.
“I think for us right now, the way we’re doing pay-per-view makes sense, but if the right offer came along on streaming to expand the calendar, that’s something we have the capacity to do. I would only want to do it if we can make sure that we keep Revolution, Double or Nothing, Forbidden Door, All Out, and Full Gear as premium, top-end events like they are right now.”
AEW holds its Revolution pay-per-view event on March 5, 2023. Transcribed by Fightful
All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan feels optimistic about the company’s future media rights deal.
This year will be interesting for AEW. The company’s TV rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to be finished by the end of the year. Their rival, WWE, is also entering TV rights negotiations but may decide to sell the company.
Wrestling fans are curious if Warner Bros. Discovery will renew the AEW TV deal and for how much. However, Khan has expressed optimism about the future of AEW and that their TV distributor is happy with them. In an interview with Uproxx, Khan spoke about the company’s future but pointed out he’s excited about AEW’s media rights deal.
Uproxx’s Raj Prashad transcribed the following quotes.
“I expect big increases in the rights for the AEW programs, and we’re on a good pace to make a very lucrative deal for the AEW media rights going forward.
– Tony Khan
Is AEW Looking To Create Their Own Streaming Service?
Khan is very interested in AEW having their own streaming service. The company airs its pay-per-views on Bleacher Report in the United States but doesn’t have all its archive content on the app. They’ve also reached a multi-year broadcast deal with DAZN to air AEW Dynamite and Rampage, Dark, and Dark: Elevation, four Battle of the Belt events a year, and four Pay-Per-Views a year internationally.
Khan spoke about AEW’s tremendous content library.
“We’ve done 174 episodes of Dynamite, 80 episodes of AEW Rampage, our 17th pay-per-view event will be March 5 in Revolution, so we’ve done hundreds and hundreds of hours of AEW content in our library,” Khan says. He continued, “I also purchased Ring of Honor last year, which is a great promotion with over 20 years of history and thousands of hours of video in their library.”
Khan added, “So overall, AEW has access to so many great wrestling events, including some widely considered to be some of the best wrestling events of all time. There’s a lot of interest in this library as well as the new weekly content we continue to produce each week, and I do think there’s a lot of demand for the library and it makes a lot of sense for us to try to make that AEW library available to fans all over the world on demand.”
It’s possible to increase the value of their TV rights deal; they may look to add their content to Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service HBO Max. However, Warner Bros. Discovery is also intriguing as they are still trying to figure out their content and are expected to revamp their HBO Max service. Regardless, Khan’s optimism for the future of AEW is something that may erase concern from fans.
Matt Hardy has been in the wrestling business for over 3 decades. He has worked for many different promotions and under many different bosses in this time. According to him, Tony Khan is the best boss he has ever worked for, because the AEW president cares for their wrestlers.
The wrestling veteran answered fan questions on the latest episode of his podcast. A fan asked what is the best thing about working for All Elite Wrestling. Hardy mentioned how the AEW schedule allows for much greater work life balance:
“The schedule is much more friendly to someone who has a family like I have. because my kids, they grow so fast. It’s crazy. It seems like yesterday Maxwell was just born, and he’s seven and a half now. So time flies, and I get a lot more time at home with my kids and my wife and my family, which is really important to me in this day and age. I have a very healthy balance of like professional life and personal life.”
‘The Best Boss I’ve Ever Worked For’: Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy explained that generally, he is only on the road for three days a week. There are exceptions such as PPV weeks but even then, Tony Khan lets them go home if they are not appearing on the PPV:
“I know this for a fact Tony Khan is the best boss I’ve ever worked for, because Tony looks at his wrestlers as human beings. They’re not just cogs in the machine where he’s focused on what they’re going to do for him in wrestling. He realizes they have a personal life at home, especially people who have families and kids.
If I’m away and he knows I’m not going to be on the pay per view on Sunday and I finish at the Fan Fest on Saturday, he lets me go home on Saturday. He doesn’t want to just keep you around just in case. He’s usually pretty set. So he’s very lenient, and I’m very grateful for that. If I’m not needed, he’ll let me go home and be with my kids. He wants me to be with my kids. So I really appreciate and I’m very grateful for the care and love he has for people having personal lives.”
AEW President Tony Khan wouldn’t mind adding another wrestling promotion to his portfolio.
Last month, Vince McMahon made his grand return to WWE’s board of directors, where he currently sits as Executive Chairman. The move came less than six months after he ‘retired’ after nearly four decades running the company.
McMahon has returned to facilitate a sale of the promotion. One of the most interesting names on the list is Tony Khan, the AEW founder, and head of Ring of Honor who has opposed WWE since 2019.
It is believed that if Khan and his father Shahid were to make an attempt to purchase WWE, they would seek the backing of at least one other financial partner.
Khan appeared on the Marke Hoke Show and was asked about his level of interest in the WWE’s ongoing attempts to find a buyer.
I don’t know exactly what will happen there. I’ve been told, and I think they’ve said publicly, that there may be a sale process. If there is a sale process, certainly I’m interested in it and potentially being involved in it. We’ll have to see what that process is, and who exactly they’ll let get involved in it. Certainly, I’m interested in it very much.
AEW President Tony Khan hopes to keep Double Or Nothing in familiar territory this year.
Upon its inauguration in 2019, the spring pay-per-view for All Elite Wrestling has belonged to Double Or Nothing. In its first four years, the event has gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada for the two years not surrounded by COVID (2019 & 2022).
In a recent appearance on The Mark Hoke Show, the host asked if he should be making plans in Vegas for Memorial Day weekend — the traditional timeframe for the pay-per-view.
“Yes, you should,” Tony Khan said.
Though he didn’t officially confirm AEW would land in Las Vegas again for the show, Khan indicated that is indeed the intention. “I can’t wait. I really believe we’ve built something very special in Las Vegas with Double or Nothing weekend for the local fans in Vegas and fans who travel from all over the world to be part of Double or Nothing every year.”
(AEW)
“Absolutely, as long as I can make it happen, which I think will be for many decades to come, I expect Double or Nothing to be part of the Las Vegas calendar and Memorial Day in Las Vegas is about AEW now.”
Khan continued, explaining that Memorial Day is not only a “very important American holiday,” but a “nice tradition” for AEW and its fans as well. “On Sunday in particular, in recent years, we’ve had a lot of success, so I would love to Double or Nothing in Las Vegas and I expect to,” he said.
Last year, AEW brought Double Or Nothing to the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada — a suburb of the popular Las Vegas city. The main event saw CM Punk defeat “Hangman” Adam Page to win the AEW World Championship.
Could WWE and All Elite Wrestling one day put their differences aside and work together for a crossover supershow? Tony Khan hopes so.
WWE’s mantra has infamously been to not play with others, and has for decades refused to work with other promotions.
That attitude has softened somewhat over the last year, with Impact’s Mickie James competing in the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble.
Last month also saw WWE’s Karl Anderson be allowed to compete at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17.
WWE-AEW Crossover
In the four years since being founded, fans have speculated on what a dream card between AEW and WWE talent would look like.
Tony Khan was a recent guest of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast and when asked, expressed his interest in a crossover show between the two sides.
“It’s something I would certainly be open to, and I think it’s an interesting thing for the future. It’s not something that’s ever really been done. They’ve kind of existed in their own space. We are working with a lot of wrestling promotions.”
Tony Khan.
Khan compared the situation to Marvel and DC Comics, saying it’d be a crossover that fans would have not seen before.
The AEW President did admit that things “would get very political” with talent from both sides wanting to come out on top.
Crossing Over
While WWE and AEW haven’t held a show (yet) the relationship between the two sides isn’t as frosty as one may expect.
In 2019, Billy Gunn, who had signed with AEW, was allowed to attend the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony for DX’s induction, joking on-camera that Vince McMahon couldn’t fire him.
For last year’s celebration of 20 years of John Cena, multiple AEW stars including Bryan Danielson and Chris Jericho praised Cena in videos aired on Raw.
AEW and WWE talent being backstage at each other’s companies is not uncommon either, with Ricky Starks being backstage to support his mentor Cody Rhodes at last weekend’s Royal Rumble.
ROH is slated to start filming episodes for its weekly TV show heading into Supercard of Honor.
Fightful Select’s Will Washington reports the promotion will start taping content almost a year after Tony Khan bought the promotion. It was said that ROH talent had been told tapings will take place in Orlando, Florida, during the last weekend of February.
The Venue
The assumption is that it would be at Universal Studios, where AEW regularly films its Dark series. Voices Of Wrestling previously reported information about the dates.
Although VOW didn’t have more details past that, those Fightful spoke with think it will serve as tapings leading into the Supercard of Honor PPV on March 31.
The report added that several wrestlers were signed by AEW as far back as last spring with the intent of using them on ROH programming.
2022 closed up the first year under Khan’s ownership and creative vision for the brand. Final Battle was the most recent ROH PPV event, which drew over 25,000 pay-per-view buys (19,000 streaming and 6,400 cable) based on first-week estimates.
The other 2022 pay-per-view events for ROH were ROH Supercard of Honor in April, with 23,000 buys, and ROH Death Before Dishonor in July, with 37,000 buys.
Former NJPW star Kota Ibushi is now on the free agent market after departing from New Japan Pro Wrestling and he knows he will have promotions interested in him including AEW.
AEW/ROH owner Tony Khan has signed some of the biggest stars in today’s wrestling and is interested in talking with Kota about potentially being the next to become All Elite.
During a his weekly Wednesday morning appearance on Busted Open Radio, Khan was asked about Ibushi.
“When you have a name like that, everybody in the world of pro wrestling would be very fortunate to have in their promotion. I really wanted to work with him in the past so I think that’s something we’d certainly have to consider.”
Ibushi said in an interview today that he thinks he will talk with AEW after he opens a wrestling school in Japan.
When his contract expired, NJPW issued a statement, wishing him luck in his future endeavors.
Kota has been sidelined for over a year as his last match happened in October 2021 with a dislocated shoulder suffered in the G1 Climax finals. GCW has already announced that Ibushi is slated to work Bloodsport and Spring Break during WrestleMania weekend in Los Angeles.
Mark Briscoe was allowed to appear on this week’s Dynamite but only after the monumental efforts of AEW President Tony Khan.
The Briscoes were not allowed to appear on AEW programming due to an edict by Warner Bros. Discovery, over problematic comments made by Jay a decade ago.
After Jay’s death earlier this month, Mark was allowed to compete on this week’s Dynamite, where he faced Jay Lethal.
Khan’s Efforts
Briscoe’s debut on this week’s Dynamite came hours after a report stating that WBD wanted no part of him on their show, due to Jay’s comments.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that it was Tony Khan who went to bat for the Briscoes.
“You have to credit that one to Tony Khan. I mean, he pushed and pushed and I mean, he pushed really hard on this one and got them to change their minds. They [Warner Bros. Discovery] were pretty dead-set against it. I mean, the social media stuff, that possibly could have helped.”
Dave Meltzer.
Team Effort
While Khan was able to convince WBD to ditch their ban on either Briscoe, he wasn’t the only one who worked on this.
On his show, Meltzer said that it was a team effort of people who showed the better side of Jay Briscoe to AEW’s broadcast partners.
“It was certainly a lot of people. We said it last Wednesday, but a lot of people had been saying it all week like ‘how do you ban Jay Briscoe, the tribute show? How do you ban the tribute show when you’re showing Dana White on Slap-Fight?’ Dana White’s mistake was December 31st, 2022 [and WBD moved on.] Jay’s mistake, a big mistake, both of them were big mistakes. His mistake was in 2013 and he had certainly apologized and atoned for it. Just read the article that I did. The stuff from [ROH commentator Ian] Riccaboni and other people. Cary Silkin and others.
“Nobody hid from that part of Jay Briscoe’s life, and neither did he. So [allowing Mark on Dynamite] was the right thing to do and I’m glad he got to do it. But it took a lot a lot a lot of work to get it done.”
Meltzer added on his show that Mark is free to compete on AEW going forward, implying that his appearance this week was not a one-off.
Tony Khan is on board with the idea of a ‘World Cup’ of pro wrestling. He knows it wouldn’t be easy to get WWE on board working with the likes of All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro Wrestling, but he’s open to working with “anybody” for the greater good.
“You never know.”
– Tony Khan
Last year’s AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view was successful, despite injuries nixing plans for several inter-promotional dream matches. An event of this magnitude involving competing promotions can present a lot of hurdles that need to be cleared. Khan worked hard to establish a level of trust with NJPW executives. Having been down that road once before, the AEW President is optimistic this could be done on an even larger scale.
Tony Khan Open to a ‘World Cup’ of Wrestling
(AEW)
Earlier this week, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada expressed interest in organizing a wrestling World Cup. He said he’d be willing to meet with Khan and Paul “Triple H” Levesque to broker a deal to make such an event a reality.
Tony Khan appeared on the Battleground podcast and was asked about the wrestling World Cup concept. During his conversation with Tim Battle, TK said he loved last year’s Forbidden Door show and would be willing to work with “anybody” on an even bigger inter-promotional super-event.
“There are challenges to putting on an event like that, and getting the matches set, but it’s certainly something I would be open to,” he said. “I’m open to working with anybody in pro wrestling. You never know.”
Khan has already co-promoted a pay-per-view with NJPW. He’s featured talent (and championships) from Impact and AAA on AEW television. Without saying who “anybody” is, it’s clear who the big holdout would be. It’s unlikely that WWE would sign off on working with AEW in any capacity, but 2022 and (already) 2023 have shown us that even the most outlandish scenarios may come to pass.
Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks Group, has given respect to the fanbase of AEW.
AEW airs two weekly television shows on networks owned by the company, with Dynamite on Wednesday nights on TBS and Rampage on Friday nights on TNT. They also air quarterly specials titled, Battle of the Belts, which air on TNT with the last two being broadcasted live after Rampage.
Kathleen Finch’s Comments
Speaking candidly during a Deadline-moderated keynote at the Realscreen conference in Austin, Texas, Finch noted that they find sports and sitcoms work well on the Turner networks.
Finch discussed AEW while talking about the company’s concerns about Dana White’s Power Slap show after his New Year’s Eve debacle where he was seen on video slapping his wife.
“This is an experiment. The goal is, we are making shows for our fans, that’s who we work for. Fans of wrestling have a lot of overlap with the fans of this and it’s huge on social media so the idea really is, if we can take something that’s huge on social, bring it to a linear audience giving the fans what they want. This may surprise you to know that I did not know much about wrestling before I took this job. I know, I seem like a wrestling fan, but I’m not. But I did have to learn a lot about the audience. A lot of families that watch [wrestling], I was very surprised to learn this. I have huge respect for this audience. AEW wrestling airs on two of our networks, TNT and TBS — on both nights it kills. Finding something that speaks to that audience, that would be gold.”
AEW’s TV rights deal will expire in 2024 with talks expected to happen this year.
The fate of CM Punk in All Elite Wrestling remains hanging in the balance, with Tony Khan yet to make a decision on the problematic star.
Punk has not appeared for AEW since September’s All Out due to his comments on the post-show media scrum and his involvement in the backstage fight.
The two-time former AEW World Champion remains the only person suspended following the fallout from All Out to remain suspended.
Decisions, Decisions
Given Punk’s lengthy hiatus, many believe his time with the promotion is up, but that is not the case just yet.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it is reported that it is “months away” from when Tony Khan will have to make a decision on whether to keep Punk under contract.
Those on Punk’s side believe that Khan has put Punk “on ice” for the time being, with no plans to use him at this time.
The belief is also that there has been “no talk at all” as of late to release him either.
Tony Khan has repeatedly refused to comment on Punk or the All Out backstage fight when asked in various interviews.
Friends and Enemies
Punk’s actions following AEW All Out have split the locker room, with many believing he should be fired from the promotion.
It is also reported that Chris Jericho is part of a group that is trying to prevent Punk’s return to the company.
The Chicago-Made wrestler does have some allies, including Dax Harwood, who defended Punk and praised his work on the premiere episode of his FTR podcast.
Dax Harwood of FTR recently announced that he and partner Cash Wheeler have been given time off from AEW and won’t be appearing on television for a few months as they weigh out their options ahead of their contracts expiring in April.
Harwood has floated the idea of the tag team working exclusively on the independent scene for the rest of that year even though they have plenty of options, whether that is to sign with AEW, go full-time in NJPW or return to WWE now that Triple H is running WWE’s booking.
AEW President Tony Khan appeared on the In the Kliq podcast to address FTR’s futures with the company. Prior to their hiatus, the Top Guys lost five consecutive tag team matches to drop the ROH, IWGP and AAA World Tag Team Championships.
Tony Khan on FTR
“Well, I do hope to see FTR back,” said Khan. “They need some time to recover from what was one of the most intense years of wrestling any team has ever done. The schedule they went through, all of the different places they worked — they worked all over and won championships all over the world.”
Khan put them over for working all over the world, including the US, London, Japan, and in Mexico. He also praised them for their performance in the dog collar match at ROH Final Battle against The Briscoes.
“That was, to me, one of the most savage, barbaric wrestling matches I’ve ever seen, and that was for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship. That was following a lot of other crazy matches for FTR.
So, I think, for those guys, we want to see them back in AEW and want to see them heal up and come back at 100%. We’re really looking forward to that, hopefully. I think they’re a great team, and we’d love to have them back.”
AEW president Tony Khan says that fans don’t even know the half of Adam Cole’s comeback story just yet.
Back on the January 11 episode of AEW Dynamite, Adam Cole made his surprise return to television after being out-of-action for several months. Cole stated that he’s back and he’s not done competing in the ring just yet.
He also opened up about the multitude of other issues that he dealt with aside from the concussion, such as anxiety and motion sickness. Speaking on The Kliq podcast recently, AEW president Tony Khan offered his thoughts on Cole’s current situation.
Khan revealed that, although they know some already, fans don’t even know the half of the uphill battle Cole has faced en-route to his in-ring return.
“Well, I don’t think he ever [ruled out returning to the ring]. Certainly, it was a very challenging recovery, and they were points where, I’m sure, he had to question if he was going to make it back or, you know, what he was putting himself through because, like he said, he didn’t leave the house to do anything but brain therapy,” said Khan.
“He wanted it so bad. He wants so bad to come back to AEW, to get back in the ring and wrestle for the fans on Wednesdays on TBS, and Fridays on TNT. That’s his dream. For us, it’s a dream come true having Adam Cole be a part of the AEW roster.
“It’s very exciting that he’s getting closer and closer to making a comeback. It’s a really inspirational story, and people don’t even know the half of it yet. I’m excited for people to find out more about what Adam Cole has been through.”
Cole hasn’t competed inside the ring since Forbidden Door in June, when he faced off against Jay White, Okada and “Hangman” Adam Page in a Fatal Four-Way match.
Tony Khan has weighed in on the WWE sale rumors following Vince McMahon’s return to the company as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. McMahon has returned to the company to explore the possibility of a sale as well as lead the company in its negotiations for the next TV rights deal.
Last week, Barron’s reported that Tony and Shad Khan were “in the pool of” potential WWE buyers and the Khan family will likely look for a financial partner if they are to acquire WWE. CNBC later reported that the Khans were interested in a merger between AEW and WWE.
While appearing on The Maggie and Perloff Show, the AEW President was asked about his interest in potentially purchasing WWE.
Khan’s Thoughts
“I am interested in the news that there is potentially a sales process and certainly, I think we’ve shown, when there are acquisitions and transactions, we’re capable of making the big purchases, whether my dad steps up with the (Jacksonville) Jaguars or Fulham FC in the Premier League and he’s done such a great job building up the club and putting resources into it and we’re playing football at a high level. With AEW, we’ve shown that we can build a company.”
Khan noted that when he bought ROH, he enjoys running it and has done all-time highs in terms of every business metric since they took over.
“AEW is my main focus, but certainly, when that news is out there, it’s very interesting. Stay tuned to AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage, you never know when I’m going to address something. On the other hand, it’s very preliminary to talk about that process. If there is a process there, which it sounds like there may be, I’m interested in being part of it.”
Regarding whether he has a relationship with Vince McMahon, Tony noted he doesn’t have a relationship with him, but has talked with Stephanie in the past and had good conversations.
Tony Khan may have proven himself to countless fans with the success of AEW, but would he make a good owner of WWE?
The past two weeks of news have been dominated with reports of Vince McMahon’s return to WWE, less than six months after his retirement.
McMahon returned to oversee a sale of the promotion and has replaced his daughter Stephanie as Executive Chairman.
Lacking
The list of names reportedly interested in buying WWE is lengthy and includes Comcast, FOX, Disney, Amazon, and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
Tony Khan and his father Shahid are also on that list with sources close to the situation saying that the Khans are interested in a merger with WWE.
Speaking on his 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff said that Khan may not have the necessary skills to take over from McMahon.
“Could it happen? Sure, anything is possible. But if you really think about it, does the Khan enterprise have the experience, knowledge, infrastructure, ability to run a company as complex as WWE?”
Eric Bischoff.
Bischoff added that while AEW and WWE may be in the same industry, they “don’t live and play in the same universe.”
Buying WWE
The Khans certainly have plenty of money to their name, but a solo purchase of WWE is seemingly off the table.
With WWE seeking a reported $8.5 billion for the promotion, any deal by the father-son duo is expected to be shared with another financial partner.
Wall Street analysts have said they expect WWE to sell this year for anywhere between $7.4 and $8.2 billion.
In an update from CNBC, they are reporting that several sources familiar with the situation have confirmed that the Khans are interested in a merger.
The report adds that the Khans would not seek to buy WWE themselves, but would team with a financial group and pool their resources.
The idea is described by CNBC as a “long shot” given the hostility between WWE and AEW that has existed since the latter was founded in 2019.
Shahid Khan is said to have a net worth of $7.56 billion, and in addition to AEW, the Khans own the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team, and the soccer club Fulham FC.
If this merger went ahead, it is unclear if the Khans would cease WWE production, keep the brand going, or create a new hybrid brand of WWE and AEW.
Competition
The Khans are interested in merging with WWE, but they’re not the only ones open to a deal.
This week, it was reported that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund had purchased WWE, but those reports were later clarified to be premature.
As Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE CEO Nick Khan recently spoke to Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
WWE is looking at potentially selling the company by the middle of this year and has hired JPMorgan to help with talks.
Barron’s, the sister publication to the Wall Street Journal and a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, reports that AEW’s Tony and Shad Khan are said to be interested in buying WWE.
The article noted that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund appears more likely to buy Vince McMahon‘s company. The Khan family “is in the pool of potential buyers for WWE.”
The story added, “the Khans will likely look for a financial partner to acquire the asset. Tony Khan’s father Shahid Khan, a co-owner of AEW, already owns the football team Jacksonville Jaguars and the English soccer club Fulham Football Club, indicating the duo have deep pockets.”
Other Buyers
Comcast (NBCU’s parent company), Netflix, Amazon, Endeavor Group Holdings (UFC’s parent company), Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT & TBS’ parent company), Disney, and FOX have been speculated as potential buyers.
“We think that now is the time to Buy WWE,” Benchmark’s Mike Hickey wrote on Friday. “Business momentum is strong, and future growth prospects appear promising.” Through the end of trading on Wednesday, the stock was up 24% since the close on Jan. 5, before Vince McMahon said he believed WWE should consider strategic alternatives.
Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio today that WWE CEO Nick Khan met with Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN President James Pitaro this past Monday while at the college football championship game.
