AEW President Tony Khan has announced that he will address the AEW Championship and the Trios Championships tonight on Dynamite.

Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (The Elite) became the inaugural Trios Champions at All Out by defeating Dark Order and Hangman Adam Page. CM Punk once again became AEW Champion by defeating Jon Moxley in the main event of the PPV.

Jon had previously demolished Punk on a recent episode of Dynamite to unify the Interim and AEW Championships. AEW producer Ace Steel hyped up Punk on last week’s show and his inspirational speech led to The Best in the World accepting a rematch for the title at All Out. MJF then returned after Punk won the title and had a stare-down with him to close the PPV.

After the PPV, instead of talking about winning the title, CM Punk arrived at the media scrum and brought up Colt Cabana’s name on his own after seeing Wrestling Inc’s Nick Hausman. The champion ranted for close to twenty minutes about Colt, Hangman, and the EVPs all while his boss Tony Khan sat beside him.

The backstage drama then reached an absurd level with The Elite storming into the AEW Champion’s locker room. A brawl ensued that has already resulted in the suspensions of The Elite and several others. Ace Steel reportedly hurled a chair that clocked Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks in the face with a chair.

As of now, there has been no update on where CM Punk stands with the company. It was also reported today that Punk suffered a serious injury during the title match and would have likely had to vacate the title again regardless of the brawl following All Out.

Tony Khan took to Twitter to announce some plans for tonight’s highly anticipated episode of AEW Dynamite. He said that he will address the situation regarding the championships tonight on Dynamite. It will be interesting to see if both the AEW Championship and Trios Championships are vacated on tonight’s episode of Dynamite.

Thank you everyone who watches @AEWonTV! Tonight LIVE on @TBSNetwork on Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite I’ll address the@AEW World Championship +@AEW World Trios Championship! Please join us on TBS tonight on #AEW Dynamite for a great wrestling show live @ 8pm ET/7pm CT TONIGHT!

Former WCW president Eric Bischoff believes CM Punk disrespected All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president Tony Khan with his recent media scrum comments.

Recently, CM Punk reportedly got into a physical altercation with The Young Bucks backstage at All Out. The backstage drama that has been going on within AEW has caused quite a stir within the professional wrestling community.

Shortly after the All Out pay-per-view (PPV), where Punk recaptured the AEW World Title, Punk made some harsh comments towards AEW EVPs Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, firing back at what he feels has been disrespectful rhetoric towards him as of late.

These comments seemingly fueled The Elite to confront Punk in his locker room afterwards, sparking the altercation.

Speaking on a bonus clip from Ad Free Shows recently, Eric Bischoff offered his take on the entire situation.

Bischoff believes Punk was very disrespectful to Tony Khan, who was seated next to the AEW World Champion the entire time, with his media scrum rant.

“He’s paying that cat lots of money,” Bischoff said. “He’s paying CM Punk a fortune and CM Punk is cutting his balls off, not only in front of everybody else in the roster, the executive team, the production team, oh, by the way, his business partners, you know, like Warner Discovery, potential advertisers, potential sponsors, maybe even if need be, a potential network to sell their show to should something go wrong with the Warner Discovery merger. For what reason?”

The former WCW president did admit that, if this was all a part of an elaborate storyline, he’d be fully behind the idea. However, if this is truly Punk airing out dirty laundry publicly, he feels bad for Khan.

“If there was money in it, if it was part of a story, and everybody I just mentioned including TV partners are on board and understand what you’re doing, have had it man. It could work. I’ll be your biggest fan.

“I’ll support taking a risk like that because you have to take big risks to gain big rewards. You just do.

“Not all of them work out, but you gotta try, and if that’s what they’re doing, hats off if everybody’s on board, but if Punk is just venting his spleen, spreading the heat around the entire roster, instead of focusing on his opponent which is business, man, I feel bad for Tony.”

Quotes via WrestlingNewsCo

AEW All Out 2022 is in the history books and has proven to be yet another huge night for the promotion.

In the main event, CM Punk regained the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and had fiery comments for the roster after the show.

Toni Storm captured the Interim AEW Women’s World Championship, marking her first title since joining the promotion.

MJF

During the Casino Ladder Match, a mystery man won the bout with the help of Stokely Hathaway, and earned an AEW World Championship match.

After the main event, the mystery man was revealed to be MJF, making his return after a three-month hiatus from TV.

During the All Out post-show media scrum, Khan explained the decision to bring MJF back (via Wrestling Inc.)

“I’m the one who asked him to come back, because MJF’s a big star in this company, and this is one of the biggest events.

“A year ago, CM Punk debuted here, and I thought it was right for the fans … For the fans, I thought the best that would do as a company was bring MJF back.”

MJF’s Absence

MJF’s return at All Out 2022 comes three months after an explosive worked-shoot promo about AEW.

Channeling alleged real-life issues with the promotion, MJF addressed how former WWE Superstars are reported to be paid much more than homegrown AEW talent.

The promo culminated in MJF begging Tony Khan to fire him, believing he would do better in AEW if he had a few years with WWE to his name.

Tony Khan touts the financial success of AEW ahead of the promotion’s fourth-ever ALL OUT pay-per-view later this evening.

The company president spoke with Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer Radio about a wide range of topics, most notably how he believes AEW is hitting these heights at a perfect time. One of the points Khan makes is that there hasn’t been another major alternative to the industry leader, WWE, in quite some time.

“We have a chance to hit these heights at the perfect time. I would say, the success we’ve had has been so great. The way the business is going right now…this is the first time there have been two wrestling companies that have the ability to be the number one show that night on cable and two wrestling companies that are grossing the kind of money.”

AEW Grossing Over $100 Million In 2022

While Khan is proud of the growth of AEW since their launch in 2019 he is certainly aware that they are still nowhere near WWE’s profits. However, he does reveal that this year AEW will gross over $100 million dollars, which includes a $1 Million Dollar gate for tonight’s ALL OUT.

“I’m not grossing a billion dollars, but I’m gonna gross over $100 million this year. That’s pretty unprecedented and it’s been over 20 years since anybody is doing that. To me, success is sustaining it.”

Elsewhere in the interview Khan discussed the reports of backstage drama in AEW, but he remained optimistic that people will keep things professional and not let it affect business. He also talked in great length about the ALL OUT card, which you can see here.

(Quotes via Fightful)

AEW President Tony Khan doesn’t appear to be too bothered by professional wrestlers not getting along.

One thing that has been a major topic of discussion as of late is the backstage turmoil in All Elite Wrestling. CM Punk called out Hangman Page to make him look like a coward in front of his hometown crowd in West Virginia. Eddie Kingston and Sammy Guevara had a backstage altercation that led to The Mad King getting suspended for two weeks. Sammy Guevara also released a statement on the matter and the two wrestlers have claimed that the issue is behind them.

AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa announced that she cannot compete at All Out and reportedly has a fair amount of heat backstage within the women’s division. Miro and Andrade El Idolo have liked posts on social media that suggest they would be better off in WWE, etc.

Despite it all, Tony is remaining positive heading into All Out and doesn’t think that wrestlers not getting along is a bad thing. Speaking with NBC Sports Chicago ahead of All Out at the NOW Arena, Tony was excited about his roster finally getting healthy and addressed the backstage drama within the company at the moment.

“I’m actually pretty excited about it. I think our roster is going to be stronger than it’s been in a long time. There is a lot of competition for spots. As long as everybody is being professional, it’s professional wrestling, the first word is professional. The second word is wrestling.

This is not a doll factory or a normal place of business. Our product here is professional wrestling matches. People not liking each other, not getting along, can actually be positive, as opposed to most workplaces where people not getting along is detrimental.

Not everybody needs to get along in the pro wrestling business, they don’t all need to be friends to do this. I’ll be honest, a lot of pro wrestlers don’t like each other, that’s fine with me. I don’t think people watch wrestling to watch people be friends.”

Tony Khan on his roster not getting along

AEW Dynamite has seen its ratings increase the past two weeks heading into All Out. Time will tell if it lasts but for now, the discontent backstage is paying off for the company. You can check out the entire interview in the video below.

H/T to Fightful for the transcription

Will Ospreay says that his current run with All Elite Wrestling has come to an end…for now.

The Aerial Assassin competed on last night’s Dynamite main event, where he and Aussie Open (known as the United Empire) took on The Elite (Kenny Omega & the Young Bucks) in a trios title tournament semifinal. The Elite would pick up the victory after Omega hit a One-Winged Angel, but Ospreay and Aussie Open would get the last laugh as they attacked Omega and the Bucks as the show went off the air.

Ospreay and Omega have been at each other’s throats for a while, taking shots at one another online and setting up a potential singles-bout somewhere down the line.

One Final Shot At The Cleaner

Ospreay took to Twitter this morning to announce that his current run with the promotion has come to an end for the foreseeable future. He credits Tony Khan for trusting his gut, but doesn’t shy away from taking one more jab at Omega. His tweet reads:

“For the foreseeable future my time with AEW is done thanks to TonyKhan for having your own mind and not listening to KennyOmegamanX attempts at blocking me from coming to do a few matches for ya. We are even for now Ken, keep your mouth shut & we won’t have any issues.”

The former IWGP World Heavyweight champion has been featured multiple times in AEW over the last few months. He had a marquee matchup with Orange Cassidy at Forbidden Door, and competed on several Dynamites. Ospreay’s tweet can be seen below.

For the foreseeable future my time with @AEW is done thanks to @TonyKhan for having your own mind and not listening to @KennyOmegamanX attempts at blocking me from coming to do a few matches for ya.

We are even for now Ken, keep your mouth shut & we won’t have any issues.

— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) September 1, 2022

Omega and The Bucks will face either the Dark Order or the Best Friends & Orange Cassidy at ALL OUT depending on who wins the semifinal on this Friday’s Rampage.

All Elite Wrestling President & CEO Tony Khan joined Busted Open Radio today to promote tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite as well as the All Out PPV this Sunday night.

AEW has been hit with the injury bug lately but Tony believes that the company will be back to full strength following Sunday’s PPV.

“Now really this is gonna be the strongest the roster has been, maybe ever after this weekend at All Out. I don’t want to say too much about my plans but it’s gonna be a big weekend. I have exciting plans for the show.”

Tony Khan on the injuries to the AEW roster

Tony added that it is different this PPV because he usually likes to have everything planned and the incredible amount of injuries on his roster prevented that.

“Even in the face of probably the most severe injury bug, probably the biggest star-studded injury list in pro wrestling. It’s now starting to ease up and all those people are starting to come back. Like I said, by this Sunday at All Out and just in general, I think it’s gonna be the strongest and best the roster has ever been. I think people are going to have to watch All Out to see what I mean by that.”

Tony Khan on Tonight’s Episode of AEW Dynamite

Tony also revealed that he has a lot planned for tonight’s edition of AEW Dynamite. He referred to tonight’s episode as “the most eventful go-home show” that he’s ever been a part of.

“Tonight is going to be the most eventful go-home show I’ve ever been a part of…Never has a go-home TV been so important as tonights (show). There’s so many implications and so many stakes still out there for this pay-per-view.”

AEW All Out will air Sunday night from the NOW Arena in Chicago. As of now, there is no AEW Championship match announced. It is assumed that Jon Moxley will defend the AEW Championship against CM Punk but time will tell.

H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription

In recent weeks, a lot has been said about the atmosphere behind the scenes in All Elite Wrestling.

Last week, CM Punk went off-script to bury ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, and it was reported that Punk had been difficult in recent months.

A report this month said that there is “a ton of backstage drama” within the company right now, with multiple wrestlers liking tweets suggesting they would do better in WWE.

The Meeting

With plenty of reports about the company, last night’s AEW Dynamite was pre-empted by a roster-wide meeting held by Tony Khan.

Fightful Select reports that Khan was “fired up” for the meeting, which took place around four hours before Dynamite went live.

A lot of talent attended the meeting, including wrestlers who were specifically called in, and hadn’t been booked for Dynamite or any of the other tapings yesterday.

Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone also spoke at the meeting, with Schiavone having taken on a larger role in AEW’s Talent Relations department.

Communication

One big topic of the meeting was the subject of communication, as reports have suggested that Khan has been hard to reach as of late.

Khan addressed how much access the talent has to him and that his door is open to new ideas as well as criticism.

Kenny Omega, who returned to AEW TV this month, as well as The Young Bucks also chimed in, saying their doors are always open, and that if anyone has any concerns, they can always approach them.

Contract Tampering

During the meeting, the topic of contract tampering was also addressed, following allegations that WWE may have done just that.

It’s been reported that WWE has shown interest in AEW talent, including MJF and Wardlow.

AEW’s Chief Legal Officer sent a message to WWE co-CEOs Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon about the allegations, but it is unclear if they received a response.

Tony Khan confirms there are issues between CM Punk and Hangman Page.

The All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president confirmed during an appearance on Busted Open Radio that there is “unresolved anger” between the pair. Seemingly due to something from their match at Double Or Nothing.

Legitimate Heat

Punk made some unscripted comments about Page last week on AEW Dynamite. The AEW World Champion challenged Page to a World Title match right on the spot, before calling him a coward for not coming out. He then moved on to cutting a promo on Jon Moxley.

Prior to the show, Punk reportedly had a meeting with Khan about the ordeal. There were even reports that Punk was considering not showing up to Dynamite at all.

While his on-screen rivalry with Page seems to be done with, the issues between the pair backstage are still very much alive.

Punk is currently slated to face Jon Moxley in an AEW World Title unification bout on tonight’s episode of Dynamite.

Why is Punk vs. Moxley taking place on Dynamite?

Tony Khan also addressed the surprising news that Punk vs. Moxley will take place on AEW Dynamite instead of at All Out.

“It’s a great match for the fans now and I feel like it would be a great match at any time,” said Khan. “But tonight, it felt like the right night for this big fight, and given that last week, we really could not keep these guys apart, it just did not seem sustainable to try and have this show get taken down week after week by these guys who were clearly just going to tear the ring apart if we continued this way.”

Khan said we are going to have a much clearer picture of the AEW All Out card after tonight’s Dynamite.

Tony Khan issued a statement on his personal Twitter account promoting this week’s Dynamite on TBS, a show that will feature the highly anticipated showdown between world champion CM Punk and interim champion Jon Moxley, with the winner being crowned the undisputed AEW champion.

The AEW President writes, “Thank you everyone who watches @AEWonTV! In 48 hours Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite @CMPunk vs @JonMoxley to finally crown an Undisputed @AEWWorld Champion! It’s been a great summer of 12 straight weeks & counting for Dynamite on @TBSNetwork in the top 2 shows on cable in the US.”

Along with that, Khan touts the success of AEW’s recent Quake By The Lake television special from two weeks ago, which he reveals scored AEW their record viewership number on ITV4 in the United Kingdom. For those who don’t remember that show was headlined by Jon Moxley taking on Chris Jericho for the AEW world title, with Punk making his surprising return from injury. Khan’s full second tweet reads:

“In addition to a great summer domestically, it’s been a huge summer for @AEW internationally including great news that #AEWDynamite #QuakebyTheLake with @JonMoxley vs @IAmJericho for the @AEW Interim World Title + @CMPunk’s epic return did our UK record viewership on @ITV4 Friday.”

You can check out the tweets below.

In addition to a great summer domestically, it’s been a huge summer for @AEW internationally including great news that #AEWDynamite#QuakebyTheLake with@JonMoxley vs @IAmJericho for the @AEW Interim World Title + @CMPunk’s epic return did our UK record viewership on @ITV4 Friday

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) August 22, 2022

Some analysts predicts that AEW will score their biggest viewership and demo increase for this Wednesday’s show due to the Moxley vs. Punk match, as well as the trios tournament matchup between the Death Triangle and NJPW’s Aussie Open & Will Ospreay.

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president Tony Khan reportedly had a meeting with CM Punk before this week’s episode of Dynamite.

There’s reportedly been some issues that Punk has been having backstage with Adam “Hangman” Page.

During this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, in a promo that was supposed to be angled at Jon Moxley, Punk instead started it off by taking a shot at Page, calling him a “coward.”

Initial reports indicate this was not part of the script. Wade Keller of PWTorch reports that there are, in fact, issues between Punk and Page.

However, he added that some wrestlers backstage in AEW wouldn’t put it past AEW president Tony Khan to do a work-shoot type of thing with it.

Keller did add, however, he doesn’t think that’s the case here. He also stated that Punk met with Khan in his locker room before Dynamite went on-air for a “decent amount of time.”

Despite the drama that unfolded on Dynamite (and all the subsequent fallout), Punk was acting fine backstage before the show with no signs of being disgruntled.

Punk has returned from a foot injury that required surgery to repair. He’s still the AEW World Champion, but in his absence, an interim champion in Jon Moxley was crowned.

Now, Punk will shift his focus to unifying his title with Moxley’s to determine the undisputed AEW World Champion.

Eric Bischoff is not a fan of how Tony Khan is booking All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

It’s no secret that the former WCW president has been critical of the Khan-led promotion in recent months. Both he and Khan have exchanged harsh words through the media as of late, mainly due to Bischoff’s criticisms of AEW.

In a recent interview with SHAK Wrestling, Bischoff was asked for his thoughts on the booking in AEW at the moment. Bischoff doesn’t seem to be a fan of Khan’s creative mind or storytelling ability.

Instead, he feels like Khan is booking the promotion as a 14-year-old with too many toys to play with.

“If Tony Khan is smart, and I know he’s very, very smart, a lot smarter than me in a lot of ways. I don’t exactly think he’s got a creative instinct in his body.

“I think what he’s doing is reliving a childhood memory, you know of ECW and the indie scene, and super matches. He’s booking, in my opinion, like a 14-year-old would – who would have a lot of toys and things he can play with.

“But I’m not seeing story – we’ve seen the wrestling audience or AEW audience call it a story but it’s not. It’s an excuse for having a super match or dream match.”

At one point Bischoff made a few appearances for AEW in 2020. However, that all stopped after he became more vocal about his issues with the product. That doesn’t mean fans should expect Bischoff to show up in WWE anytime soon.

Bischoff noted that WWE doesn’t need him back, and any changes he would make seem to already be in the works in the post-Vince McMahon era.

Quotes via Wrestling Inc.

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president Tony Khan has revealed how often he watches WWE.

Recently, Khan was interviewed by DAZN, where he was asked about the competition over in WWE. During the interview, Khan divulged that he watches WWE pretty often, and believes the product has improved recently since Triple H assumed control of creative.

“Now the competition changing, I think that’s a good thing in some ways. If you like good wrestling, you’re just more likely to want to see it because our competitor has been doing better shows recently than they had been doing, I think.

“I watch them pretty often, and I think they’ve been better,” Tony Khan said. “It seems like that’s the consensus among people who watch them. I do think in general, if it’s gonna get more people watching wrestling, that’s probably not gonna hurt any wrestling company.

“And we stand to gain the most in many ways because if you’re a big wrestling fan, and if you’ve been away and you like good wrestling, you might be saying, ‘Where are Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson? CM Punk’s back?’

“So as we get to an exciting point of a lot of people coming back to the company, but a lot of new fans also, I think hopefully they want to embrace the new wrestlers in AEW and also a lot of the big names in AEW that you’ll be able to see on a regular basis, people that are on the show every week and have been going all summer like Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley.

“Then again, whenever CM Punk is back, there’s a big setup for an undisputed championship to be crowned. I think if you’re a fan of good wrestling, it’d be a great time to step back in and check it out because right now, there’s a lot of good wrestling on TV, including Wednesday’s on TBS and Fridays on TNT.”

Longtime WWE front-man Vince McMahon was forced to step down as WWE CEO after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. This left his daughter Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan to step up as the new co-CEOs of WWE.

Soon after, investigations into McMahon’s misconduct sparked, then forcing McMahon to make the decision to retire as head of creative in WWE. His son-in-law and ex-WWE Champion Triple H has since stepped up to the plate.

Since taking over, the new creative regime under Triple H has been positively received. It’s also involved the return of former NXT talents now getting their shot on the main roster. It will be interesting to see how prominent changes under Triple H will be moving forward.

Tony Khan is setting the record straight about AEW possibly expanding its pay-per-views to be two-night events.

During a Wednesday appearance on Busted Open Radio, Khan squashed the rumor that AEW will be shifting to 2-night pay-per-view weekends.

AEW currently runs four big pay-per-view events per year: Revolution, Double or Nothing, All Out, and Full Gear. The shows typically run for four or five hours, which many fans find excessive.

AEW star Dustin Rhodes recently stated that AEW will address this issue by expanding pay-per-view events to 2 nights, similar to what WWE does with WrestleMania.

According to Tony Khan, Rhodes is mistaken and this is not the case.

AEW Not Shifting to 2-Day Pay-Per-Views

Dustin Rhodes appeared at the “Terrificon” convention Fandom Spotlite and said:

“I think we’re going to go to two-day events now, for pay-per-views. I believe. I’ve heard that down the pike. It’ll be like a WrestleMania experience, you have two days of Double or Nothing or two-days of All Out or Revolution.”

Tony Khan says he’s not sure what Dustin Rhodes is talking about here, because it’s not something that has been seriously discussed internally. He made it very clear: AEW is definitely not shifting to 2-day PPV events in the foreseeable future.

“I love Dustin so much and I was surprised that he said it because it’s not something we seriously internally discussed.”

– Tony Khan

All Elite Wrestling’s next pay-per-view event is AEW All Out,. The show takes place Sunday, September 4th at the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois (outside Chicago).

Tony Khan has offered his reaction to the recent WWE management shakeup.

Things have shaken up in a massive way over in WWE. Vince McMahon stepped down from his position as WWE CEO after some sexual misconduct allegations surfaced. This left Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan to fill in as co-CEOs.

McMahon was then forced to retire from his position as head of WWE creative after investigations into McMahon began. Now, Triple H has been promoted to head of creative in WWE.

There seems to have been a generally positive reaction to the change, especially from the talent backstage. Now, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president Tony Khan has offered his reaction to the news.

Khan spoke on the matter during an interview with Sports Grid. The AEW front-man noted that he believes the change will be good for wrestling fans, making things more exciting – especially when it comes to free agency.

“I think that’s always been a concern, but now probably more so than ever, I imagine great wrestlers are going to be in demand. And again, I think this is probably going to be good for the wrestling fans because that’s one of the most exciting things about pro wrestling: free agency.

“It’s one of those things that was really missing from the sport for almost two decades before AEW came in, because there was not a legitimate competitor in the free agent market, and now there is.

“I think it’s going to be some exciting times ahead, hopefully for many years to come. One of the worst things that happened, I think, in American sports in my lifetime was when WCW closed down. And there should always be another national wrestling company.”

Free agency has already been a huge deal between WWE and AEW. Names such as Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole leaving WWE for AEW, and Cody Rhodes leaving AEW to return to WWE.

With Triple H now at the helm of WWE, and considered to be more appealing to work under than Vince McMahon, it will be interesting to see if the tides change in a major way, drawing more talent’s interest in joining WWE.

Eric Bischoff spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall this week for NBC Sports Boston. Bischoff was there to promote his second autobiography Grateful, which is due out November 11 (Pre-order here).

Speaking about Eric Bischoff calling out Vince McMahon to fight him on Monday Nitro, Steve said it would have been one of the craziest things in the history of wrestling. That would be like Stephanie McMahon and Tony Khan fighting today.

Stephanie McMahon vs. Tony Khan?

“Stephanie McMahon would kill Tony Khan,” said Bischoff. “Have you stood next to Tony Khan? She’s stronger, bigger. Listen, I’ve been slapped by Stephanie McMahon on television, which was supposed to be what they call a ‘working’ slap. She don’t know how to work, at least not a slap. I mean, that girl could hurt you. She would kill Tony Khan. Kill him. Yeah, set that up. Somebody book that. That would be fun.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Bischoff took another dig at Tony Khan and his penchant for offering big-money contracts to talent. “Tony Khan now has the ATM Eric title – that man is spending more money than Ted Turner would have ever allowed me to spend.”

You can watch the full interview here:

Former Ring of Honor talent Matt Taven reflects on his final days with Ring of Honor before his release.

The news of ROH going on hiatus surprised wrestling fans last year. ROH shared their announcement on Oct. 27, 2021, that they wanted to reconceptualize the brand. All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan would purchase ROH on March 2.

While the news took fans by surprise, it also shocked their talent.

In an interview with Steve Fall, Taven shared that he found out about the ROH hiatus not too long after it became public to fans. Although, he also shared that he did see that business wasn’t looking ideal.

“…None of us really knew exactly what was going on, and even after that announcement, no one really knew what was going on. There was definitely guys like myself and Jay Lethal who were, you know. We’re filming in front of no one. I can see how much every time we do these TV tapings, the amount of testing, the single rooms, the amount of people coming in, all the flights. I’m looking around, and I’m adding everything. I’m just thinking to myself. This isn’t good, said Taven.

He continued, “…We were reassured a lot of a lot of different things, and maybe I have no idea because I’m only on one side of it, so I don’t know what was on the other side, but we really found out shortly before the internet found out. I mean, we had a zoom meeting just like this, and we were told the news, and before you really had a chance to process it, your phone’s already going off because it seemed like everyone else knew as well.”

Matt Taven on ROH Allowing him to Wrestle for Impact Wrestling

Once ROH announced they were going on hiatus, it was revealed that they would let go of all their contracted wrestlers. Some wrestlers whose deals expired were let go immediately, while others had their contract end by April 1.

Taven shared he had two years left on his original deal. Despite still being under contract with ROH, the company allowed Taven to compete in Impact Wrestling.

During the interview, he expressed gratitude to the company for allowing him to work for Impact Wrestling and still respecting his contract.

“… They were going to let all of the contracts that were expired just expire and not renew them, and the ones that continue to go on had a new end date per se in Mar. or the end of Mar., so I was one of those guys, but thankfully Ring of Honor allowed me to do Impact Wrestling during that time period after Final Battle and before my contract would actually expire,” said Taven.

ROH letting Taven work with Impact Wrestling helped secure his current working relationship with the company.

Would He Consider Working with Tony Khan’s ROH?

Under the ownership of Khan, ROH is looking to rebuild the brand. The company recently had its pay-per-view event, ROH Death Before Dishonor, on July 23.

Although he’s working with Impact Wrestling, Taven shared he doesn’t rule out the possibility of working for ROH again. However, he is focused on working with Impact Wrestling and knows he’ll be with them for a little longer.

Despite not being with the company, Taven wishes Khan the best in rebuilding ROH.

Road Dogg wants to know why All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president Tony Khan won’t hire him.

The WWE Hall Of Famer was recently a guest on Busted Open Radio where he talked about his professional wrestling career.

This included his exit from WWE back in January, where he served as a writer, producer, and trainer.

During the interview, Road Dogg talked about the possibility of working for AEW. He noted he’s asked for a job from Khan on several platforms, but he hasn’t heard anything back.

“I’m not retired, I’m unemployed. I see things on Tony Khan’s TV show that appall me. I could help with that.

“I have been begging him for a job on every platform I can and I want to know the reason why he won’t hire me.”

He certainly has a lot of knowledge to pass along. As a member of D-Generation X, he racked up six Tag Team Title reigns alongside Billy Gunn. He also began working backstage in WWE in 2014.

As a producer and writer on SmackDown, Road Dogg helped many young stars develop, while also occasionally returning for some in-ring work. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2019 as a member of DX.

In May of 2019 he began working as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center, before ultimately leaving the company this past January.

Quotes via Fightful

Tony Khan has revealed two top stars who have years left on their All Elite Wrestling (AEW) deals.

The AEW president was recently a guest on Busted Open Radio where he discussed the contract statuses of two of his top stars. Those being Adam Cole and Malakai Black.

With Vince McMahon now out at WWE, and Triple H taking over creative, there has been speculation that some recently departed stars could consider returning.

However, in regards to Cole and Black, specifically, Khan notes that the pair are still contracted with AEW for several more years.

“Adam Cole is signed until 2027 now,” Tony Khan said. “I wouldn’t expect to see him going anywhere anytime soon. Malakai Black has almost five years left on his deal. I wouldn’t expect him going anywhere anytime soon.”

Cole spent five years with WWE after signing with the company in 2017. During his time with the company he never left the developmental brand of NXT, however, he became a staple in the brand.

His run resulted in an NXT Championship win, along with a NXT North American Championship, as well as an NXT Tag Team Title reign.

Cole put on some memorable matches for the brand, and admitted it was an emotional exit for him when he decided to leave. Especially given the relationship he built with Triple H and Shawn Michaels, who were very hands on during his run with the company.

Soon after, he made his shocking debut at the AEW All Out pay-per-view (PPV), reuniting with his former Bullet Club brethren Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. This moment was especially memorable, as it was followed by the debut of Bryan Danielson just moments later.

As for Black, he also spent five years with WWE after signing with them in 2016.

Black spent most of his time with WWE on NXT as well, however, he was eventually called up to the main roster. Although he was a top singles star on NXT, winning the NXT Title at one point, he never seemed to get anything going as a singles competitor on the main roster.

He signed with AEW in July of 2021, making his debut on an episode of Dynamite.

AEW President Tony Khan has provided additional commentary on the fallout from WWE’s big management shakeup.

By now, you’ve probably heard that Vince McMahon is out and Triple H has taken over as the head of Creative and Talent Relations.

The shakeup will bring a revitalized approach to who is hired and how they are booked. We saw an entire generation of NXT stars fail to translate on the main roster, many of whom have left the company and joined All Elite Wrestling. In fact, Fightful reports that one top free agent is now much more likely to sign with WWE, in light of Vince’s departure.

• Vince McMahon’s Retirement Renews Talk of a WWE Sale

Tony Khan: “Good Luck With That”

Tony Khan appeared on Busted Open Radio on Wednesday to promote tonight’s Fight for the Fallen edition of AEW Dynamite.

During his weekly “Tony Time” segment, TK addressed the buzz that certain AEW performers might be interested in returning to WWE now that Triple H is steering the ship.

Khan said, “I am a little amused that, changes in the competition.. people think that it’s just going to magically change the landscape,” and mocked some of the ‘hot takes’ he’s seen on Twitter this week.

“You know, I’ve got people signed for 5 years and people think just because the CEO, the Chairman, the head of creative, those positions change in the competition, people I have 5-year contracts with are just going to magically switch teams? Like, Good luck with that.”

Khan mentioned Adam Cole and Malakai Black in particular, as two stars who fit the “NXT mold” under Triple H who fans think might be wandering back to WWE.

“Adam Cole is signed until 2027 now,” said Khan. “I wouldn’t expect to see him going anywhere anytime soon. Malakai Black has almost five years left on his deal. I wouldn’t expect him going anywhere anytime soon.”

Adam Cole and Malakai Black won’t be going anywhere any time soon, but there’s no question that Triple H taking over creative will have an impact on the free agent market. Instantly, stars such as Johnny Gargano, Bray Wyatt and even Sasha Banks have a lot to think about regarding their next career moves.

Listen to Tony Khan’s comments about the big shakeup in WWE:

Tony Khan recently spoke with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston about his relationships with the members of the AEW roster and the range of connections he has to them. 

Criticism Regarding Communication

Following the ROH Death Before Dishonor event on July 23, a report emerged stating that Jonathan Gresham had requested his release from Ring Of Honor (ROH).

The former ROH World Champion had been told that creative decisions needed to go through Khan, but Gresham couldn’t get in contact with Khan until only a few hours before Saturday’s show.

There seems to be quite a bit of criticism regarding the lack of communication within AEW; from stars such as Joey Janela, Marko Stunt, and Chavo Guerrero. However, it does seem that it is not all across the board as many wrestlers have praised their relationship with the AEW Owner.

Tony Khan: “I Am A Boss And Try To Be A Friend”

When speaking with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston, Tony Khan discussed his relationships with AEW wrestlers and how they vary.

“I think in most cases, I am a boss and try to be a friend. I mean, I guess in every case, if you work for AEW, I’m a boss, but if you know it’s somebody I’ve gotten to spend time with I try to at least be very friendly and make it a fun place to work. 

And there are a lot of people I have different relationships with some people are older and you know, I can learn a lot from them. And a lot of the young wrestlers, I do try to give advice to and give them ideas and things they can use on TV on Wednesday night dynamite on TBS, or on Friday night rampage on TNT and hopefully things that they can use to develop their skills and also to make them more interesting to the wrestling fans who watch the shows.”

Watch Steve’s interview with Tony Khan here:

Tony Khan gave his opinion on Vince McMahon’s Resignation when he spoke with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston.

Shakeup In WWE

This week, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE, after decades of running the company.

McMahon’s retirement comes one month after he stepped down as CEO and Chairman of the Board, due to the allegations of misconduct against multiple female employees.

McMahon is alleged to have paid over $12 million in Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) over 16 years.

WWE executive Paul Levesque (Triple H) has assumed “all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative,” the company announced Monday morning.

Tony Khan Shares His Opinion

Tony Khan recently spoke with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston about the recent shakeup within WWE’s backstage personnel.

The CEO and General Manager of AEW said:

“I believe that there are a lot of great wrestling fans all over the world who are following pro wrestling pretty closely and there’s obviously been shakeups. I’ve definitely followed that promotion since I was a small kid. And it’ll be interesting to see how things turn out in the world of pro wrestling and I’m a big fan of pro wrestling all over the place, not just AEW. And now not just Ring of Honor either. We’ve worked with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and a lot of other great companies all over the world. 

So, we’ll see what’s to be held for the future of the pro wrestling business. But I’m glad that AEW and Ring of Honor are both a huge part of it with AEW every Wednesday on TBS, and every Friday on TNT and now Ring of Honor with the Pay Per View events on Bleacher Report hopefully, will lead to a weekly Ring of Honor also going forward.”

Watch Steve’s interview with Tony Khan here:

In 2019, Tony Khan shook the wrestling world by founding AEW among others, bringing competition to Vince McMahon’s WWE.

In March this year, Khan expanded his wrestling hold by purchasing Ring of Honor, making a rare appearance on AEW Dynamite to announce his acquisition.

Hybrid Championships

With Khan controlling both companies, some have speculated of a possible crossover World title, which would be defended in both AEW and Ring of Honor.

During the ROH Death Before Dishonor Media Call, Khan was asked about a ‘hybrid’ title and is opposed to the idea (via Wrestling Inc.)

“The titles, I think, are going to be kept separate. I wouldn’t have a hybrid championship or any hybrid championships, I think, between AEW and Ring of Honor.”

Tony Khan on the possibilty of unifying the AEW and Ring of Honor World Championships.

At this time, the ROH World Title is held by Claudio Castagnoli, with the AEW World Championship held by CM Punk, with Jon Moxley as interim AEW World Champion.

AEW-ROH Crossovers

Tony Khan may be against the idea of a hybrid World Championship, but both shows have had plenty of crossovers already.

At Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor, AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli captured the ROH World Championship from Jonathan Gresham.

Gresham, who recently requested his release from ROH, has also made a handful of AEW appearances, with his most recent being a win over Jordan Oasis on the July 16, 2022 Dark.

Samoa Joe, who signed with AEW earlier this year is the reigning Ring of Honor World Television Champion, having won the title from Minoru Suzuki on the April 12, 2022 AEW Dynamite.

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Last night’s Ring of Honor pay-per-view event Death Before Dishonor has been said to be a huge success.

The second pay-per-view under the new ownership of the President of All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, is said to have been more successful than ROH Supercard Of Honor 2022 back on April 1st.

“We’re approaching 25,000 buys digitally. We’re well over 20,000, approaching 25,000” Tony Khan said during the Death Before Dishonor post-show media scrum.

“Just digitally. And when we get the cable and satellite buys, this will be one of the highest Ring of Honor pay-per-view buys in the history of the company in over 20 years of operating. And as I said, this is the fourth biggest live attendance.

“Of course our first show, we did Supercard was up there. This beat that by a big margin and it was great. And so it is the number four all-time in over 20 years of Ring of Honor events. And again, it is the highest ever for a non-WrestleMania weekend event.”

Later on in the media scrum, Tony Khan would go on mention that this could be a good driver for if or when Ring of Honor starts weekly television.

“I think the business success of tonight’s show is hopefully a good driver and so I think it’s really good news for anybody who likes Ring of Honor. Because the show tonight was a big success and we’ve really revived the brand. And for a company that had a very uncertain future.”

We will report any updates as well as the pay-per-view buy numbers when they become official.

According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Jonathan Gresham has asked for his ROH/AEW release.

In the report, there was a conversation between Gresham and Tony Khan that was said to have involved Gresham “cussing out” Khan.

Sapp would go on to tweet, “There seems to be a lot of lack of communication between talent relations and talent that we’ve heard from. We’ve had stories of Gresham, Marko, Cage, Janela, and others not being able to get answers or responses.”

In an interview with WrestlePurists.com ahead of his recent ROH World Championship defense, he spoke about his communication with the AEW President.

“To be honest, I’ve not really talked to him. I don’t know what he thinks about me. Ive had very short conversations with him, when I say short I mean short. So I dunno. I would hope that he values me, I don’t know though. So we’ll find out in the coming weeks, months I guess.”

Jonathan Gresham on communication with Tony Khan

The backstage incident seemed to play a part in Gresham’s mood going into his match against Claudio Castagnoli at Death Before Dishonor.

Gresham made his entrance without his signature octopus mask, robe or flag. Twitter user @HeelWillMahoney described it as him being called into work on his day off.

Castagnoli ended up defeating Gresham with the Ricola Bomb to become the new ROH World Champion.

Since his loss to Claudio, the former champion has deactivated his Twitter account.

More details on this story to come.