Tony Khan Says He’s Trying To Bring Back ‘Spirit Of The Wrestling Before The Mid 8o’s
Tony Khan has only been in the wrestling game a little over two years, but the moves he has been making have AEW poised to go head-to-head or even be more superior than The WWE.
Khan showed his willingness to forward the wrestling business by allowing his AEW World Champion Kenny Omega to show up in Impact wrestling and eventually win the Impact Championship. This year alone AEW has worked with Impact, NJPW, NWA, AAA, and various independent companies.
On Tuesday Tony khan appeared Tuesday wrestling with Jonathan Hood. He explained his theory on collaborating with other companies and the state of wrestling.
“Vince Sr was really cooperative. He booked Andre (The Giant) out all over the country. He would work for AWA and would go to Mid South and work in Houston. Wrestling was much more collaborative before the mid-80s and it was actually one person that made the business less collaborative. I’m trying to bring some of that spirit back. When Vince Sr was running the New York territory, it was a much more collaborative thing,” said Khan.
IMPACT, AAA, and certainly New Japan, I’ve done a lot of stuff with. It has to make sense for AEW and we’ve seen wrestlers from AEW go and capture championships in different promotions around the world. A lot of AEW wrestlers still hold championships in various promotions around the world and it’s good for those promotions to have such strong recognizable champions who have a great TV platform to wear their titles and it’s good for us because it shows that we’re the top company in wrestling, frankly, and a lot of companies out there have had our wrestlers come in and do really well. I’m very open to it and it shows good bonds between the companies and allows us access to good wrestlers. We have one of the best rosters, but it’s always good to have fresh and different talent. It’s why I like working with other companies. Also, New Japan has had big shows and have great talent specifically. I’ve done a lot of things with them. The main focus is on AEW and our shows. We have such a big roster and so much bandwidth that it allows us to expand, partner, and help other wrestling companies.”
AEW is changing the face of wrestling and is helping it evolve daily. We will have to see if we get any surprises from any other companies this Sunday at All Out.
Below is the full audio interview.
H/T to Fightful Select for the quotes.