By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The following are among the highlights of Steve Austin’s interview with AEW President & CEO Tony Khan. Listen to the interview in full at PodcastOne.com.
-Khan feels that Double Or Nothing was a “grand slam” and one of the greatest pay-per-views ever.
-Khan said there will be a tag team tournament once the AEW television show starts in the fall. He said teams will be competing for a first round bye in the tournament. He said they will be bringing in the best teams in the world to compete for the AEW Tag Titles.
-The Young Bucks winning the AAA Tag Titles worked out well, as Khan said AAA did the best television rating the company has ever done “by a wide margin.”
-Bret Hart’s appearance at Double Or Nothing stemmed from a phone conversation between Khan and Cody. Khan said he mentioned Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, then mentioned Bret Hart as an option and Cody said he loved it. Khan said he had dinner with Bret a couple nights before the show and it meant a lot to have him at the event where he introduced the AEW Championship.
-Austin said he loved Jericho’s entrance at Double Or Nothing. Khan said Jericho came up with the concept and then Keith Mitchell and the production team handled the rest.
-Austin brought up his podcast interview with Jon Moxley (a/k/a Dean Ambrose). Austin said they got off to a bad start and they never got on track. Austin said he’s felt like shit about the interview ever since, but the end of his podcast on WWE Network had nothing to do with the interview. Austin said he got Moxley’s number from a mutual friend and they ended up having a great 30-minute conversation. Austin said he never had any personal animosity toward Moxley, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about him before their phone conversation. Austin stressed that he’s a huge fan of Moxley and he thinks they will end up doing another podcast together.
-Khan said the weekly AEW television show will be a two-hour show. He said he can’t say the day of the week yet, but said details will be coming soon. He said All Out will be the last pay-per-view going into the launch of the television series.
-Austin asked if the television series will be live from one location or held in various locations. Khan said they are going to various locations. He said they will focus on the United States initially and will eventually go outside the country.
-Khan said house shows are not his core business focus. He said he doesn’t want to put as much milage on top performers by having them perform on shows that won’t provide much revenue, and he doesn’t want to put out an inferior house show product without top performers. He said if they do house shows they will have top talent. He said he would like to get to the point where they have 100 to 120 events and he doesn’t think every wrestler will be on every show. Rather, there will be a combination of top performers every night.
-Khan said there will not be an offseason in AEW. He said a real wrestling fan doesn’t want to take any week off. Khan said he will not have wrestlers on the road five or six days per week.
-Khan noted that the Young Bucks are excited about working with and mentoring the Private Party tag team. He also praised Hangman Page. Austin said Page has star written all over him.
-Austin noted that he is still part of WWE, but he wishes AEW all the best in the world because he is big on competition.
-Khan noted that June 29 Fyter Fest will have a one-hour pre-show that will air on Youtube in addition to the main show that will air free on B/R Live.
-Khan said the Fight For the Fallen event will also air for free (presumably on B/R Live) on July 13 from Jacksonville.
Powell’s POV: Austin and Khan went through the Double Or Nothing show, which Austin was a big fan of. It was also nice to hear Austin address the awkward podcast interview with Moxley. Khan also spoke about what made him decide to start a pro wrestling company, promos being overly scripted, wins and losses mattering, Khan’s belief that lapsed pro wrestling fans are still out there and are still interested, the AEW women’s division, Khan’s relationship with his father, and more. It’s a good and recommended listen and it’s been nice to see/hear Khan loosen up and come off more at ease in his media appearances coming out of Double Or Nothing.
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