By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW President Tony Khan spoke with the pro wresting media on Thursday, August 31, 2023 to promote Sunday’s AEW All Out pay-per-view. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-Tony Khan said he’s very excited about All Out and being back in Chicago. Khan noted that Kenny Omega and Saraya were amongst the talent who were unable to appear due to illness or travel issues related to the hurricane.
-Khan was asked whether CM Punk will be a part of All Out. Khan said it’s a great question and he appreciated the caller asking. He said they were still investigating the situation. He said that if he could say more, he would. He said he was still looking into some things.
-Khan was asked about the scheduling for next year with All In and All Out. Khan said All In will happen at Wembley Stadium on August 25. He said he thinks All Out is a big part of Labor Day weekend. He spoke about running All Out on a bank holiday weekend, and running All Out over Labor Day weekend in the United States. He said he feels that All Out has built a great tradition and it should be a great show.
-Khan said he is open to allowing talent to take part in more press junkets at pay-per-view events.
-Khan was asked about ROH and AEW. He spoke about the work that Athena and Billie Starkz have done in ROH. He said that Starkz is dealing with an injury, and he’s hoping he can still get them on the Zero Hour pre-show on Sunday. Khan said there will be an ROH Final Battle event in December. Khan said Jon Moxley is putting together a tournament on the indies. Khan said Starkz is involved in the tournament and he’s hoping to have AEW talent.
-Khan was asked about having NJPW women and their titles involved in the WrestleDream event. Khan said he would love that. He mentioned Mercedes Mone and said she’s not able to wrestle right now. He said she’s one of the top stars of the world. He said he’s not expecting her to be medically cleared in time for WrestleDream.
-Khan was asked about the possibility of bundling All In and All Out pay-per-views. Khan said he tried and thought it would make sense, but it wasn’t viable across all the cable carriers. Khan said he’s been writing Dynamite on paper since he was 12 years-old and it always led up to pay-per-view events. He said that back then, a pay-per-view bundle was his dream. He said it’s been 28 years since he wanted to do that and yet it’s still pretty much impossible to do.
-Khan was asked about the legacy of Terry Funk and what he and the roster could learn from it. Khan said he was a huge fan of Funk. He said he saw Funk for the first time when he was eight years old. He rented a video with Funk on it and then started calling every video store looking for more of the 1989 WCW pay-per-views because he needed to see more of Funk. Khan said he didn’t get to know Funk personally and said he’ll always regret that. He said Tommy Dreamer tried to arrange it multiple times and it never worked out. Khan said it’s hard to articulate the greatness of somebody who is so much better than everyone else.
-Khan was asked how the he refocuses coming out of All In. Khan said they will have a great event this weekend. He said he would like to come back to that question coming out of the event. He said he will spend so much time trying to make next year’s All In a worthy successor. Khan said the event was powerful. He said they sold more tickets than any event ever. He said All In will probably be the second most successful pay-per-view. Khan said they will be replaying All In on linear television tonight in the UK. Khan said he will look at building a bigger set for next year’s All In, but he noted that it would take away some premium seating.
-Khan spoke of his excitement for Sunday’s Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita. Khan said he spoke with Omega about doing that match at All In, but he also felt that doing the six-man tag match made sense. Khan also spoke of his excitement for the Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley match. Khan said a lot of people felt that match should have been on the All In show, but you can’t please everyone. Khan spent a lot of time talking about his history in the state of Illinois.
-Khan was asked if there are certain locations he would like to run for the first time. Khan ran through some of the places they’ve run. He said they haven’t put fans in the Jaguars’ stadium, which is now known as EverBank Stadium.
-Khan was asked whether he would be able to give fans an answer about Punk’s status before the pay-per-view on Sunday. Khan said that’s his goal.
-Khan was asked about Ruby Soho challenging Kris Statlander, and for an update on Mercedes Martinez. Khan said Martinez is doing great. He said he thinks Statlander already beat her. Khan said Martinez came to him to ask about working with Diamante.
-Khan was asked if CM Punk expressed frustration prior to All Out. Khan said he thinks they had good plans that had nothing to do with the incident. Khan said it’s been an exciting summer coming out of Forbidden Door and he’s been happy with everything. Khan touted the All Out go-home shows on Dynamite and Collision.
-Khan delivered his closing remarks. He spoke about FTR teaming with the Young Bucks. He said they have a competitive relationship and it’s a big deal that they are teaming together. Khan closed out the call shortly thereafter.
I want AEW to succeed, but Khan’s remark, “Khan said he’s been writing Dynamite on paper since he was 12 years-old,” is telling.
He has to stop playing with action figures, stop being a friend, and be a leader; to wrestlers going into business for themselves, and for overall creative direction.
There is no coherency or cohesiveness to stories, the every-episode bloodletting violence means nothing, and too many things are being promoted all at once – to the point no match, event or show seems important.