By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW President Tony Khan spoke with the pro wresting media on November 21, 2024 to promote Saturday’s AEW Full Gear pay-per-view. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-Tony Khan said this is one of his favorite times of the years. He said he loves the holidays, Full Gear, and wrestling at this time of the year. Khan spoke about releasing the schedule earlier than they once did. Khan spoke about visiting new venues and new cities.
-I asked for an update on how Grand Slam Australia tickets are moving and whether he has decided if the event will be a pay-per-view, a television taping, or just a big live event. Khan said they have moved thousands of tickets, but he did not offer any specifics. He spoke about the time difference being a factor that would make it difficult to ask people to pay for a pay-per-view event. He spoke about the upcoming streaming deal. He said everyone will be able to see it domestically.
-Dominic DeAngelo asked about Chris Jericho holding the ROH Championship and it adding prestige. Khan spoke of the credibility that Jericho brings and said it does add prestige. Khan said there has been serious interest in the ROH media rights and having Jericho as champion can only help.
-A write-in question asked about using The Costco Guys and whether they will do more things like this in the future. Khan said it’s been great and he learned a lot about marketing from them. He said he will be on Fox Business with Big Boom AJ on Friday. Khan said they are also very happy to have The Rizzler at Full Gear.
-Amy Nemity asked about the stakes of Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear. Khan spoke about the history between the two wrestlers. He said there’s always an opportunity for violence with both men. He said the match embodies two different voices in AEW and two historical figures that have great significance in the company’s five-year run. Khan said he expects it to be a great match and said the company will be better off for it.
-Dave Meltzer asked about AEW Dynamite and Collision being held on the same night on some upcoming dates. He also asked about international television deals and whether they are close on ROH or any other show in 2025. Khan indicated that they won’t be holding Dynamite and Collision on the same night very often. He mentioned it happening before they go to Australia, but he said it won’t be common. Khan said they are still having conversations about AEW and ROH internationally. Khan went back to speaking about going live as often as possible with Dynamite while keeping Collision a standalone event.
-Joel Torres asked about AEW running shows in Mexico now that the television programming is available. Khan did not commit to running AEW standalone shows in Mexico.
-Rick Ucchino asked about Harley Cameron. Khan said she brings great energy. He said her promo delivery is fantastic and she’s a great athlete. Khan said she’s really developing as a wrestler. Khan said she is a prime example of a rising talent in AEW.
-The next caller asked about Toni Storm. Khan said the rumors of her demise have been greatly exaggerated. He spoke about the character being down because of losing her title to her protege.
-Khan was asked about Kenny Omega. Khan said he’s happy that Omega’s health is better and said it will be a great thing for AEW to get him back soon.
-Jon Alba asked if there was any strategy when it comes to running smaller venues for some upcoming shows. Khan spoke about the great atmosphere they had in Cedar Park, Texas and said he was looking for more venues like that. He said he hopes they have the same energy that the fans in Austin bring.
-Bill Pritchard asked about the first show streaming on January 1. Khan spoke about it being “Fight For The Fallen” and being held in Asheville, North Carolina. Khan said he thinks it’s the right thing to do to come in and help after the area was ravaged by a hurricane. Khan said they want to put their best foot forward for the debut on Max and he feels that is Fight For The Fallen. Khan said it will be a big week for AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery with the simulcast of the show on television and Max.
-Ella Jay asked about how often Mina Shirakawa will be working in AEW. Khan said he hopes she can join them more frequently. He said they have a great relationship with the Stardom promotion. Khan said Shirakawa is a great star for both Stardom and AEW. Khan said he hopes she is able to work for AEW more frequently, and Stardom is open to that. “I expect to see Mina Shirakawa here a lot in AEW,” Khan said.
-Mike Johnson asked about when pay-per-view events will appear on Max and what the pricing will be. Khan said it’s too soon for him to say. He said a lot of it is in the hands of WBD. He said the pay-per-views streaming on Max will require a lot of technical work on the Max side, so he doesn’t want to put a date on it will start. Khan plugged the company’s other pay-per-view providers they have “in the interim.” Khan said it will happen sometime in 2025 and said it could be several months.
-A caller asked about AEW competing with the WWE ID program. Khan said they are looking at top young wrestlers both internationally and domestically. Khan said it will be interesting to see what happens when they bring in a talent who is under a WWE ID deal. He said he doesn’t know exactly how they work, but he believes there is a matching option. Khan said he has thoughts, but he would reserve them for now. Khan said identifying young talent is important for AEW.
-Sean Ross Sapp spoke about AEW releasing their live events schedule and running some smaller venues. Khan spoke about smaller venues they’ve run and the atmosphere.
-Rich Fann recalled asking Khan about having Black singles stars in the past and how he’s balanced things since then and his plans for maintaining in 2025. Khan spoke about Athena and Red Velvet in ROH. He said Athena came in as a free agent with more experience, and Velvet has worked her way up and into this position. Khan said there are so many different ways to arrive in a prominent position. Khan said he feels the roster is in a strong position overall. He said they will continue to try to bring in the best free agents. Khan said the thing that bonds people in AEW is that they really love wrestling. Khan said they’ve made an effort to have a balance of homegrown stars and top free agents.
-Khan was asked about the kickoff party for the All In Arlington event. Khan said the fans and local government have been very supportive. Khan expressed his excitement for the event. He raved about the residency at Esports Stadium in Arlington.
-Brandon Thurston asked about the future of AEW Rampage and whether it will be a weekly TV show in 2025. Khan said he’s still working on media rights. He said they got a great deal done with WBD and touted the big financial increase. Khan said he’s enjoyed doing Rampage since 2021. He said it’s not currently in the WBD media rights package. He said there are a lot of opportunities and there are other places Rampage or other AEW programming could live. He said the most important thing they had to do was extend the deal with WBD. Khan said it was important to AEW and David Zaslav told him it was also important to him.
-Brian Zilem asked if Khan had any numbers to share regarding the All In VIP packages. Khan said he didn’t have all the numbers. He said he is very optimistic about staging and event that will be one of AEW’s biggest events and one of the biggest events ever at Globe Life Field.
-Khan closed the call with his thoughts about Full Gear. He recalled walking into past venues that hosted the show. He said he thinks everyone will enjoy the pay-per-view and mentioned that there will be a post show press event.
He likes having access to more than one kind of snow.