By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW President Tony Khan spoke with the pro wresting media on Thursday, August 21, 2025, to promote Sunday’s AEW Forbidden Door pay-per-view. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-Khan opened the call by saying that this is one of his favorite weekends of the year. He opened up the phone lines.
-Jon Alba asked about WWE running against AEW All Out on September 20. Khan spoke about continuing focus on what they’ve been doing. He spoke of growing the television numbers despite also being available on HBO Max. Khan worked in a plug for Saturday’s AEW Collision show. Khan spoke of focusing on AEW, though he said he does like watching other promotions.
-Courtney Rice asked Khan if he sees Alex Windsor becoming a top wrestler in the women’s division. “Absolutely,” Khan replied. He went on to sing the praises of Windsor, saying she’s been excellent and “has delivered time after time.” Khan said he views Windsor as a top star in AEW right now.
-Andrew Baydala asked if Khan would ever consider a standalone home for AEW pay-per-views. He also mentioned that he’s looking forward to HBO Max becoming an AEW pay-per-view provider.
-Samantha Schipman asked whether future Forbidden Door shows will feature more head-to-head competitions between wrestlers from AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Khan said moving Forbidden Door until after the G1 Climax tournament caused changes. He said it led to less participation from NJPW and Stardom, adding that he was told that most of the NJPW wrestlers would be unavailable until the week of Forbidden Door. Khan said NJPW has great wrestlers, but they need television availability. Khan said he expects Forbidden Door to take place before the G1 tournament and Stardom’s Grand Prix tournament. Khan spoke of his desire to use Yota Tsuji. Khan said he envisioned Tsuji as an AEW World Championship challenger to Swerve Strickland last year, but people felt it was better to have someone more established, especially with Swerve being a new champion at the time. He said Will Ospreay came to him and told him that he felt he would be a good challenger, so they ended up going with that match instead.
-Jaime Falcon asked about the balance of trying to make multiple pro wrestling companies happy. Khan said AEW is the lead producer of Forbidden Door. He said it’s okay that they couldn’t get a lot of the talent until the week of the show. “We’re a team,” Khan said. He recalled that the original Forbidden Door was one of the hardest things he’s ever worked on due to injuries and illness, causing lineup changes. Khan said NJPW was the lead producer for Wrestle Dynasty. He recalled sending talent to that show while he produced television in the United States.
-Mike Johnson asked about the balance Khan wants in terms of running internationally compared to the United States. Khan said they have fans all over and will continue traveling. He mentioned that some of the best reactions they’ve had have been at international shows. He said the Forbidden Door crowd would be top five for the gate and tickets sold. He said Grand Slam Mexico was one of the most successful shows in AEW history. He praised the fans in Glasgow, Scotland, for the Dynamite and Collision shows that were held the night before. Khan said he’s excited to be running the O2 Arena for the first time, and said he’s attended various events there.
-Dominic DeAngelo brought up AEW’s upcoming residency at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, and asked if he intended to embrace aspects of ECW. Khan said there have been many great promotions and memories in Philadelphia, and so many great decades of wrestling. He said it was the first place he saw pro wrestling outside his home arena in Champaign, Illinois. Khan said he hasn’t been to the former ECW Arena in 29 years. He mentioned meeting Mike Johnson and tape traders at the venue. Khan praised last week’s ROH on HonorClub show.
-Amy Nemmity asked about the steel cage match and the involvement of Hiroshi Tanahashi. Khan recalled coming up with the idea to have a lights-out steel cage match. Khan said it has exactly the lineup he would have dreamed of. Khan asked Tanahashi to be in the match, and he said yes.
-There was a write-in question regarding Bozilla. Khan said he really likes her, and she was his first choice to have in AEW for this event. He said she just became available this week. Khan said he’s excited to meet with Bozilla and have her work in AEW while representing Stardom.
-Richard Breslin about the possibility of doing a sequel to the Fight Forever video game and whether they would consider a different developer. Khan said he likes to play video games, but he’s not an expert. Khan said they will do various games on various platforms.
-Unfortunately, we had technical issues, so I was unable to ask my question about Will Ospreay’s health and why he’s being allowed to work the Forbidden Door show if he truly needs surgery. Damn technology. I was trying to determine whether the issue was on my end, so forgive my light coverage the remaining questions.
-Cam Hawkins mentioned interviewing Swerve Strickland, and a question stemmed from it regarding AEW’s core being Swerve, MJF, Will Ospreay, and Hangman Page. Khan said it’s a good call by Swerve.
-Brian Zilem asked about Khan’s growth as a leader. Khan spoke of his love of wrestling and said he considers himself fortunate to do what he does.
-Khan closed out the call and said he appreciates the balanced feedback the company gets from the pro wrestling media.
Join me for my live review of AEW Forbidden Door on Sunday.
Coked out trust fund doofus takes softball questions from “media” members that he knows won’t press him about his shitty product and nosediving ratings.
As usual, nothing of value will come from this.
Tony just no sold the sex traffikers stalking his company with their pathetic attempts to hurt his company. Aew about to sh1t all over the feds o2 attendance and put on a show 10 times better than the traffikers could put on even on their best day. Nobody cares about the traffikers … only traffiker marks obsessed with AEW. Next !!!