By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW President Tony Khan spoke with the pro wrestling media on Thursday, July 23, 2026, to promote Sunday’s AEW Redemption pay-per-view. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-Tony Khan started by saying he’s very excited about Redemption, and he thinks it will be a great wrestling weekend.
-I asked about Redemption starting an hour earlier than other AEW pay-per-views and whether it will be the new norm. Tony said he wanted to experiment with the time and see how it works.
-Brian Zilem asked about Swerve Strickland’s status. Khan said he’s in good standing with AEW and will be at the San Diego Comic Con on Friday. Khan said he would follow up with more after the Redemption pay-per-view.
-Samantha Schipman asked about the status of the AEW Heels campaign. Khan said he wasn’t sure and would provide more details after the pay-per-view.
-Sean Radican asked how difficult it has been to juggle promoting the new Redemption pay-per-view with the All In show at Wembley Stadium next month. Khan said the company is in a strong period and believes this is the most fans they’ve had watching the show in many years based on their TV numbers, along with the added streaming component. Khan said Redemption will be a very important show on the road to All In.
-Dave Meltzer asked if some of the new free agents intrigue Khan, and for an update on Sammy Guevara, Anna Jay, and Tay Melo. Khan said he thought it was unusual that people said there was a change in Sammy’s status. Khan said people jumped to conclusions because Guevara mentioned that he changed his social media bio. People assumed that
Anna Jay is also in good standing, but she is injured and was going for an MRI last week. He said that Jay extended her deal with AEW.
Khan said there have been inaccuracies with Tay Melo. He said there was smoke to the fire, but the fire was in the wrong place. Khan said Melo told him at a recent Collision that she wanted a release and intends to take a break from wrestling. Khan said he heard from Melo this week. He said she told him that she’s not putting the reports out and is bothered by them. Khan said he plans to give Melo her release. Khan said it’s amazing how often things are reported that are either exaggerated or made up.
Khan said there are a lot of great free agents available. Khan said he is keeping an eye on that.
-Andrew Baydala noted that Kenny Omega is headlining Redemption as the AEW World Champion in Montreal and could do the same at Wembley Stadium. He wondered if these are examples of Omega checking boxes before the conclusion of his career. Khan said Omega survived, thrived, and has made an incredible comeback.
-Amy Nemmity asked about Thekla defending the AEW Women’s Championship against Willow Nightingale at Redemption. Khan sang the praises of both wrestlers and said he’s very excited about the match. Khan once again noted that he feels this will be a very important show heading into All In next month.
-Aditya Rao asked why MJF is not on the Redemption show. Khan said MJF had been in some very hard-hitting matches. He said MJF was a fighting champion in 2026, which was very different compared to his previous reigns. Khan said MJF isn’t a nice guy or a good person, but he’s a great wrestler, and they love to have him when he’s healthy and fit to compete. Khan gave MJF credit for fighting through some injuries this year.
-Dominic DeAngelo asked what gave Khan the confidence to put Kevin Knight in the Redemption main event. Khan said he is very confident that Knight can be one of the top stars. He recalled signing Knight and Thekla within weeks of one another.
-Viveck Sharma asked about Hangman Page’s status. Khan said he thinks we’ll see Page again very soon. He said Page had a great interview on Collision that set the stakes for his return. He played up Page being a man of his word and no longer challenging for the AEW World Championship.
-Sully Khan asked about Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley facing the Young Bucks at Redemption. He asked about parallels between this match and when Ospreay and Swerve Strickland faced the Young Bucks. Khan said the Bucks are quite possibly the greatest tag team that he’s ever seen. He feels they are back to where they were at the beginning of AEW. Khan also spoke of Ospreay and Moxley teaming together. He was mostly in storyline mode while answering this question.
-Michael Morales Torres spoke about the World Cup and asked if there could be more collaboration between AEW and Fulham F.C. Khan got fired up about the soccer talk. He said his father has built something around the historic Craven Cottage, and raved about the Fulham pier. Khan said he never wants AEW to affect Fulham because of the purity of the sport. He said Fulham Pier is open 365 days per year and AEW fans are always welcome. Khan said there is some crossover. He mentioned AEW being a sponsor and having the company logo present. He also said AEW sponsors the women’s Fulham team.
-Bill Bodkin asked about the possibility of holding a Crockett Cup-style tag team tournament. Khan spoke of how AEW features women’s wrestling, pure wrestling, and tag team wrestling either prominently or more prominently than any other promotion. Khan mentioned FTR as being one of the greatest tag teams of all time. He said the tournament is a great thought and it’s something he has considered. He also mentioned adding more women’s tag teams. He feels they have dozens of great teams between AEW, ROH, and CMLL, and they have a growing number of women’s teams.
-Jon Alba asked if the original plan was for MJF to defend the AEW World Championship at Redemption. Khan said it was a very fair question, but he does have to keep some sleight of hand. Khan brought up the Paramount merger and combining two great streaming services (Paramount+ and HBO Max). He said it’s a very exciting time to go to the bosses with the numbers the television shows have been doing. Khan said the pay-per-view numbers are also an important piece of the equation, and touted how well they’ve done with HBO Max involved. Khan said he’s proud that Beach Break was the most-watched AEW show on TBS in two years, and also mentioned the HBO Max streaming component. He said they followed up that show with even higher viewership last week. Khan said they will have a big summer with Redemption and All In. He feels the moves they’ve made have been the right moves. Khan wrapped up the call with his closing thoughts.
Be the first to comment