By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW President Tony Khan spoke with the pro wrestling media on Thursday, December 4, 2025, to promote Friday’s Ring of Honor Final Battle event. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-Tony Khan said he’s excited for Final Battle weekend. He said it feels crazy to say that this is his fourth Final Battle. He said it’s one of his favorite events of the year.
-Kevin Kellam asked about ROH seeking a media rights deal. Khan said he’s had great offers to put ROH on television. He said he had opportunities to move from streaming to television. He said he has a half-a-billion-dollar contract for AEW. He said he’s had conversations where good money was offered, yet also conversations where he didn’t feel like those he was negotiating with would have been a good partner. Khan said he’s very interested in doing a weekly ROH television show. He said they’ve put some of the ROH shows on YouTube, and they’ve had a great reception. He said having the content behind a paywall brings in good revenue. He said there is likely a partnership that will make sense in their future. He said they have to look at media rights deals, and they’re not all created equally.
-I asked if Zayda Steel, who popped up on ROH television this week, signed a contract with the company. He said to stay tuned and spoke about her current storyline. Khan asked if I had any follow-up questions. I did, but my line had been muted. (He was kind enough to say that he has read my work for 25 years, which makes me feel old, yet is very much appreciated.)
-Jon Alba asked a follow-up about ROH landing a media rights deal. Khan said it has to be the right fit. He also spoke about getting the rights to the All In name when he acquired the company. Khan spoke about the Crockett family buying the UWF promotion back in the day. Khan said he felt the best thing they got out of the deal was Sting, and he spoke about getting the Briscoe Brothers when he bought ROH. Khan said he doesn’t expect ROH to get the same financial numbers as AEW for a media rights deal, but it has to be the right fit.
-Amy Nemmity asked Khan to reflect on the last year of ROH and how he tied some of it into Final Battle. Khan said he felt that some of the best things they’ve done in ROH have occurred this year. Khan said it’s a lot easier to tape shows. He said doing live shows is costly. He recalled asking the fans at Wednesday’s Dynamite if they wanted more wrestling because he had ROH matches, and he said the fans said yes. Khan said he would like to have dedicated ROH tapings, but it’s expensive. He said he feels this is their best year of ROH television. He said ROH put on some great pay-per-views before he took over, and he’s just happy to keep it going. Khan spoke about how he cares about ROH. He said nothing he could do would hold a candle to some classic ROH matches except The Briscoes vs. FTR.
-Sean Ross Sapp asked about Blake Christian wanting Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” as his entrance theme. He said the last time he addressed this, he had one percent approval, but he needs the other 99 percent. He said he would love to have the song on tomorrow’s show.
-Sully Khan asked about Lee Moriarty and Nigel McGuinness having a Pure Rules match. Khan said they bring the best out of each other, and it’s a match they both want.
-Samantha Schipman asked for an update on Nick Wayne and whether he will consider having an interim ROH TV Champion if he’s going to be sidelined much longer. Khan said the timeline of Wayne’s recovery changed. He said they thought he would have been back for Final Battle. Khan said he would have bet money on that happening. He said they probably would have crowned an interim champion had he known how long he was going to be out. Khan said Wayne is getting closer to returning. Khan said Wayne is one of the best young wrestlers in the world. He praised Christian Cage for his work as a mentor. He said Adam Copeland called Wayne brilliant and said some of his instincts are remarkable for his age. He said Wayne is “the prodigy.” He stressed that Wayne being out longer than anticipated is not Wayne’s fault.
-Khan said the mention of injuries gave him a chance to talk about something that would happen on tonight’s ROH television show. Khan said he had to pull people from the women’s Blood & Guts match and the AEW Women’s Tag Team Title tournament. He praised Penelope Ford and said he thought she would have been great in the match and the tournament. Khan said Queen Aminata is a great young wrestler. He said it was hard to tell her that they didn’t think she should be in the Blood & Guts match. He said it will be mentioned on tonight’s show that Aminata is still having lingering issues and was not cleared to compete on tonight’s show. Khan said she will forfeit her Pure Rules tournament match. Khan said the plan was for Aminata to face Deonna Purrazzo last night, but the doctors would not clear Aminata.
-Khan brought up ROH Women’s Champion Athena and heaped praise on her. He said she is coming up on three years as champion, and then spoke about her Final Battle title defense against Persephone.
-Ella Jay asked if Mercedes Mone will appear on ROH more often. Khan said he hopes so. He said she sets the bar high, and that makes everyone want to wrestle harder. Khan also touted Red Velvet, who will challenge Mone for the ROH Women’s TV Title at Final Battle.
-Brian Zilem asked more about Persephone. Khan sang her praises again and then spoke highly about working with CMLL and his fandom of the Mexican promotion.
-Khan delivered his closing comments to end the call. He said there will be a media scrum after Final Battle, and he’ll answer a lot of questions because he’ll be staying overnight in Columbus, Ohio, because AEW Collision will be held there on Saturday night.
Half a billion for roh???