AEW President and CEO Tony Khan recently spoke with TV Insider about various topics, including the company’s renewed agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery.
He emphasized that their partnership will continue for years to come.
Khan expressed optimism about AEW’s future with the network, mentioning that they are committed to TNT, TBS, and HBO Max for more than two additional years.
Khan said, “I think we have a lot of certainty and are very excited. 2025 is the most exciting year yet for AEW and our partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery was reimagined this year and will continue for years to come. We’re locked in with TNT, TBS, and HBO Max for over two more years. The future is bright for us for years to come. The person who is making the calls and always been a believer in AEW and continues to be is [President and CEO] David Zaslav. I just got a very nice holiday gift from him in fact that I will be utilizing in some fun ways in the weeks to come. The man who first asked me to launch AEW Collision and bring more wrestling back to TNT along with the great Dynamite on TBS, which is our flagship show. It’s the longest running primetime professional wrestling show in the history of TBS and TNT. Turner, in my opinion, has the richest collective history of professional wrestling with a tradition that goes back on TBS to 1971.”
On how WBD President and CEO David Zaslav has personally backed AEW’s growth on the network:
“That deal is continuing for years to come. I know the job Mr. Zaslav has done running Warner Bros. this year that people are going to want Mr. Zaslav as a studio boss in any regime. He has been one of the most successful studio heads in the history of Hollywood. The numbers don’t lie. David Zaslav is putting out hit after hit. I’m very proud he has made the big investment in AEW. There is a lot of excitement around the future of Warner Bros. It’s certainly one of the most exciting stories on Wall Street. There are a lot of exciting things happening around Warner Bros. that I’m proud AEW will be associated with Warner Bros.”
On AEW World Champion Samoa Joe being an all-time great and MJF’s return ahead of Worlds End:
“As we’ve been in this holiday season, there has been so much excitement and unpredictability around the AEW World Championship. Last week at the Holiday Bash event in Manchester, the picture looked very exciting. We’ve got the AEW World Champion, the first-ever double champion in AEW history, the World Trios and AEW World Champion now for the second time, Samoa Joe. In my mind, one of the all-time great wrestlers. He had a tremendous defense of the championship at Winter Is Coming Dynamite in a match I always wanted to see and delivered with Eddie Kingston. Now Samoa Joe has to face two men he knows very well in the ring and also know the AEW World Champion… It looked to be a rematch from Revolution 2024 where we set all the records in Greensboro. Then we did see what was unexpected for many fans in the return of MJF, Maxwell Jacob Freedman who had been clinging to this opportunity that he earned in AEW All In Texas for a contract to challenge for the championship. I made it clear to properly advertise and prepare for these shows and deliver world championship matches at the highest level. There needs to be and has been given proper notice. So I did know for this to be finalized.”
On how he is excited for Worlds End this weekend:
“MJF is back and has got his own rivalries. There was the one who took the championship from him at World’s End two years earlier and holds the championship now, Samoa Joe. MJF wisely returned to a contract signing segment for AEW Holiday Bash this past week when there was no physicality allowed or competitors. It’s going to be a fantastic pay-per-view. I’m excited for Worlds End this weekend and thrilled about that four-way for the world championship as part of this big Christmas week.”
On his approach to booking the Continental Classic:
“Coming out of Wrestle Dream into Full Gear, I have thoughts about who will be in the tournament. I’m updating week to week and monitoring the injuries because it’s such a hard hitting sport. One injury could be very impactful in the planning. I put all the names in my notebook and am constantly thinking about it. I have a good plan going into Full Gear for what I want to do and coming out of Full Gear. I evaluate the health of the wrestlers and then make necessary changes to the draft I made before Full Gear in the months of October and November. I work through the scenarios. There was an injury this year that led to a lot of changes to scheduling.”
On adjusting to Darby Alin’s injury:
“It was a serious enough injury at the time that Darby Allin had. He is one of the toughest people in the world in my opinion and had to step out of the tournament. He didn’t want to be taken out. The doctors felt that he shouldn’t continue. It was certainly from an accumulation of injuries from all the crazy things he has done in the ring and outside the ring, ringside area and backstage and all the crazy fights we’ve seen Darby in. They take its toll. On the first night of the tournament he had a match with Kevin Knight. It was actually on Thanksgiving Eve. I always love spending time with Darby, but I hadn’t planned to spend my Thanksgiving morning in the hospital with Darby. I gave him every opportunity over the next week to get cleared. But I was very skeptical he should participate. I think a great choice as an alternate is ‘Jungle’ Jack Perry, who was very eager to do the tournament. It has worked out very well…When it comes to planning the Continental Classic, I go home. I have a lot of homes. Because of filming that night, it was around Nashville, and I went home to Chicago and spread papers and ideas all over the desk or sometimes on the floor. I spread all the papers out and ran all the different combinations and scheduling. With Darby being injured, and Jack coming in, it absolutely changed the schedule around. I thought about it for months and the order of the matches, which affected all the wrestlers in the Gold and Blue leagues. One injury can change anything, but there are multiple silver linings because Darby will be okay and going to be back. We did the right thing to take him out to rest and recover in my opinion. “Jungle” Jack has been a fantastic replacement.”
On giving talent like Mike Bailey a chance to break out:
“Absolutely. I was so excited to have ‘Speedball’ Bailey and his partner Kevin Knight. Both members of JetSpeed are awesome as a tandem but also individual members. They had a fantastic match against each other in the tournament in the competitive spirit of the Continental Classic. I think AEW has had a tremendous 2025, and I think it’s very fitting we built this annual tradition in the Continental Classic tournament that fans look forward to. I hope this ends up being the best one yet.”
