AEW President and CEO Tony Khan appeared at the post-show media scrum for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
He discussed several topics, including whether Yota Tsuji’s comments about not participating in the pay-per-view—stating that the IWGP Championship matches at previous events did not meet his standards for a title match—caused any issues in booking the show.
Khan said, “I thought the show was excellent, and I really appreciated the representation from New Japan Pro Wrestling Including the president of New Japan, Mr. Tanahashi, it was great to have Hiroshi Tanahashi here, and great that he was part of the Global Championship, and the presentation to Shota Umino, the champion.”
On Tsuji’s comments:
“I really am a big fan of Yota Tsuji. I have a lot of respect for Yota Tsuji and the IWGP World Title, and I would love to have him here. I’ve been a fan of his for many years. I appreciate you bringing up what he said, but to be fair there was another side to what he said. He said I’ve always shown great respect to him and the wrestlers. And he’s always felt very respected by AEW when he comes here, and he feels like the New Japan wrestlers get a lot of respect from the company and me personally. So I acknowledge what you said, but I think there was another side to what Tsuji said, and I did appreciate that because it is true. I am a big fan of his and when he’s come here, I’ve tried to let him know that and always make him feel welcome here.”
You can check out Khan’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
