AEW President and CEO Tony Khan appeared on TMZ Inside the Ring to discuss various topics, including the balance between his wrestling fandom and his job.
Khan said, “I think it is something I always take into consideration. I love wrestling, and I want to share the love of wrestling. I’ve always been — even as a kid, I would have people over to watch the wrestling shows. I’ve always been the person who wants to spread wrestling to other people, and I encourage everybody to be that like wrestling virus-spreading person that I always was. There are hardcore, passionate fans who are in it 52 weeks a year, like I am. And now instead of just being a fan 52 weeks a year like the three of us watch year-round and follow it year-round, I get to work in it year-round. And I’m very blessed about that. And you know, for me I think it helps a lot to be a fan of wrestling. Because to work in it 52 weeks a year, it helps me — to you know I’ve never missed a single show. I work show, every week.”
On writing for new fans without alienating hardcore AEW fans:
“Well, I think that the show itself embodies that, right? Because you watch the show, and it’s the best of everything for everybody. You have the original stars from the beginning of AEW that bring so much to the show and have been with us from the very beginning. Great wrestlers like Jon Moxley, Hangman Page. MJF, Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, Kris Statlander, and great wrestlers that have been with AEW since day one. And then you have people that have come in along the way. Whether it was a few years ago, adding great stars like Timeless Toni Storm and Swerve Strickland and Samoa Joe. And you have a legend like that, and bringing in greats like Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson, some of the greatest world champions ever. And then you have have great wrestlers that have just come in the past year, a whole new crop. So, I think the wrestling league is always evolving and you can always jump in, but it’s an exciting time. We’ve added more new wrestlers to AEW in the past year than in the past several years combined, building for the future. And think about all the great young wrestlers you see whether it’s Kevin Knight and Speedball Bailey, JetSpeed. And Thekla, the Women’s champion, a great new star that’s come in just in the past year and taken AEW by storm. Huge free agents that have arrived in AEW. Big stars, a new crop that came a few years ago. That was my big triangle of free agents [Okada, Mone, and Ospreay].”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
