AEW President and CEO Tony Khan participated in the post-show media scrum for All In: London, where he addressed various topics, including the New Level’s schedule with the company.
Khan said, “Something that got me really excited about New Level: these guys are not afraid to work very hard. New Level told me, ‘Hey, we see Jon Moxley at AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision basically every week. We want to be at AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision basically every week. We want to work really hard for the company. We’re going to be there practically every week.’ And that’s really exciting to have people coming in like that. That’s only going to bring more fans and attention.”
On when they started discussions:
“I was very careful. And of course, when I saw the New Level were going to be — it was big wrestling news that they were going to be potential free agents. First of all, I wanted to play it safe for the sake of all three of us, for me and them, and the company, do things the right way. And after their 90 days were up, and only after the 90 days had expired — and I gave it an extra day or two to be safe. And I engaged with their representatives. It was clear there was interest, but it’s also an interesting situation for a number of different reasons. AEW really — I believe, as I’ve said, is where the best wrestle, and these are two wrestlers that fit what we do perfectly. So it’s a great opportunity, but it wasn’t something I had planned or budgeted for. And it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate in five seconds. It takes some time. So it wasn’t like it was all a done deal the second they had gotten released or were able to go out look elsewhere.”
He continued, “The whole situation was a big surprise to me. And then knowing that, I tried to create an environment, with tag teams and trios, where there would be an exciting opportunity. And knowing we had this huge pay-per-view event, I tried to build the tag team and trios teams to where there would be a great opportunity if such a deal were to be made, where we could do something really special. And it was a great audible… there’s no way I could’ve planned for it. Because never in a million years, at the start of this year or even a few months ago, would I have ever thought Austin and Kofi would be free agents. This whole time, we’ve been doing this seven years, it’s unthinkable that Austin and Kofi would be free agents. And when they were, I had to go in with — obviously an open mind, but also we’re all in business and we had to figure it out, and find something that worked for everyone. I couldn’t just assume it was going to get done. And I was very pleased while I was over here in the UK that we were able to figure it out and make it happen.”
You can check out Khan’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
