Tony Khan Articles - Page 9

No matter how much AEW fans complain, it’s clear the Trustbusters quartet of Ari Daivari, Slim J, Parker Boudreaux, and now Sonny Kiss aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Tony Khan loves them, Daivari specifically seems very popular among his peers, and even after losing in the first round of the AEW World Trios Championship, it’s […]

“Hangman” Adam Page had a fantastic run in AEW over the past year. He had a grand buildup to his eventual championship match with former tag team partner Kenny Omega – a run that saw the former member of “The Elite” overcome a crisis of confidence to win the belts at Full Gear – a […]

Folks, it’s happening; it’s finally happening: AEW is going to unify their two World Heavyweight Championship belts at All Out. All of the anticipation has been worth it, all of the hype has been justified, and the dynamic duo of CM Punk and Jon Moxley, a pair of post-modern anti-heroes who are among the most […]

Though the backstage drama has been ever so slightly overshadowing their in-ring product – need I say more than “Hangman” Adam Page vs. CM Punk? – the actual in-ring AEW product has been on fire as of late. The company is drawing good viewership numbers, drawing big gates for live shows, and, after literally years […]

For one reason or another, Tony Khan really likes to throw themed AEW shows during the summer. Call it a hangover from the pre-television era of the promotion, where shows like Fight for the Fallen or Fyter Fest cost money to watch, or as a counterpoint to the monthly “Premium Live Events” that WWE runs […]

After months of anticipation – of dark matches, vignettes, and Ring of Honor appearances – Ari Daivari and the Trustbusters have officially landed on AEW television, first in a backstage segment with the Best Friends and again on the subsequent episode of Rampage in a pair of matches versus Sonny Kiss and Orange Cassidy. While […]

As, well, basically every fan of professional wrestling surely knows, Friday nights at 8 pm is when WWE’s SmackDown airs on FOX… except during football season, which is when the process of preemption starts to rear their ugly heads and fans suddenly have to scramble for when and where to watch their favorite show. So […]

In the two years since leaving the WWE, Erick Redbeard, aka Erick Rowan, has wrestled 24 matches, including notable bouts for GCW, NEW, CYN, The Crash, IWR, and one very interesting bout for AEW, where he, alongside PAC and Penta Oscuro of Death Triangle, turned in an absolute barnburner in a Revolution Buy-In bout versus […]

Tony Khan and the AEW Galaxy find themselves in a very interesting spot at the moment. On paper, the promotion is doing great, with three soldout Pay-Per-Views already on the books, an ever-expanding collection of some of the best wrestlers on the planet under contract, and a new brand, Ring of Honor, folded further into […]

Ever since Paul “Triple H” Levesque took up the reigns as the creative lead of the WWE Universe, the business, as they say, has changed forever. WWE has gone from the place where creative performers go to die, where high-flying big men get grounded, and where performers who commission Tom “Freakin” Savini of Friday the […]

You’ve gotta give it to Tony Khan, he certainly tries his best in AEW. Sure, every idea he has doesn’t always hit the mark, and on occasion, the ideas he greenlights can get downright goofy – The Nightmare Collective, anyone? – but he doesn’t maliciously book people he doesn’t like in a way that embarrasses […]

On a night that will live forever in the annals of professional wrestling history for Karrion Kross’ return to the WWE, Tony Khan had a few tricks up his sleeve for the live edition of Rampage, with the debuts of not one, not two, but three new wrestlers on AEW television. That’s right, with Battle […]

Welp, AEW fans, the women’s division just got a whole lot more experienced. On Wednesday afternoon, mere hours before AEW Dynamite hit the tubes from Columbus, Ohio, Tony Khan and company announced a slew of new back-of-house changes coming to the promotion, with QT Marshall, Sanjay Dutt, Tony Schiavone, and Pat Buck all elevated to […]

Keith Lee is a lot of things; he’s Limitless, the husband of Mia Yim, and… oh yeah, the AEW World Tag Team Champion alongside his fellow former NXT standout Swerve Strickland. His in-ring work, when booked correctly, can dazzle even the most casual of wrestling fans thanks to incredible moves like his “Bradley Beal” or […]

When Saraya, the performer formerly known in the WWE Universe as Paige, fired off the following quote Tweet about a month ago, it set the wrestling world, from AEW down to her family’s World Association of Wrestling, ablaze. https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1486032672044593152?s=20&t=EWz67uZcBUaILYz6SyYsEA Yeah, there’s no way that would be misconstrued by the *checks notes* 4.6 thousand people who […]

Anytime a major wrestling promotion, from AEW to WWE, NJPW, Ring of Honor, and Impact, holds a Pay-Per-View – or, as The Fed calls it, a “Premium Live Event” – fans wait eagerly for Dave Meltzer, the proprietor of The Wrestling Observer, to release his star ratings and officially etch the quality of every match […]

AEW owner Tony Khan is no stranger to the sports world. Besides owning AEW, he is the co-owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and the Director of Football for Premier League side Fulham FC. Khan has met his fair share of figures in sports, but according to him, he has a bond with one unlikely […]

In case you haven’t heard, Jonathan Gresham has reportedly asked for his release from AEW/Ring of Honor after a falling out with Tony Khan over his booking in the company (more on that here). While this news hasn’t exactly soured the overall reception to Death Before Dishonor in the greater independent wrestling world, as most […]

It’s hard to call Death Before Dishonor XIX, the second Ring of Honor Pay-Per-View with AEW CEO Tony Khan at the helm, anything but a resounding success. The card was loaded, with six title matches plus an awesome brother versus brother bout featuring Rush and Dragon Lee on the main card, and four very interesting […]

After over three months away, with just the occasional bout on AEW television to keep the flame flickering, Ring of Honor is bursting back to life with Death Before Dishonor, the second Pay-Per-View of the Tony Khan era and the 19th overall running of the event, which has typically served as the promotion’s big summer […]

Historically speaking, wrestling pre-shows, from the WWE, to AEW, and even Ring of Honor, get a bad rep. It’s where the acts who aren’t quite good enough for the Pay-Per-View card get to at least say they were on the card, and an opportunity for wrestling fans to pass along to their non-wrestling fan friends […]

With Death Before Dishonor less than 24 hours away, Ring of Honor has officially announced the entire card for their forthcoming Pay-Per-View on AEW Rampage. *spoiler alert* it’s really good. With members of the OG ROH roster like Dalton Castle, Tony Deppen, and The Righteous announced alongside AEW performers like Brian Cage, Rush – who […]

July 22nd, 2022, will go down forever in the annals of history as the day Vince McMahon retired from the WWE. Whether you’ve been a lifelong fan of The Fed, a lapsed fan who stopped watching for one reason or another, or one of those who dropped the promotion for good when AEW hit television […]

Tony Khan has booked a wide variety of different styles of wrestling matches in AEW. He’s booked Ironman matches, Best Two out of Three Falls matches, Three-Way Tag Team Title matches, and even the dynamic duo of the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match and the Barbed Wire Everywhere Match – both of which didn’t quite […]

Well, AEW‘s Fyter Fest Night 3 is officially in the books, and goodness, what a show it was. Swerve in our Glory was celebrated in a segment that also featured rapper Kevin Gates, Ricky Starks retained his FTW Title against the artist formerly known as Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan (Cole Karter) only to be challenged […]

When news broke that the wrestler formerly known in NXT as Harland, Parker Boudreaux, made a surprise appearance at AEW‘s Dark tapings live from Orlando, Florida, it sent minor shockwaves through the independent wrestling world. Infamously known online as some variation of ‘Next Brock Lesnar’ or ‘Brock Lesnar 2.0,’ the supersized former Central Florida/Notre Dame […]

11 years ago, AEW World Champion CM Punk defeated John Cena at Money in the Bank to become the WWE Champion. This match, which also featured Vince McMahon threatening to have Cena fired if he didn’t win and Alberto Del Rio almost cashing in his MitB briefcase before eating a roundhouse kick, ushered in the […]

Though he wasn’t allowed to wrestle on Forbidden Door due to inter-promotional disagreements between CMLL, AAA, and NJPW, Andrade El Idolo made his presence known in AEW during the month of June, going 2-0 in singles competition in addition to re-forming La Faccion Ingobernable alongside former Ring of Honor Champion Rush. And yet, after securing […]

When Keith Lee sent out the following tweet a day before his three-way AEW Tag Team Championship match alongside Swerve Strickland versus the Young Bucks and Team Taz, it sent some serious confusion throughout the greater wrestling universe. Got some very much less than stellar news today…. No matter the results, tomorrow's match belongs to […]

CM Punk shocked many wrestling fans when he revealed that he suffered an injury a few days after winning the AEW World Championship. Because of his injury, he was forced out of action for the foreseeable future. Fans were hoping that the Straight-Edge Star would return at the soonest possible time. As it turns out, […]

In the afterglow of AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door, Tony Khan had a lot to say. He talked about FTR’s new music, how Claudio Castagnoli ended up in the promotion, and notably chose not to talk about MJF, but sandwiched inside his post-PPV media scrum was a nugget of information that will make fans of […]

FTR is riding pretty high right about now following their big win at AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door. Despite a scare early on in the three-way championship match alongside Roppongi Vice, and the United Empire duo of Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan, where Dax Harwood had to be taken backstage to tape up his shoulder, the […]

AEW Dynamite is a very good show. Sure, it has its detractors, some more vocal than others, but the promotion’s flagship program consistently racks in a ton of viewers each week and often ranks near the top of the 18-49 key demo. The show has a little bit of everything; high flying matches, hard-hitting bouts, […]

AEW is on a roll heading into Forbidden Door. They’ve reportedly pulled in a $1 million gate, are expected to draw big money on the Pay-Per-View circuit, and, according to Tony Khan, have already begun discussing Forbidden Door II, which could be very intriguing indeed for all of the potential dream matches that still need […]

Brand synergy is a beautiful thing, and AEW knows brand synergy all too well. From ex-roster member Cody Rhodes’ game and reality show excursions, to the gloriously goofy Elite Space Jam 2 tie-in, these collaborations can be strange at times, but they’re also a good sign that Tony Khan’s promotion and their TV partner, Warner […]

When addressing the media before Forbidden Door, AEW‘s owner, Tony Khan, had a lot to say. He discussed when wrestlers became available for the show, when more matches for the show would be announced, and even suggested that the two promotions have been discussing Forbidden Door 2, despite the first show having yet to officially […]

Forbidden Door is almost upon us and fans of AEW, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and independent wrestling as a whole are hyped. The card is (mostly) set, the vast majority of the stars are booked, and for the price $49.99, fans will get to watch it all from the comforts of their own home – […]

When AEW announced the christening of a new title belt, the All-Atlantic Championship, on Wednesday, June 8th’s edition of Dynamite, it left more questions than answered. The way the belt was introduced was clunky, with a surprisingly swift two-round tournament set to start mere moments later in the broadcast to decide the eventual winner at […]

AEW star Jeff Hardy was arrested on Monday morning after driving drunk on a Florida highway and was later hit with three charges, including driving on a canceled/suspended/revoked license and driving while under the influence, marking the third time he’s been given a DUI in the last three years. On Tuesday, AEW president Tony Khan […]