May 1, 2024 • 9 mins
In this episode of "Let Me Talk To Ya!", we sit down with AEW President Tony Khan, who joins us with a neck brace after a shocking incident involving a spiked piledriver on last week's AEW Dynamite. Tony shares insights on his physical condition, his unexpected experience in the ring, and what this means for his ability to manage tonight's show. We also dive into Tony's dual role with the Jacksonville Jaguars, discussing the outcomes of the 2024 NFL draft and the strategic picks that aim to boost the team's defense. Tony reflects on the new talents and his vision for the Jaguars' upcoming season. Plus, Tony talks about managing AEW remotely due to his injuries, the challenges of reprimanding executive vice presidents, and what fans can expect from tonight's AEW Dynamite on TBS. We even get a glimpse into Tony's past with his personal experiences in pro wrestling and his thoughts on AEW's trajectory.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tony Kahn's here with me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good to see you today.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Very well, Ant, thanks for having me man, you bet listen.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm going to get to what happened why you're here
today in a neck brace here in just a bit.
But overall, it's been a week in that for a
week now. How are you feeling physically well?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I feel blessed.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I feel blessed that I'm here with you, Aunt, after
what happened last Wednesday, going into tonight Wednesday Night Dynamite
on TBS. There's so many great things happening in aw
But I really feel personally blessed that I'm here visiting
with you and able to talk about everything happening in
AW after I suffered probably the deadliest move in pro wrestling,
(00:43):
the spike pile driver last week on TBS. It's been
a crazy week and I'm just very fortunate to be
here with you today. Ant.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'm going to get into some of that here in
just a minute. But you just finished up the twenty
twenty four NFL draft as well. We saw you there
in the war room with your father. How are you
feeling about your picks this year?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Feel great?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I think the Jaguars had an awesome draft. Yeah, it
was tremendous. We picked up great young players. We've really
become a better football team. And it started in the
first round bringing in Brian Thomas from LSU. That's a
great pick. Also, we made a great trade. We got
more draft picks this year and next year, and I
think we're in a really good shape.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Smart.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
So look at this defensive tackle, cornerback, defensive tackle, cornerback.
Those are four of your top five picks coming to
the D side. Jags were twenty second out of thirty
two and twenty twenty three. Are you hoping these picks
help bump up the D on the list in twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
We have a new defensive coordinator, Ryan Nielsen, and I
think we're gonna have a great chance to really improve
as a team and specifically on defense this year. In
twenty twenty four. We've got a great new core of
players coming in free agency, got some great draft picks,
as you said, really focused on bringing in a lot
of good players on the defense after we went offense
(02:05):
in the first round. And I think for Ryan Nielsen,
he's gonna have a great group here and one really
important thing we did in the offseason was extend Josh Allen,
which is huge.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
One week ago today, AAW Dynamite went off the air
with you lying in the middle of the ring, your
father there with that, I mean that impressive stash. I mean, look, Tony,
this right here, this is about a week and a
half for me. There's no way I ever get to
that stash but looking on very concerned. Explain what led
to the incident in the middle of the ring as
(02:39):
AAW Dynamite went off the air last week.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, Ant, I really did not expect to see my
father on AW Dynamite last week, but I was so
glad he.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Came out to check on me. It meant the world.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I love him so much, and you could tell he
was very angry and upset about what happened. Yeah it
You know, I think any father after they see their
son get the spike pile driver, they're going to be angry, upset, bewildered.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And that's how he felt.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
And I think for all the wrestling fans that were
watching last week, it was a big surprise.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Aw's five years old.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
We've been around doing wrestling on TNT and TBS since
twenty nineteen and something that had never happened before was
the wrestlers attacking me, the commissioner, and I think it's
definitely leading to a very interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Situation tonight on TBS.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
This will be the first time ever in AW that
I'm going to have to run this show remotely.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'll be managing things from here.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
In Jacksonville, Florida, and it'll be an interesting situation live
in the arena on site. It could lead to a
chaotic situation, could be a crazy night of pro wrestling
tonight on TBS.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You won't want to miss AW tonight on TBS.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Tony, you're doing it remotely. Disconnecting you could be literally
as easy as unplugging a lamp from a wall. With
these guys being quote unquote bosses too is EVP? How
did they get reprimanded? How do you reprimand another quote unquote.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Boss, It's challenging situation, especially the way the contracts are written.
I will say that the EVPs have ironclad contracts and
in this situation, what I have to do it's pretty clear,
and I think for me, the most important thing I
need to do is get back to one hundred percent
where the doctors will clear me to travel out of
(04:35):
Jacksonville and get back to the show and really let
these guys know what's up. But in the meantime, it's
going to be crazy tonight on TBS. Everybody's going to
want to see what's going to happen tonight in ADW.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You've mentioned before in the past that as a kid
you would book shows, index cards and cut out wrestlers
and stuff. In any of those bookings, Were you ever
involved in the action.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
One time?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
If all the stuff I've done, there's been like since
nineteen ninety five, I've been writing shows called Dynamite, and
as a kid, started all kinds of different promotions, different things,
you know, different eras, different territories, different groups of wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
And I tried it one time.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
In nineteen ninety nine when I was like sixteen years old,
and I didn't like it.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I didn't want to do it, and.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
I never did it again, and I just don't think
it's what we need to do or need to see.
But in this case, I was forced into the action,
and I was again never expecting to be taking a
pile driver. It's a move that has been banned in
many promotions many states, it's illegal in some places, let
(05:51):
alone a spike pile driver. It's one of the deadliest
things that can happen in pro wrestling.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
And again, I just feel fortunate.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
To be here with you talking today and getting ready
for a big aw show. And even though the doctors
won't allow me to travel this Wednesday, the silver lining
is I will be able to manage things from here.
But you're right, you make a great point. It's not
the same thing managing on site. That's why every other
episode up until now I've gone and managed on site.
(06:21):
So it could lead to a chaotic situation tonight on
TVs could be very exciting stuff tonight on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Kind of money.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Well, the way it ended last week immediately left everybody
writing in their calendars. I don't know anybody writes in
a calendar, but in their phone, plugging it in and saying, well,
I got to make sure that I'm I know what
is going on on Wednesday. I've got to be back
here for it. So that's that's huge. You have a
locker room full of some very knowledgeable legends. I mean,
(06:51):
you have Mark Henry sitting in there, many many others,
but someone who's very opinionated. Also very knowledgeable is Bully Ray.
He shared some great insights book on Busted Open. He's
even volunteered services. Is that something you would ever entertain?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Why would I want to use somebody that works for
WWE in our AW office.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
That'd be like hiring a double agent.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I didn't even think about him working for them after
the last couple of weeks. Let's fast forward. Let's fast
forward ten years. Hypothetically, what do you hope to be
able to look back and say about everything that has
happened over the last ten years? If you fast forward
ten years, you look back, what do.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
You hope to say? Well, I know that if nothing else,
I'm more proud of what we did at Revolution to
give Sting to send off he deserves than anything else.
I think that's the greatest thing we've ever done in
AW and I think that's my proudest moment really and
(07:49):
everything I've ever done to have AW Revolution be such
a big success, a huge pay per view, a sellout,
the biggest gait in the history of Greensboro Wrestling, Sting
coming back one last time, and for Sting and Darby,
who's here over my shoulder to.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Go out on top.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
It was so great, and Matt and Nick Jackson versus
Darby Allen and Sting it's one of my favorite memories.
And Sting retiring undefeated world tag team champions. It was
awesome and the only thing that made it even more
special was he had his family at his side to celebrate,
and it probably made it even this leader that his
(08:28):
family had gotten beat up on the run into revolution
and he was able to avenge what Matt and Nick
Jackson did to his sons with a baseball bats and
just a great moment for Sting and his family. And
I think it's my favorite.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Moment to something that your father and Sting have in
common that can't be a seche that you like seeing
seeing your family in the ring unnecessarily tonight, aw Dynamite
comes to us from the home of Kenny Omega, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
What's in store to watch and find out?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Tony.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I know that I know you've got to be sore.
I know you've got to be moving gingerly. Thank you
for taking the time to sit down and talk to
us a little bit today, looking forward to to Dynamite tonight.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Aunt man from one Anthony to one Anthony, it is
a pleasure to be here with you today. I really
appreciate it. I'm so excited for tonight's show on TBS.
Hopefully everybody's going to be able to check it out.
There's really exciting things happening in AW right now, and
we'd love for you to all watch AW tonight on TBS.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It's going to be a great show.
Tony Kahn's here with me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good to see you today.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Very well, Ant, thanks for having me man, you bet listen.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm going to get to what happened why you're here
today in a neck brace here in just a bit.
But overall, it's been a week in that for a
week now. How are you feeling physically well?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I feel blessed.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I feel blessed that I'm here with you, Aunt, after
what happened last Wednesday, going into tonight Wednesday Night Dynamite
on TBS. There's so many great things happening in aw
But I really feel personally blessed that I'm here visiting
with you and able to talk about everything happening in
AW after I suffered probably the deadliest move in pro wrestling,
(00:43):
the spike pile driver last week on TBS. It's been
a crazy week and I'm just very fortunate to be
here with you today. Ant.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'm going to get into some of that here in
just a minute. But you just finished up the twenty
twenty four NFL draft as well. We saw you there
in the war room with your father. How are you
feeling about your picks this year?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Feel great?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I think the Jaguars had an awesome draft. Yeah, it
was tremendous. We picked up great young players. We've really
become a better football team. And it started in the
first round bringing in Brian Thomas from LSU. That's a
great pick. Also, we made a great trade. We got
more draft picks this year and next year, and I
think we're in a really good shape.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Smart.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
So look at this defensive tackle, cornerback, defensive tackle, cornerback.
Those are four of your top five picks coming to
the D side. Jags were twenty second out of thirty
two and twenty twenty three. Are you hoping these picks
help bump up the D on the list in twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
We have a new defensive coordinator, Ryan Nielsen, and I
think we're gonna have a great chance to really improve
as a team and specifically on defense this year. In
twenty twenty four. We've got a great new core of
players coming in free agency, got some great draft picks,
as you said, really focused on bringing in a lot
of good players on the defense after we went offense
(02:05):
in the first round. And I think for Ryan Nielsen,
he's gonna have a great group here and one really
important thing we did in the offseason was extend Josh Allen,
which is huge.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
One week ago today, AAW Dynamite went off the air
with you lying in the middle of the ring, your
father there with that, I mean that impressive stash. I mean, look, Tony,
this right here, this is about a week and a
half for me. There's no way I ever get to
that stash but looking on very concerned. Explain what led
to the incident in the middle of the ring as
(02:39):
AAW Dynamite went off the air last week.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, Ant, I really did not expect to see my
father on AW Dynamite last week, but I was so
glad he.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Came out to check on me. It meant the world.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I love him so much, and you could tell he
was very angry and upset about what happened. Yeah it
You know, I think any father after they see their
son get the spike pile driver, they're going to be angry, upset, bewildered.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And that's how he felt.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
And I think for all the wrestling fans that were
watching last week, it was a big surprise.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Aw's five years old.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
We've been around doing wrestling on TNT and TBS since
twenty nineteen and something that had never happened before was
the wrestlers attacking me, the commissioner, and I think it's
definitely leading to a very interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Situation tonight on TBS.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
This will be the first time ever in AW that
I'm going to have to run this show remotely.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'll be managing things from here.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
In Jacksonville, Florida, and it'll be an interesting situation live
in the arena on site. It could lead to a
chaotic situation, could be a crazy night of pro wrestling
tonight on TBS.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You won't want to miss AW tonight on TBS.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Tony, you're doing it remotely. Disconnecting you could be literally
as easy as unplugging a lamp from a wall. With
these guys being quote unquote bosses too is EVP? How
did they get reprimanded? How do you reprimand another quote unquote.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Boss, It's challenging situation, especially the way the contracts are written.
I will say that the EVPs have ironclad contracts and
in this situation, what I have to do it's pretty clear,
and I think for me, the most important thing I
need to do is get back to one hundred percent
where the doctors will clear me to travel out of
(04:35):
Jacksonville and get back to the show and really let
these guys know what's up. But in the meantime, it's
going to be crazy tonight on TBS. Everybody's going to
want to see what's going to happen tonight in ADW.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You've mentioned before in the past that as a kid
you would book shows, index cards and cut out wrestlers
and stuff. In any of those bookings, Were you ever
involved in the action.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
One time?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
If all the stuff I've done, there's been like since
nineteen ninety five, I've been writing shows called Dynamite, and
as a kid, started all kinds of different promotions, different things,
you know, different eras, different territories, different groups of wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
And I tried it one time.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
In nineteen ninety nine when I was like sixteen years old,
and I didn't like it.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I didn't want to do it, and.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
I never did it again, and I just don't think
it's what we need to do or need to see.
But in this case, I was forced into the action,
and I was again never expecting to be taking a
pile driver. It's a move that has been banned in
many promotions many states, it's illegal in some places, let
(05:51):
alone a spike pile driver. It's one of the deadliest
things that can happen in pro wrestling.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
And again, I just feel fortunate.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
To be here with you talking today and getting ready
for a big aw show. And even though the doctors
won't allow me to travel this Wednesday, the silver lining
is I will be able to manage things from here.
But you're right, you make a great point. It's not
the same thing managing on site. That's why every other
episode up until now I've gone and managed on site.
(06:21):
So it could lead to a chaotic situation tonight on
TVs could be very exciting stuff tonight on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Kind of money.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Well, the way it ended last week immediately left everybody
writing in their calendars. I don't know anybody writes in
a calendar, but in their phone, plugging it in and saying, well,
I got to make sure that I'm I know what
is going on on Wednesday. I've got to be back
here for it. So that's that's huge. You have a
locker room full of some very knowledgeable legends. I mean,
(06:51):
you have Mark Henry sitting in there, many many others,
but someone who's very opinionated. Also very knowledgeable is Bully Ray.
He shared some great insights book on Busted Open. He's
even volunteered services. Is that something you would ever entertain?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Why would I want to use somebody that works for
WWE in our AW office.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
That'd be like hiring a double agent.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I didn't even think about him working for them after
the last couple of weeks. Let's fast forward. Let's fast
forward ten years. Hypothetically, what do you hope to be
able to look back and say about everything that has
happened over the last ten years? If you fast forward
ten years, you look back, what do.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
You hope to say? Well, I know that if nothing else,
I'm more proud of what we did at Revolution to
give Sting to send off he deserves than anything else.
I think that's the greatest thing we've ever done in
AW and I think that's my proudest moment really and
(07:49):
everything I've ever done to have AW Revolution be such
a big success, a huge pay per view, a sellout,
the biggest gait in the history of Greensboro Wrestling, Sting
coming back one last time, and for Sting and Darby,
who's here over my shoulder to.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Go out on top.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
It was so great, and Matt and Nick Jackson versus
Darby Allen and Sting it's one of my favorite memories.
And Sting retiring undefeated world tag team champions. It was
awesome and the only thing that made it even more
special was he had his family at his side to celebrate,
and it probably made it even this leader that his
(08:28):
family had gotten beat up on the run into revolution
and he was able to avenge what Matt and Nick
Jackson did to his sons with a baseball bats and
just a great moment for Sting and his family. And
I think it's my favorite.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Moment to something that your father and Sting have in
common that can't be a seche that you like seeing
seeing your family in the ring unnecessarily tonight, aw Dynamite
comes to us from the home of Kenny Omega, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
What's in store to watch and find out?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Tony.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I know that I know you've got to be sore.
I know you've got to be moving gingerly. Thank you
for taking the time to sit down and talk to
us a little bit today, looking forward to to Dynamite tonight.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Aunt man from one Anthony to one Anthony, it is
a pleasure to be here with you today. I really
appreciate it. I'm so excited for tonight's show on TBS.
Hopefully everybody's going to be able to check it out.
There's really exciting things happening in AW right now, and
we'd love for you to all watch AW tonight on TBS.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It's going to be a great show.
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