December 4, 2024 • 26 mins
In this exclusive interview, Tony Khan dives deep into the Continental Classic and its impact on AEW's legacy. Hear his thoughts on addressing criticism of AEW, balancing creative direction, and the art of nurturing AEW’s homegrown talent while integrating high-profile signings.
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/battlegroundpodcast
X: https://www.twitter.com/battlegroundihr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/battlegroundpod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/battlegroundpodcast
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/battlegroundpodcast
X: https://www.twitter.com/battlegroundihr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/battlegroundpod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/battlegroundpodcast
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Battleground Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You'll play for all things pro.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Wrestling and exclusive interviews with some of your favorite wrestlers
around podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Stop it, What's up you guys? Welcome back into iHeartRadio's
official wrestling podcast, The Battleground Podcast. I am joined today
with my tag team partner Eli as always and uh
we have now.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I guess we.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Have set the record and I don't think anybody's gonna
be able to get this record back from our friend
of the show. Everybody give it up. Welcome back in
Tony Kahn coming back on the show. Tony, How are you, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I am very well, Tim, Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
It's always great to see you and Eli, and great
to be here on the Battleground with you.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Kim Man.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
It's always always a pleasure when we get the notification saying, hey,
do you got time to talk to Tony? And I
was like, yes, we always have time to talk to Tony,
Like that's not even a question that we even have
to answer, Like it's always going to be yes, So
let's kind of talk about it. We're very excited about this.
There's a lot of things happening with aw of course,
we'll talk about the stacked card for aw Dynamite tonight.
(01:13):
We'll talk about that here in a second. We got
to talk about AEW making its debut right around the
corner from us in Clarksville, Tennessee, at the F and
M Bank Arena on January eighth. Of course, tickets aw
ticks dot Com. That's awtix dot com. And then of
course this coming Monday, go ahead and just roll out
all your Christmas cash. Don't buy gifts for the kids,
(01:35):
buy tickets to AEW for the kids.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Because AEW all in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Tickets are on sale this money.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
A lot of tickets are on sale coming up.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Some huge events.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I'm excited to come to Clarksville, check out that arena
for the first time.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
AEW's debut there.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
All of our great friends around Nashville, including both of you,
were going to be at the show. I'm really excited
about that. And like you said, also the AW all
in tickets go on sale on Monday this Monday, December ninth,
and tonight is a Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
We have a huge aw Dynamite tonight.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
It's on seven pm Central, eight pm Eastern on TVs.
I know your show's on and markets all over the country. Tim,
So it's always great to come and talk about aw
here on the Battleground, and it's gonna be a great,
great show tonight on TBS. This is my favorite time
of the year in aw the Continental Classic, as we
approach World's End, going into the Christmas holiday, it's gonna
(02:33):
be a really exciting time, you know, around the holidays.
This year, Christmas is on a Wednesday, so we're gonna
have a Christmas Night Dynamite on thirty fourth Street in
New York, and we'll have a Christmas Collision the weekend
before Christmas live in New York. It's gonna be awesome,
and it's gonna be a great way to lead into
(02:53):
World's End where we're gonna conclude the Continental Classic. It's
my favorite tournament and my favorite in pro wrestling, and
Christmas times my favorite time of the year for adew
In just in general. So it's great to come here
and talk to you guys about it today.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yeah, it's absolutely exciting, and I mean, you look at
the car that's happening tonight on Dynamite. You've got Shelton
Benjamin and Kyle Fletcher. You've got Brody King and Claudio
and the Continental Classic the goal to the Blue League.
Like you sit here and look at that, and you
look at the Continental Classic, and it's a fantastic concept.
When you think about everything, you know, we'll ospray everybody.
(03:33):
How do you see this tournament shaping aw's legacy in
competitive wrestling.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It's a fantastic tournament. There have been many tournaments. I
think some of the things that set the Continental Classic
apart in the format are no outside interference, nobody allowed
at ringside.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Every match is one on one, and we have all.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
These great wrestlers. Aew is where the best wrestle. We
put top stars in this tournament.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
You're in year out now.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I think this tournament is becoming a mainstay of AW.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I'm really excited about it.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
I think something in the format that's very cool, inspired
by my time in the Premier League, is three points
for a win, one point for a draw. It really
puts the emphasis people to go for the win. The
g one is an excellent tournament. I think two points
for a win, one point for a draw. My thought
on that is for the Continental Plastic making a win
(04:29):
three points it really incentivizes people to try to pull
out that win, with a win being three.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Times as valuable as a draw.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
We just saw a great draw twenty minute match between
the Continental champion Kazusa Okada and the TNT champion Daniel
Garcia this past Saturday on TNT in Chicago in the
main event of AEW Collision.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
That was absolutely fantastic match.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Champion versus champion, fighting to a stalemate, both taking one
point and they're both chasing the leaders. Now, it's gonna
be a great, great tournament. As you mentioned, there's big
matches tonight on Wednesday Night Dynamite on TBS, huge matches
because the leaders in the Gold League and the Blue
League will be determined tonight. The winner of Kyle Fletcher
(05:19):
versus Shelton Benjamin or potentially could go to a draw.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I'd be a great twenty minute match.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
But the winner of the match, if there is a winner,
will be at the top of the Blue League with
six points, or it's possible they'll be tied with four points.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And then we've.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Got also Claudio Passignoli and Brody King. Last year they
were in the Blue League and they were two of
the top stars in the tournament.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
They were both in until the final.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Day and this year they're in the Gold League and
they're gonna fight it out. They had a great match
last year and now they both started one to zero
with very impressive wins. Last Wednesday, Claudio beat Ricochet in
a great match, Yeah I was, and Brody beat Darby Allen,
his nemesis in the main event.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Fantastic match. Very excited about.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Having Ricochet in Darby in the tournament as well as
this great, great field of stars top to bottom, but
we also have this great opportunity to see two of
the hardest hitting big men Cloudyo versus Brody. They both
started out with a win and they're both looking to
be at the top of the Gold League.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And that fight is tonight on TBS.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
And there's so much to look forward to on tonight's show,
including the Continental Classic. That is going to be great
to have those two tournament matches, two matches that will
determine who's in the leader in the clubhouse position, as
we would say for golf fans, and it's really exciting
time for us. Also a match I've always wanted to
(06:53):
see on Dynamite. I'm so excited to have Pack versus
Jay White tonight on Wednesday Night.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Itemite.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
This kind of card that you've built for Tonight's Dynamite
should be a pay per view, not just free on
table for everybody.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It's a great event, and you know what's exciting is
these shows are gonna be on TBS for years to
come on Wednesdays and TNT for years to come on Saturdays.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And starting in January, we have.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
The biggest opportunity in the history of AW since we
first launched on TNT and TVs. This is so huge
for us to be streaming on Max and simulcasts. We're
gonna keep the great homes we have on cable. We
get to stay on TVs every Wednesday, stay on TNT
every Saturday. These are staples of the cable industry and
(07:43):
staples of pro wrestling.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
TBS and TNT.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It's great to be on the top cable channels, but
so much as moving towards streaming, it's important to have
a foothold in cable, which is still a huge platform,
but streaming has all the momentum. Streaming is the future,
and Max is the best thing class streaming platform. That's
where we want AW to b It's been the goal
for years. I've talked about it for years. It's the
(08:06):
dream come true. And now for all the cord cutters
and the people that use Max, it's going to be
great to have aw' live streaming Wednesday and Saturday every
week at the same time we're on TVs and TNT.
It gives the fans multiple options to watch the show,
and it definitely is going to expand our audience by
(08:27):
a lot. Starting January one, the mother of all simulcasts
AW Wednesday Night Dynamite Fight for the Fallen, and we're
going to do some good there too, and hopefully raise
some money for all those people in North Carolina that
were affected by the terrible hurricane tragedy.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah, that's well.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
You know, the kind of classic was one of our
favorite events last year, the inaugural champ obviously, Eddie Kingston,
Matt king get well soon.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Part of the appeal of this is that you have
kind of outside stories going on. One of the things
we saw last week was there was a moment where
Claudio looked like he may be kind of doing something
towards Darby and Brody, who he had just defeated. Brody
King came in and kind of acted as a shield,
so like you're kind of playing into the tournament as
(09:15):
well as the overarching stories as well. Overall, what would
you say the biggest difference between the twenty twenty four
edition of the tournament is compared to last year as
a not real edition.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Great question, thank you, Eli.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
It's very exciting that this year the semifinals and the
finals will be.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
At World's End.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
It will really give the fans something very exciting. They'll
have two big tournament matches at Worlds End that will
lead to the finals later that night. And I'm really
excited that we've changed the format. It's going to be
a little different because this year will create unique matches,
new matches in the semifinal because this year the Blue
(09:57):
League winner will wrestle the Gold League runner up and
the Gold League winner will wrestle the Blue League runner
up in the semifinals, so this year it will be
Gold versus Blue, Gold versus Blue in the semifinals. Will
get fresh new matchups in those block finals in the
league finals, but really this year will determine the league
(10:19):
winners and runners up with the points tally, and then
it's going to be very exciting to have the semifinals
and the finals.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
At World's In. That's awesome. That's a good twist.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Oh man. It just keeps getting better and better for
wrestling fans, especially with everything that's happening now. Recently, you
were on an interview with our friend Iridian and you address,
you know, the criticism that people give of AW online
and stating that, you know, while feedback is valuable, not
every perspective can be changed. How does this philosophy influence
(10:52):
your decisions about aw's creative direction.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I think that really we absolutely looked to the wrestling
fans and we're always looking to find ways to make
new fans, but doing so in a way that's respectful
to wrestling.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know, just in recent weeks.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
We had a great collaboration with Big boom Aj, Big
Justice and the Wristler, and with Big boom Aj making
a comeback in pro wrestling, he had that excellent match
versus QT at the AW Full Gear pay per view show.
It was a huge part of the live event. It
(11:31):
helped drive buys. The pay per view was a huge success,
and the live event was a huge success. We had
over ten thousand fans at the show. It was absolutely
huge interest in Big Boom AJ his comeback to the
ring and that match AJ versus QT, and it helped
(11:51):
us introduce new fans to AW, but we did so
with a great wrestling match. All of it was great
for the wrestling fans, whether you're a huge wrestling that's
been watching a long time and knows the sport, or
somebody that's new to wrestling that maybe he was just
familiar with AJ and Big Justice and the Rizzler. It
was something that everybody could enjoy and that was a
(12:14):
great collaboration.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I thought, then you.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Have the Continental Classic, which is absolutely my favorite thing
in AW and this really excellent sports based tournament and
it's just great wrestling, and you know you're gonna get
great matches week in week out across all the shows.
This week, everything's gonna be loaded. We have great matches
coming up on Dynamite, but also Friday and Saturday on
(12:38):
Rampage and Collision on TNT.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
It's gonna be a big Continental weekend on TNT.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Also, we're gonna have some big matches there in the
tournament in addition to all the huge stuff tonight on TBS.
So it's a really exciting time for us, and I
absolutely love hearing the fans feedback. There's some people you're
never gonna be able to convince, and that's okay, But
I want to try to convince those people and put
on good wrestling every week, fifty two weeks a year
(13:05):
in AW on TVs and T and T and try
to make new fans and make believers out of everyone.
We've accomplished some amazing things with AW. You know, I
said this line in the interview. You referenced that it
got some publicity, but it's true. We sold eighty one
thousand and thirty five tickets to AW at Wembley Stadium
last year, and we set the world record for wrestling
(13:28):
ticket sales with eighty one thousand and thirty five tickets sold,
and people are so determined to try to take AW down.
People thought that saying, hey, I think you only sold
seventy three thousand plus ticket like that's a bad number.
First of all, it was eighty one thousand, but even
if it had been seventy three thousand, that's a great number.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Two, that's more tickets than Mike Tyson versus.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Jake Paul sold on one of the biggest events of
all time, and.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
That would be a massive success too.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So how is that supposed to be some kind of
I don't get it, but I do think that there
are a lot of great wrestling fans all over the world,
and we built really.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
A great thing with AW.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
And it's really cool how many believers we have made
in just five years.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And again we're on the verge of really what.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I think is going to be the most special and
the biggest new development in AW since we first launched
on TNT and then TVs, which is when we launched
live streaming on Max simulcasting with TVs and TNT on
January one.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Yeah, And you talked about what's fun is everybody's got
their own opinions when it comes to wrestling, But as
a wrestling fan, like I look at it, it's like
I'm I'm excited that there is wrestling on and I
remember when everything went down and you brought in AJ
and you brought in Big Justice and the wrestlers. Everybody's like, oh,
aw blah blah blah blah blah. But when I look
(14:54):
at this stats at ten point eight million views, the
Costco Guy's appearance on AW Dynamite was at the time
the third most viewed clip on Twitter by a pro
wrestling company in twenty twenty four. Obviously, you knew what
you're doing, and it brought a lot of eyes because
after you know, after that match, it was on ESPN,
(15:17):
it was on Complex, it was on TMC, it was everywhere.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Well, I give a ton of credit to Big Boom
AJ and Big Justice and the Rizzler. They are great people.
I gotta tell you. From the first time I started
to work with them, they've been very nice. It was
Qt himself who said he wanted to get in the
ring with Big Boom Aj and he thought it would
be a.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Great match and a great idea.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
He was absolutely right, and I signed up for it
right away.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
It made total sense.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
As soon as he pitched it to me along with
SAMJ in my office. I said, that's a great idea.
When I'll support it, and I didn't even know what
I was in store for. It's been so awesome. I
went to Fox with Big Boom AJ and Big Justice
and I have to say I've never walked around with
(16:09):
more famous people in my life. I've walked around with
a lot of people in a lot of walks of life,
across a lot of great sports and entertainment businesses, and
I have to say that I've never been stopped with
people I'm walking with for them to take photos and pictures, tiktoks, videos,
sign autographs.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
It was insane.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Every person in the production staff, the camera people, the writers,
the weather man, they all wanted to do videos and
take pictures with Big Justice and Big boom Aj and
the Rizzulary. It was so fun and they were so nice,
you know. When I was there, in particular with Big
boom Aj and Big Justice, we spent the whole day together.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
And Big boom Aj and Big Justice are just such
nice people.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
It's really nice to see a father and son that
work together nicely. And Big Justice is such a professional
young man, and Big boom Aj and Big Justice make
a great team. So it was really nice walking around
with the two of those guys, and we spent the
day together, and there were literally fans banging on the windows.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It was like going around New York with the Beatles.
It was inane. And I have to say, there's just
such nice people.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
They're all about positivity, and I was really glad to
have them in aw And and certainly I think they
brought some new eyeballs.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Like you said, there's evidence of.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
It when you look at all the views and all
the digital engagement with Big Boom AJ and Big Justice
and then The Rizzler when he came into.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
I feel as if The Rizzler probably had a much
bigger pop than MJF that night, Like when he came out,
that place went nuts.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Well they were. I don't think they're very happy with MJF.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
I mean, I don't think anybody's really happy with MJF.
But but yeah, I mean like you said, I mean AJ,
we had him on the show right before everything.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Very great guy, and.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
This is the the right people you want to see famous,
whereas sometimes you look at people that go viral on
social media like oh I don't like that person. But these,
the whole family is is the right kind of famous
that that you want to see famous. And it's it's
great to see AJ being able to do this stuff
with his son. And I know that when I talked
to AJ, he said that, uh, this isn't a one
(18:26):
and done thing for him, that he plans to have
more matches and uh, you know, maybe maybe next year
we see Big Boom AJ in the Continental Classic.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Is a very talented wrestler. He proved it. He got
a great talent and a great match, and I'm very
excited to have Big boom Aj. I think he could
accomplish anything he puts his mind to from what I've seen.
So great to have him in AW and really excited
about that too.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Absolutely, I guess just you know, a general maybe closing statement,
what are you looking forward to the most in twenty
twenty five for AEW?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Absolutely, Like I've said, the opportunity to keep having great
shows like tonight on TBS, with Wednesday Night Dynamite every
week and every Saturday on TNT, and then to the simulcast.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I think AW going on.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Max Streaming is going to be a great opportunity. It's
in millions of homes, and it's in a lot of
homes where they don't have cable anymore, and it's great
to be on TBS and TNT. They are absolutely staples
of the cable industry. Like I said earlier, there's staples
of the pro wrestling business.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
TBS and TNT.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Those are channels you want to be on on cable,
but it's also really important to be streaming and We're
going to be the first company ever. AW will be
the first to simulcast, to put the shows on cable
and streaming at the same time, and that's going to
be a huge thing for AW in twenty twenty five
and for many years to come.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
But yeah, so you talk about the you look at
everything that AW has, you talk about that's where the
best wrestle. And you've expressed pride in aw's homegrown stars
Jack Perry, Darby, Sammy Gavara, Daniel Garcia. How do you
balance nurturing these talents while incorporating high profile signings like
(20:21):
Adam Copeland and MVP and Bobby Lashley.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I think that's what's so exciting about AW, and it's
a great thing about the Continental Classic is we're getting
to see some of the great homegrown stars of AW
against some of the top free agents. We have great
matches tonight featuring young wrestlers against top veterans. We'll have
two matches tonight where the winners will be at the
top of the standings in the Continental Classic. So huge
(20:49):
implications on tonight's show on TBS. I'm really excited about it.
Some great matches outside the Continental Classic grudge matches, long
standing grudges that go back years, like Anna j versus
Penelope Ford or even Swerve Strickland versus Max Caster, and
rivalries that are at the forefront of AW now like
(21:11):
Pat versus Jay White. Very excited to have that Dynamite Diamond,
the Battle Royal, the Dynamite doesn't that's a great holiday tradition.
Looking forward to that, and looking forward to having MJF
coming back to AW after he finished his filming this
great movie he's working on. That'll be great for AW
and that's very soon and a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
INAW in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Like I said, streaming on Max is a huge opportunity
for us, and right now we are in the thick
of the best time of the year Tonight in AW
Tonight on TBS eight pm Eastern at seven pm Central
for all of you great fans in the Central and
all your fans are there around Nashville in the Battleground Zone.
(21:57):
It's gonna be a great show tonight on TBS, and
it is very much emblematic of what we're doing in
AW where the best wrestle.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Absolutely and you know I love when AW and we're
gonna wrap it up here in a second. I love
when there's always like some sort of like theme with AW.
I know there was the Texas Chainsaw death Match, Texas
Chainsaw mask or death match and everything else. Are we
ever going to get like a Time cop themed match
in AW or one?
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Please? I would love to do that. I think that's
that's definitely in our future.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
We've definitely revitalized the popularity of a classic film.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
You know, Time is not just a cult classic.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
It's also the biggest commercial success of John Claudebandam's career.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
It's the only one hundred million dollar movie John Claudebandam
ever did, and for good reason.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
It's an excellent film, and it applies sometimes to the
world of pro wrestling, where most of the shows are live,
but sometimes you tape them and you're in two places
at once.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
It can be nice. Like this past.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Weekend, we gave the crew the Thanksgiving weekend off. We
filmed a great show for Saturday Thanksgiving weekend and it
was a great event. Now Collision is gonna be back
in its normal time slot this Saturday, seven pm Central,
eight pm Eastern, and we're gonna have great Continental Classic
matches live from Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
That's gonna be excellent.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
The Continental Classic continues on Collision Saturday on TNT back
on normal time, and for the West Coast fans, we're
back on our normal time slot tonight. We were starting
early on the West Coast five pm Pacific last week,
but this week we're back to our normal eight pm
Pacific time slot. I think that's really gonna help us
a lot. It's always hard for people to get make
(23:42):
it home by five o'clock on a Wednesday, even on
a holiday, and I think it's gonna be great getting
back in the groove tonight with more Continental Classic. It's
the holiday season. We're almost to Christmas time. We're gonna
have some big Christmas shows in aw. Like I said,
it's all gonna build towards World's End, and the last
(24:03):
events on the way the World's End are going to
be Christmas Collision Live in New York of course, that
big Wednesday night Christmas.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Night Dynamite on thirty fourth Street.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
And then we'll also have a great New Year's Smashed Rampage,
and that'll be heading right into the World's End pay
per view and it'll be a great way to end
the year. Those would be great shows in New York
at the Hammerstein Ballroom, which is a great venue for
the wrestling fans. And we've got some more great events
like the ones you guys brought up coming up on Stale.
(24:40):
All in the Big Stadium Show, the first time anybody
in America since the nineties has attempted to do a
stadium show in America. Any other wrestling company, any alternative
wrestling company, has tried this.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
It hasn't been tried in a long time.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I think probably since WCW ran the Georgia Doll I believe,
and I think it's going to be a great success
for us.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
The tickets go on sale on Monday.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
The pre sale is open now, so you can look
for the code, get into the pre sale, try to
beat the rush on Monday and be a part of
this presale that's open now. We've already sold over a
million dollars worth of tickets for All and those VIP
packages went greatly, and I think now we're into the
general tickets the pre sale, but the actual long sale
(25:33):
starts Monday. But you can beat the rush in the
pre sale now. You guys mentioned we're coming to Clarksville.
It's always great when we come to the Nashville, Tennessee area.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I'm excited to see both of you personally. Tim.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I hope you're going to bring Liam in some of
his toys to the show, and I'm excited to see
him and catch up about what he's got going with
the wrestling toys.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
In his wrestling league.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Yeah, he's all excited about that. And again, we're excited
that you guys are coming back to this area. And again,
Christmas is right around the corner. And let me tell you,
it is very affordable to take the whole family to
an AW show. So what better way to celebrate Christmas
than putting AW tickets in the stockings or in a box,
or however you want to give them. Grab tickets right now.
AW ticks dot com. That's ae w tix dot com.
(26:17):
Go grab those tickets. You'll thank us later for it.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Tony.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
It is an honor and a privileged to always have
you on the show, and we look forward to talking
to you again very soon, sir.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I also look forward to seeing you guys in person
and talking soon. And I will see you guys tonight
on TVs at seven pm. Central Time, your time in
eight pm in Indianapolis, where the show is emanating tonight.
It's going to be a great night tonight on TVs,
I promise you, and I look forward to seeing you
guys there tonight
Welcome to the Battleground Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You'll play for all things pro.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Wrestling and exclusive interviews with some of your favorite wrestlers
around podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Stop it, What's up you guys? Welcome back into iHeartRadio's
official wrestling podcast, The Battleground Podcast. I am joined today
with my tag team partner Eli as always and uh
we have now.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I guess we.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Have set the record and I don't think anybody's gonna
be able to get this record back from our friend
of the show. Everybody give it up. Welcome back in
Tony Kahn coming back on the show. Tony, How are you, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I am very well, Tim, Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
It's always great to see you and Eli, and great
to be here on the Battleground with you.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Kim Man.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
It's always always a pleasure when we get the notification saying, hey,
do you got time to talk to Tony? And I
was like, yes, we always have time to talk to Tony,
Like that's not even a question that we even have
to answer, Like it's always going to be yes, So
let's kind of talk about it. We're very excited about this.
There's a lot of things happening with aw of course,
we'll talk about the stacked card for aw Dynamite tonight.
(01:13):
We'll talk about that here in a second. We got
to talk about AEW making its debut right around the
corner from us in Clarksville, Tennessee, at the F and
M Bank Arena on January eighth. Of course, tickets aw
ticks dot Com. That's awtix dot com. And then of
course this coming Monday, go ahead and just roll out
all your Christmas cash. Don't buy gifts for the kids,
(01:35):
buy tickets to AEW for the kids.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Because AEW all in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Tickets are on sale this money.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
A lot of tickets are on sale coming up.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Some huge events.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I'm excited to come to Clarksville, check out that arena
for the first time.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
AEW's debut there.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
All of our great friends around Nashville, including both of you,
were going to be at the show. I'm really excited
about that. And like you said, also the AW all
in tickets go on sale on Monday this Monday, December ninth,
and tonight is a Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
We have a huge aw Dynamite tonight.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
It's on seven pm Central, eight pm Eastern on TVs.
I know your show's on and markets all over the country. Tim,
So it's always great to come and talk about aw
here on the Battleground, and it's gonna be a great,
great show tonight on TBS. This is my favorite time
of the year in aw the Continental Classic, as we
approach World's End, going into the Christmas holiday, it's gonna
(02:33):
be a really exciting time, you know, around the holidays.
This year, Christmas is on a Wednesday, so we're gonna
have a Christmas Night Dynamite on thirty fourth Street in
New York, and we'll have a Christmas Collision the weekend
before Christmas live in New York. It's gonna be awesome,
and it's gonna be a great way to lead into
(02:53):
World's End where we're gonna conclude the Continental Classic. It's
my favorite tournament and my favorite in pro wrestling, and
Christmas times my favorite time of the year for adew
In just in general. So it's great to come here
and talk to you guys about it today.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yeah, it's absolutely exciting, and I mean, you look at
the car that's happening tonight on Dynamite. You've got Shelton
Benjamin and Kyle Fletcher. You've got Brody King and Claudio
and the Continental Classic the goal to the Blue League.
Like you sit here and look at that, and you
look at the Continental Classic, and it's a fantastic concept.
When you think about everything, you know, we'll ospray everybody.
(03:33):
How do you see this tournament shaping aw's legacy in
competitive wrestling.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It's a fantastic tournament. There have been many tournaments. I
think some of the things that set the Continental Classic
apart in the format are no outside interference, nobody allowed
at ringside.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Every match is one on one, and we have all.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
These great wrestlers. Aew is where the best wrestle. We
put top stars in this tournament.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
You're in year out now.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I think this tournament is becoming a mainstay of AW.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I'm really excited about it.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
I think something in the format that's very cool, inspired
by my time in the Premier League, is three points
for a win, one point for a draw. It really
puts the emphasis people to go for the win. The
g one is an excellent tournament. I think two points
for a win, one point for a draw. My thought
on that is for the Continental Plastic making a win
(04:29):
three points it really incentivizes people to try to pull
out that win, with a win being three.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Times as valuable as a draw.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
We just saw a great draw twenty minute match between
the Continental champion Kazusa Okada and the TNT champion Daniel
Garcia this past Saturday on TNT in Chicago in the
main event of AEW Collision.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
That was absolutely fantastic match.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Champion versus champion, fighting to a stalemate, both taking one
point and they're both chasing the leaders. Now, it's gonna
be a great, great tournament. As you mentioned, there's big
matches tonight on Wednesday Night Dynamite on TBS, huge matches
because the leaders in the Gold League and the Blue
League will be determined tonight. The winner of Kyle Fletcher
(05:19):
versus Shelton Benjamin or potentially could go to a draw.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I'd be a great twenty minute match.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
But the winner of the match, if there is a winner,
will be at the top of the Blue League with
six points, or it's possible they'll be tied with four points.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And then we've.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Got also Claudio Passignoli and Brody King. Last year they
were in the Blue League and they were two of
the top stars in the tournament.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
They were both in until the final.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Day and this year they're in the Gold League and
they're gonna fight it out. They had a great match
last year and now they both started one to zero
with very impressive wins. Last Wednesday, Claudio beat Ricochet in
a great match, Yeah I was, and Brody beat Darby Allen,
his nemesis in the main event.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Fantastic match. Very excited about.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Having Ricochet in Darby in the tournament as well as
this great, great field of stars top to bottom, but
we also have this great opportunity to see two of
the hardest hitting big men Cloudyo versus Brody. They both
started out with a win and they're both looking to
be at the top of the Gold League.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And that fight is tonight on TBS.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
And there's so much to look forward to on tonight's show,
including the Continental Classic. That is going to be great
to have those two tournament matches, two matches that will
determine who's in the leader in the clubhouse position, as
we would say for golf fans, and it's really exciting
time for us. Also a match I've always wanted to
(06:53):
see on Dynamite. I'm so excited to have Pack versus
Jay White tonight on Wednesday Night.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Itemite.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
This kind of card that you've built for Tonight's Dynamite
should be a pay per view, not just free on
table for everybody.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It's a great event, and you know what's exciting is
these shows are gonna be on TBS for years to
come on Wednesdays and TNT for years to come on Saturdays.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And starting in January, we have.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
The biggest opportunity in the history of AW since we
first launched on TNT and TVs. This is so huge
for us to be streaming on Max and simulcasts. We're
gonna keep the great homes we have on cable. We
get to stay on TVs every Wednesday, stay on TNT
every Saturday. These are staples of the cable industry and
(07:43):
staples of pro wrestling.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
TBS and TNT.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It's great to be on the top cable channels, but
so much as moving towards streaming, it's important to have
a foothold in cable, which is still a huge platform,
but streaming has all the momentum. Streaming is the future,
and Max is the best thing class streaming platform. That's
where we want AW to b It's been the goal
for years. I've talked about it for years. It's the
(08:06):
dream come true. And now for all the cord cutters
and the people that use Max, it's going to be
great to have aw' live streaming Wednesday and Saturday every
week at the same time we're on TVs and TNT.
It gives the fans multiple options to watch the show,
and it definitely is going to expand our audience by
(08:27):
a lot. Starting January one, the mother of all simulcasts
AW Wednesday Night Dynamite Fight for the Fallen, and we're
going to do some good there too, and hopefully raise
some money for all those people in North Carolina that
were affected by the terrible hurricane tragedy.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah, that's well.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
You know, the kind of classic was one of our
favorite events last year, the inaugural champ obviously, Eddie Kingston,
Matt king get well soon.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Part of the appeal of this is that you have
kind of outside stories going on. One of the things
we saw last week was there was a moment where
Claudio looked like he may be kind of doing something
towards Darby and Brody, who he had just defeated. Brody
King came in and kind of acted as a shield,
so like you're kind of playing into the tournament as
(09:15):
well as the overarching stories as well. Overall, what would
you say the biggest difference between the twenty twenty four
edition of the tournament is compared to last year as
a not real edition.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Great question, thank you, Eli.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
It's very exciting that this year the semifinals and the
finals will be.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
At World's End.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
It will really give the fans something very exciting. They'll
have two big tournament matches at Worlds End that will
lead to the finals later that night. And I'm really
excited that we've changed the format. It's going to be
a little different because this year will create unique matches,
new matches in the semifinal because this year the Blue
(09:57):
League winner will wrestle the Gold League runner up and
the Gold League winner will wrestle the Blue League runner
up in the semifinals, so this year it will be
Gold versus Blue, Gold versus Blue in the semifinals. Will
get fresh new matchups in those block finals in the
league finals, but really this year will determine the league
(10:19):
winners and runners up with the points tally, and then
it's going to be very exciting to have the semifinals
and the finals.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
At World's In. That's awesome. That's a good twist.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Oh man. It just keeps getting better and better for
wrestling fans, especially with everything that's happening now. Recently, you
were on an interview with our friend Iridian and you address,
you know, the criticism that people give of AW online
and stating that, you know, while feedback is valuable, not
every perspective can be changed. How does this philosophy influence
(10:52):
your decisions about aw's creative direction.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I think that really we absolutely looked to the wrestling
fans and we're always looking to find ways to make
new fans, but doing so in a way that's respectful
to wrestling.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know, just in recent weeks.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
We had a great collaboration with Big boom Aj, Big
Justice and the Wristler, and with Big boom Aj making
a comeback in pro wrestling, he had that excellent match
versus QT at the AW Full Gear pay per view show.
It was a huge part of the live event. It
(11:31):
helped drive buys. The pay per view was a huge success,
and the live event was a huge success. We had
over ten thousand fans at the show. It was absolutely
huge interest in Big Boom AJ his comeback to the
ring and that match AJ versus QT, and it helped
(11:51):
us introduce new fans to AW, but we did so
with a great wrestling match. All of it was great
for the wrestling fans, whether you're a huge wrestling that's
been watching a long time and knows the sport, or
somebody that's new to wrestling that maybe he was just
familiar with AJ and Big Justice and the Rizzler. It
was something that everybody could enjoy and that was a
(12:14):
great collaboration.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I thought, then you.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Have the Continental Classic, which is absolutely my favorite thing
in AW and this really excellent sports based tournament and
it's just great wrestling, and you know you're gonna get
great matches week in week out across all the shows.
This week, everything's gonna be loaded. We have great matches
coming up on Dynamite, but also Friday and Saturday on
(12:38):
Rampage and Collision on TNT.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
It's gonna be a big Continental weekend on TNT.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Also, we're gonna have some big matches there in the
tournament in addition to all the huge stuff tonight on TBS.
So it's a really exciting time for us, and I
absolutely love hearing the fans feedback. There's some people you're
never gonna be able to convince, and that's okay, But
I want to try to convince those people and put
on good wrestling every week, fifty two weeks a year
(13:05):
in AW on TVs and T and T and try
to make new fans and make believers out of everyone.
We've accomplished some amazing things with AW. You know, I
said this line in the interview. You referenced that it
got some publicity, but it's true. We sold eighty one
thousand and thirty five tickets to AW at Wembley Stadium
last year, and we set the world record for wrestling
(13:28):
ticket sales with eighty one thousand and thirty five tickets sold,
and people are so determined to try to take AW down.
People thought that saying, hey, I think you only sold
seventy three thousand plus ticket like that's a bad number.
First of all, it was eighty one thousand, but even
if it had been seventy three thousand, that's a great number.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Two, that's more tickets than Mike Tyson versus.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Jake Paul sold on one of the biggest events of
all time, and.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
That would be a massive success too.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So how is that supposed to be some kind of
I don't get it, but I do think that there
are a lot of great wrestling fans all over the world,
and we built really.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
A great thing with AW.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
And it's really cool how many believers we have made
in just five years.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And again we're on the verge of really what.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I think is going to be the most special and
the biggest new development in AW since we first launched
on TNT and then TVs, which is when we launched
live streaming on Max simulcasting with TVs and TNT on
January one.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Yeah, And you talked about what's fun is everybody's got
their own opinions when it comes to wrestling, But as
a wrestling fan, like I look at it, it's like
I'm I'm excited that there is wrestling on and I
remember when everything went down and you brought in AJ
and you brought in Big Justice and the wrestlers. Everybody's like, oh,
aw blah blah blah blah blah. But when I look
(14:54):
at this stats at ten point eight million views, the
Costco Guy's appearance on AW Dynamite was at the time
the third most viewed clip on Twitter by a pro
wrestling company in twenty twenty four. Obviously, you knew what
you're doing, and it brought a lot of eyes because
after you know, after that match, it was on ESPN,
(15:17):
it was on Complex, it was on TMC, it was everywhere.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Well, I give a ton of credit to Big Boom
AJ and Big Justice and the Rizzler. They are great people.
I gotta tell you. From the first time I started
to work with them, they've been very nice. It was
Qt himself who said he wanted to get in the
ring with Big Boom Aj and he thought it would
be a.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Great match and a great idea.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
He was absolutely right, and I signed up for it
right away.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
It made total sense.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
As soon as he pitched it to me along with
SAMJ in my office. I said, that's a great idea.
When I'll support it, and I didn't even know what
I was in store for. It's been so awesome. I
went to Fox with Big Boom AJ and Big Justice
and I have to say I've never walked around with
(16:09):
more famous people in my life. I've walked around with
a lot of people in a lot of walks of life,
across a lot of great sports and entertainment businesses, and
I have to say that I've never been stopped with
people I'm walking with for them to take photos and pictures, tiktoks, videos,
sign autographs.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
It was insane.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Every person in the production staff, the camera people, the writers,
the weather man, they all wanted to do videos and
take pictures with Big Justice and Big boom Aj and
the Rizzulary. It was so fun and they were so nice,
you know. When I was there, in particular with Big
boom Aj and Big Justice, we spent the whole day together.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
And Big boom Aj and Big Justice are just such
nice people.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
It's really nice to see a father and son that
work together nicely. And Big Justice is such a professional
young man, and Big boom Aj and Big Justice make
a great team. So it was really nice walking around
with the two of those guys, and we spent the
day together, and there were literally fans banging on the windows.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It was like going around New York with the Beatles.
It was inane. And I have to say, there's just
such nice people.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
They're all about positivity, and I was really glad to
have them in aw And and certainly I think they
brought some new eyeballs.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Like you said, there's evidence of.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
It when you look at all the views and all
the digital engagement with Big Boom AJ and Big Justice
and then The Rizzler when he came into.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
I feel as if The Rizzler probably had a much
bigger pop than MJF that night, Like when he came out,
that place went nuts.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Well they were. I don't think they're very happy with MJF.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
I mean, I don't think anybody's really happy with MJF.
But but yeah, I mean like you said, I mean AJ,
we had him on the show right before everything.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Very great guy, and.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
This is the the right people you want to see famous,
whereas sometimes you look at people that go viral on
social media like oh I don't like that person. But these,
the whole family is is the right kind of famous
that that you want to see famous. And it's it's
great to see AJ being able to do this stuff
with his son. And I know that when I talked
to AJ, he said that, uh, this isn't a one
(18:26):
and done thing for him, that he plans to have
more matches and uh, you know, maybe maybe next year
we see Big Boom AJ in the Continental Classic.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Is a very talented wrestler. He proved it. He got
a great talent and a great match, and I'm very
excited to have Big boom Aj. I think he could
accomplish anything he puts his mind to from what I've seen.
So great to have him in AW and really excited
about that too.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Absolutely, I guess just you know, a general maybe closing statement,
what are you looking forward to the most in twenty
twenty five for AEW?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Absolutely, Like I've said, the opportunity to keep having great
shows like tonight on TBS, with Wednesday Night Dynamite every
week and every Saturday on TNT, and then to the simulcast.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I think AW going on.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Max Streaming is going to be a great opportunity. It's
in millions of homes, and it's in a lot of
homes where they don't have cable anymore, and it's great
to be on TBS and TNT. They are absolutely staples
of the cable industry. Like I said earlier, there's staples
of the pro wrestling business.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
TBS and TNT.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Those are channels you want to be on on cable,
but it's also really important to be streaming and We're
going to be the first company ever. AW will be
the first to simulcast, to put the shows on cable
and streaming at the same time, and that's going to
be a huge thing for AW in twenty twenty five
and for many years to come.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
But yeah, so you talk about the you look at
everything that AW has, you talk about that's where the
best wrestle. And you've expressed pride in aw's homegrown stars
Jack Perry, Darby, Sammy Gavara, Daniel Garcia. How do you
balance nurturing these talents while incorporating high profile signings like
(20:21):
Adam Copeland and MVP and Bobby Lashley.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I think that's what's so exciting about AW, and it's
a great thing about the Continental Classic is we're getting
to see some of the great homegrown stars of AW
against some of the top free agents. We have great
matches tonight featuring young wrestlers against top veterans. We'll have
two matches tonight where the winners will be at the
top of the standings in the Continental Classic. So huge
(20:49):
implications on tonight's show on TBS. I'm really excited about it.
Some great matches outside the Continental Classic grudge matches, long
standing grudges that go back years, like Anna j versus
Penelope Ford or even Swerve Strickland versus Max Caster, and
rivalries that are at the forefront of AW now like
(21:11):
Pat versus Jay White. Very excited to have that Dynamite Diamond,
the Battle Royal, the Dynamite doesn't that's a great holiday tradition.
Looking forward to that, and looking forward to having MJF
coming back to AW after he finished his filming this
great movie he's working on. That'll be great for AW
and that's very soon and a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
INAW in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Like I said, streaming on Max is a huge opportunity
for us, and right now we are in the thick
of the best time of the year Tonight in AW
Tonight on TBS eight pm Eastern at seven pm Central
for all of you great fans in the Central and
all your fans are there around Nashville in the Battleground Zone.
(21:57):
It's gonna be a great show tonight on TBS, and
it is very much emblematic of what we're doing in
AW where the best wrestle.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Absolutely and you know I love when AW and we're
gonna wrap it up here in a second. I love
when there's always like some sort of like theme with AW.
I know there was the Texas Chainsaw death Match, Texas
Chainsaw mask or death match and everything else. Are we
ever going to get like a Time cop themed match
in AW or one?
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Please? I would love to do that. I think that's
that's definitely in our future.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
We've definitely revitalized the popularity of a classic film.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
You know, Time is not just a cult classic.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
It's also the biggest commercial success of John Claudebandam's career.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
It's the only one hundred million dollar movie John Claudebandam
ever did, and for good reason.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
It's an excellent film, and it applies sometimes to the
world of pro wrestling, where most of the shows are live,
but sometimes you tape them and you're in two places
at once.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
It can be nice. Like this past.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Weekend, we gave the crew the Thanksgiving weekend off. We
filmed a great show for Saturday Thanksgiving weekend and it
was a great event. Now Collision is gonna be back
in its normal time slot this Saturday, seven pm Central,
eight pm Eastern, and we're gonna have great Continental Classic
matches live from Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
That's gonna be excellent.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
The Continental Classic continues on Collision Saturday on TNT back
on normal time, and for the West Coast fans, we're
back on our normal time slot tonight. We were starting
early on the West Coast five pm Pacific last week,
but this week we're back to our normal eight pm
Pacific time slot. I think that's really gonna help us
a lot. It's always hard for people to get make
(23:42):
it home by five o'clock on a Wednesday, even on
a holiday, and I think it's gonna be great getting
back in the groove tonight with more Continental Classic. It's
the holiday season. We're almost to Christmas time. We're gonna
have some big Christmas shows in aw. Like I said,
it's all gonna build towards World's End, and the last
(24:03):
events on the way the World's End are going to
be Christmas Collision Live in New York of course, that
big Wednesday night Christmas.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Night Dynamite on thirty fourth Street.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
And then we'll also have a great New Year's Smashed Rampage,
and that'll be heading right into the World's End pay
per view and it'll be a great way to end
the year. Those would be great shows in New York
at the Hammerstein Ballroom, which is a great venue for
the wrestling fans. And we've got some more great events
like the ones you guys brought up coming up on Stale.
(24:40):
All in the Big Stadium Show, the first time anybody
in America since the nineties has attempted to do a
stadium show in America. Any other wrestling company, any alternative
wrestling company, has tried this.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
It hasn't been tried in a long time.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I think probably since WCW ran the Georgia Doll I believe,
and I think it's going to be a great success
for us.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
The tickets go on sale on Monday.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
The pre sale is open now, so you can look
for the code, get into the pre sale, try to
beat the rush on Monday and be a part of
this presale that's open now. We've already sold over a
million dollars worth of tickets for All and those VIP
packages went greatly, and I think now we're into the
general tickets the pre sale, but the actual long sale
(25:33):
starts Monday. But you can beat the rush in the
pre sale now. You guys mentioned we're coming to Clarksville.
It's always great when we come to the Nashville, Tennessee area.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I'm excited to see both of you personally. Tim.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I hope you're going to bring Liam in some of
his toys to the show, and I'm excited to see
him and catch up about what he's got going with
the wrestling toys.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
In his wrestling league.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Yeah, he's all excited about that. And again, we're excited
that you guys are coming back to this area. And again,
Christmas is right around the corner. And let me tell you,
it is very affordable to take the whole family to
an AW show. So what better way to celebrate Christmas
than putting AW tickets in the stockings or in a box,
or however you want to give them. Grab tickets right now.
AW ticks dot com. That's ae w tix dot com.
(26:17):
Go grab those tickets. You'll thank us later for it.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Tony.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
It is an honor and a privileged to always have
you on the show, and we look forward to talking
to you again very soon, sir.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I also look forward to seeing you guys in person
and talking soon. And I will see you guys tonight
on TVs at seven pm. Central Time, your time in
eight pm in Indianapolis, where the show is emanating tonight.
It's going to be a great night tonight on TVs,
I promise you, and I look forward to seeing you
guys there tonight
Popular Podcasts
Math & Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing with Bob Pittman
How do the smartest marketers and business entrepreneurs cut through the noise? And how do they manage to do it again and again? It's a combination of math—the strategy and analytics—and magic, the creative spark. Join iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman as he analyzes the Math and Magic of marketing—sitting down with today's most gifted disruptors and compelling storytellers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!