July 1, 2025 • 24 mins
In this exclusive interview, AEW President Tony Khan opens up about the current direction of All Elite Wrestling, his strategic approach to signing talent, and what fans can expect next. We also get an exciting update on Trevor Lawrence, insights into AEW’s growing relationship with CMLL, and Tony’s thoughts on not scooping up every free agent that hits the market.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Metal Ground podcast and exclusive interviews with
some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Stop joy me today is a man who wears many hats.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
He's an executive for Full NFC and the Jacksonville Jaguars,
but is also and we're going to speak about this,
the co founder, co owner, president, CEO, executive producer and
head booker of All Elite Wrestling, the one.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And only mister Tony Khn. Tony, how are you doing it?
Speaker 4 (00:39):
I'm doing very well, Jays. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thank you for being here.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
You're coming off a successful Grand Slam Mexico at Arena Mexico.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Aw's debut in Mexico, historic Arita.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Can you talk about the importance of a successful show
in that market and branching out to these international markets.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Absolutely. That was a fantastic show and it was huge
for us for many reasons. It was just a great
fun event, the fans at a great time, and it
did very very well on television. It was the most
watched episode of AW since last year, and that was
before the simulcast, so you know, based on our TBS data,
(01:19):
this was the most watched AW on cable in nearly
a year and then a lot of the key demographics.
Most watched AW show in over a year, and when
you factor in the streaming viewership, I think this was
the most watched AW program in a long time, long
over a year, maybe years, and one of our best
(01:40):
shows ever, one of our best received shows ever. We
went into a new market, working with great partners, the
first AW show we've ever done in Mexico, and it
was a great event. The wrestling was awesome, the partnership
is awesome, and there's definitely a possibility, I think of
doing this again. It's almost a virtual certainty we're going
(02:02):
to have a return to Mexico. We've got a great
relationship with CMLL. They own and operate this cathedral of
pro wrestling, which is Arena Mexico, and we had a
fantastic event in Arena Mexico. It meant so much to
so many of the wrestlers to go there because myself
(02:22):
and so many of the AW stars were big fans
of Luca Libre and the pre eminent arena in Luca
is absolutely Arena Mexico. It's one of the greatest buildings,
one of the greatest venues in all of pro wrestling,
and it made a great home for AW Dynamite this
past Wednesday. It was a fantastic, fantastic event, and I
(02:45):
can't wait to go back for another Grand Slam Mexico
and hopefully many great events to come under the umbrella
of CMLL working with AW.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, and like I think as a view in a fan,
it just something felt different about the show. I think
the presentation, the stage is set up, it was Dynamite,
but it felt kind of like a pay.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Per view, absolutely, And I saw a great line on
Twitter that it felt like watching a show taking place
within the universe of another show. I think I saw
a tweet and I'm really sorry I will misattribute this
surely if I try and attribute it to a person.
(03:29):
But I saw somebody say it was a great show
and it was akin to watching an episode of night
Court taking place in the Cheers Bar, and I thought
that was a great, great reference. Yeah, it was AW
but taking place in this iconic venue that we always
associate with CMLL. We've never seen an American wrestling promotion
(03:52):
go to Mexico and work with CMLL and be invited
to run a show, let alone a major TV show
an AW Dynamite and a Grand Slam event out of Rina, Mexico.
It was a huge success and I'm very excited to
go do it again.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
You talked about CMLO and that American audience. One of
the build up storylines before Grand Slam was MJF pointing
out that Mystico was Sincara and that American audience might
not have been familiar with the magnitude of what Mystico
was to that Mexican audience.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
How important was it.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
For you to showcase how big of a deal he
is to that CMLL audience.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
It was very important. And we've featured Mistico and AW
in the past. He's on a fantastic run in AW.
He has a spotless record here and he's one of
the most beloved stars in Mexico and a top international wrestler.
He does have experience here in America. In fact, I
(04:55):
was actually at the first ever sin Car match. It
was in my hometown, Champagne, Illinois, and I had been
a fan of Mystico for many, many years at that point,
and now I've been a fan of Mystico for well
over twenty years since I was in college. And he's
just a great man. He's a great star in this sport.
(05:15):
He's an iconic athlete, and it was so incredible to
see Arena Mexico get behind him on his entrance. Wherever
we go, there fans that know Mystico that are excited
to see him. We had a great video package a
few weeks ago for those people who weren't familiar with
Mystico getting them caught up. We had some videos, and
(05:38):
of course Mistico's made a lot of appearances here in
advance of Grand Slam Mexico. But I don't think anything
prepared the fans and any of us, frankly for the
kind of reaction he was going to get when we
went to Arena Mexico, when we played that classic entrance
theme when he came out, and what a great match
Mystic Goo versus Mji fit absolutely fantastic encounter, and it
(06:03):
let me on the bone. I think we could absolutely
see a rematch down the line at some point. I
hope so, and cmll I know I'd love to do that.
I think mist Goo wants another piece of MJF two
and that would be great for the fans.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Some of the fans won a piece of the JF two.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah, definitely the Mexican fans. I would love a piece
of MJF. He was very fortunate to make it out
in one piece. But absolutely it's a great partnership working
with CMLL and their athletes, and this event was a
grand slam in many ways for AW and just an
absolutely fantastic showcase for the AW wrestlers and the CMLL
(06:45):
wrestlers in the home of CMLL and this iconic Luciah
Libra a venue.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
All In, Texas is coming up this next month of
July twelfth at colob Life Stadium or Globe Field in Arlington,
and talk about that it's your biggest show of the year.
We're wrestling fans here, but sell me on All In
as if I had no experience, just casually New Pro
Wrestling wasn't familiar with the AW brand.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
AW All In coming up July twelfth, just weeks away.
It's the biggest AW event ever in America and it's
a can't miss show. AW always delivers on pay per view,
and this is unique because this is the biggest stage
Aw's ever attempted in America. We've been doing shows for
over six years. We have an incredible track record of
(07:35):
delivering on these pay per views. We bat the highest
average I think of anybody when it comes to putting
on major events. You can always count on an AW
pay per view having great matches and having absolutely great, great, great,
great rivalries at a great time for the fans. This
(07:57):
is going to be a great environment too. It's very unique,
so I think if you can't make it to Globalifefield
in Texas, hopefully you could be their live. It's so
fun to experience these shows live. As you saw at
Grand Slam in Mexico, the fans were having a great
time and that was a unique environment. This is going
to be something unique. We've never tried to run a
(08:17):
major stadium like this, and it's poised to be the
biggest AW crowd in America ever. It's already one of
the top three gates in the history of the company,
and it's going to be surely one of the greatest events.
We've got major matches, major championship fights with huge implications.
(08:40):
I'm really excited about Hangman Page challenging the AW World
Champion John Moxley for the title. I'm so excited about
AW Women's World Champion Timeless Tony Storm defending the world
title against the TBS champion and the Owen Hart Foundation
(09:01):
Tournament winner, the undefeated Mercedes Monet, and that is just
going to be an absolutely fantastic match, a match that
is truly years in the making, and so excited for.
The unified AW Championship match, the AW Continental Champion Kazushka
Okada taking on his greatest rival in one of the
(09:25):
greatest rivalries of all time to be in sports, but
certainly in the history of pro wrestling, and that is
the AW International Champion Kenny Omega and Okada Omega. Their
matches have been classic, the rivalry is classic. It's something
we've never ever seen before in AW, something we've been
(09:46):
looking forward to for years. I can't wait for that,
and I know that with the AW fans clamoring for
that match, it's certainly set the stage to make this
feel like not only the biggest AW live event ever
in America, but I also think the biggest AW pay
(10:08):
per view ever in America. And we've also announced men's
and women's Casino Gauntlet matches coming up. It's great, great format,
it's the most exciting new match in pro wrestling in
many years, and the winner of each the men's and
the women's Casino Gauntlet match will earn a future world
(10:31):
title shop and given the size, the stage, the implications
of this show, I think this is our biggest show
in America ever and I'm so excited for this event.
It is also the first pay per view we've ever
done in the state of Texas, and the Texas fans
(10:53):
are absolutely rabbit. They make for great shows. I think
we were just talking about Arena Mexico and Grand Slam Mexico. Know,
certainly the environment was unmatched and the engagement with the
fans and the passion of the fans in Arena Mexico
was unbelievable. And when we do pay per views in Texas,
(11:13):
one of the real features that you know, I've been
looking forward to is bringing that audience we get because
it's our first ever paper even Texas. I've always wanted
to have that energy from the Texas TV crowds and
see what it's like at a pay per view, And
when we do TV, there's some of the best fans
(11:34):
and I really believe they're going to bring the energy
and this is going to be a great, great show.
July twelfth, Saturday afternoon, aw all in. It's an earlier
start time than usual as we've done with ALL in
the past few years as an afternoon show here in America,
and I think it's going to be a great event.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
You mentioned the confirmation that both the Men's and Women's
Casino Gauntlets we're gonna be on the card every year.
When you guys put those matches on, there's these big
surprise entrance and stuff like that. The comments made by Swerve,
Strickland and will Osbury about bringing in free agents who
just want to be AW stars and want that mentality
(12:14):
that AW is the team to play for. Are you
sharing that mentality? Like maybe you're approaching free agency differently
because there's a lot of people out there that have
become recent free agents that have name dropped your company,
and maybe there's a little bit of a perception change.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Well, there's a very good perception about AW in twenty
twenty five. This company's doing great shows. This feels like
the best year ever in AW. There was a major
change at the start of the year that definitely created
a fresh, exciting environment. That is the simulcast. Every Wednesday,
(12:48):
we do wrestling on TBS. Every Saturday night we do
wrestling on TNT, and It's absolutely fantastic to have AW
Dynamite every Wednesday night, AW Collision every Saturday, and having
these great partnerships with TVs and TNT. But now we've
got the simulcast, which has opened up a whole new audience.
(13:09):
It's allowed us to reach people that didn't necessarily have
access to TVSS on Wednesdays or TNT on Saturdays. And
having those events live on Max streaming as they're on
TVs and TNT, it's grown the audience and the shows
have just been fantastic this year, and I think the
(13:30):
combination of really great events maybe the most consistent run
we've ever had of TV and pay per views, which
is saying something because we've had so many great runs
of television and I think the best track record of
all on pay per view over the years. So it
really is set a high bar for all of us
(13:52):
here at AW. And I think with that high bar,
the fact that we've cleared it and this is in
so many ways the best year of A yet, I
think it speaks really highly to the wrestlers, the staff
of AW, and certainly the fans and how they've been
delivering at the live shows and the kind of growth
we've seen on TV. At the end of the year,
(14:15):
there were so many positive things about AW. We were
so excited about twenty twenty five. But we've been able
to grow and grow our TV audience as we've also
started simulcasting. So in addition to having our biggest TV
audience in a very long time, this past week, this
whole year has been a huge uptick for AW on TV,
(14:38):
and then when you factor in the additional fans watching
on streaming on the simulcast, it's just going fantastic for us.
So there is a great perception about AW. It's a
great time to work here. It's also a lot of fun.
It's a fun place to work. It's a great place
to apply your trade as a wrestler, and we're looking
for the very best. This is where the best wrestler.
(15:00):
AW has the best wrestlers in the world, and we
want to keep it that way. So absolutely, it's a
very very high bar to reach this roster, and I
think we want to maintain the quality.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, Tony, Honestly, I was gonna ask you, like, because
because you guys have used that statement, restore the feeling.
Restore the feeling because you guys did come in with
a lot of momentum of you know, the goodwill of
being different, being an alternative and all that. And I
feel like, you know, the internet cynical. There's tribalist fans.
They say a lot of nonsense online, and I feel
like this year there has been a change where a
(15:40):
lot of people are like, Dynamite has been consistently great.
This week's Dynamite has been awesome. It's been this amount
of time, and I feel like a lot of that
like positivity came out after your Double or Nothing press confidence.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I know a lot of people a lot longer than that. Jason.
I think Collision has been consistently great all year too.
I think both been to sicently great every Wednesday and Saturday.
I agree with that that the Double and Nothing press
conference was very well received. I really appreciate saying that.
I didn't think this goes back to even January and
(16:14):
Grand Slam Australia was a huge success in February. I
think that was one of our best TV events ever.
And I do think that's probably the best episode ever
of Collision. Grand Slam Australia in February. Revolution in March
was an excellent pay per view, we had a great dynasty.
In April, we also had a really important event, AW
(16:36):
Spring Breakthrough, which is considered one of the best episodes
ever of AW. Wednesday Night Doctamite also really an important milestone.
It's where AW became the longest running prime time pro
wrestling show in the history of Turner Sports. And I
completely agree with you. I think you know, Doublin Nutting
(16:58):
was possibly the best pay per view show we've ever
done for Shannon. By the time we guys a May,
this momentum has been rolling and rolling. The perception keeps
getting better and better. So I do agree with you.
I think this started earlier. And I appreciate what you're
saying because I know.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I know that's what I'm saying too.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I'm saying like, I think you guys have been on momentum,
and I think people even the most cynical who are
just you know, they live for negativity online or just
starting to say, you know what it is getting to
be like what it was a few years ago. And
I do, I do see that there's been a change
where it's like I think a lot of momentum shifting back.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
I think it's a lot better than it was a
few years ago. Because there was Dynamite, you didn't have Collision. So,
you know, it's been something new for us, growing into
doing a new show and having now four hours of
aw and when we first started, we were just doing
two hours of Dynamite and that was fantastic, And I
(17:56):
think we've been able to try to hit that same consistency,
and really I think Dynamite's a better show now than
it's ever been, and Collision, I think is a better
show now than it's ever been too, and consistently throughout
twenty twenty five, both shows have been really strong. I
think for many years when we started up, we had
great pay per views and we had two great hours
of TV every Wednesday night, and now we're delivering something
(18:19):
very different twice as much TV every week. It's a
hard thing to do and it's something that is yere
in twenty twenty five, I think we've done a great
job on so I actually think it's better than it's
ever been. To your point, you know, that's why we
haven't used that expression restore the feeling in a long time.
I think it's been right for a long time, and
I completely agree with you. I really do think you're
(18:43):
onto something too, because I think there was already a
really good vibe and a really good perception of what
we've been doing this year. And I think Double or
Nothing the quality of the event, the event open people's eyes,
the success of the pay per view, and the aftermath,
I think you're right. A lot of the comments were
(19:03):
well received, but the most important thing was the wrestling show,
and the wrestlers did so well, and the fans that
night in Phoenix were fantastic and anarchy. The arena is
an amazing match. Hangman Page and Will Osprey had an
absolutely fantastic match. Mercedes Monet and Jamie Hayter was great,
(19:24):
just top to bottom, a really fantastic show. And when
you look at Double or Nothing, it's the original aw event.
It's where we set the standard from the very beginning
for our first show. I think it's a really great
debut event that we had in twenty nineteen, and we've
(19:45):
tried to go back and over the years we've had
some great Double or Nothing shows. I really thought this
was the best one yet. So you think Jason really
onto something that that definitely helped people identify pinpoint what's
been going on here, that we're having a great year
and we all take a lot of pride in it,
and that's why, you know, looking back, I think this
(20:08):
is something unprecedented, even better than we've done before, because
we've had great runs, we've had consistent runs, but we're
doing something new now and giving the fans something new
with Wednesday Night Dynamite, Saturday Night Collision, and all of
it being simulcast and available to a wider audience, not
(20:28):
only people that may have never had access to TBS
and TNT, but even people over the last six years
that might have not kept their cable, people that have
become cord cutters and are active on streaming that no
longer have TBS and TNT, people that might have watched
aw in the past. What's incredible is as we've added
(20:53):
that streaming audience looking just to the cable audience, the
cable audience has grown too, against all expectations. So that's
been really great and I really appreciate what you're saying.
Thank you for sure. It means a lot. For sure.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Switching gears real quickly. How's Trevor Lawrence coming along?
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Doing great? Trevor Lawrence doing great? William Cohen is a
great coach. We're really fortunate to have the great staff
that Liam's put together, and Trevor Lawrence has a really
talented group of players around him. And I'm really excited
for the twenty twenty five Jaguars. It should be a
great year. And with the new staff, the energy they're bringing,
(21:38):
and a young roster with some new players on it
that we're really excited about. I think twenty twenty five
should be a great year, and and Trevor personally is
doing really well.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
If I just knew John cud van Dam casually and
hadn't watched any of his movies, where Do I start?
I knew you'd like that one because I saw you
and Brandon Walker do it, so I figured i'd throw
that one in.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
It's a different one. John Claude van Dam is a
great actor and he's had some classic films. His most
commercially successful film is Time Coop. So it's a great
place to start. It also represents what we do with
AWTV tapings because a lot of times, if we tape
(22:24):
a show, most of the show's alive. Every Dynamite is
live every Wednesday, but every once in a while, if
we do tape a show. The fans can be in
two places at once. They can be in the arena
at the show and watching it at home. It's a
lot like one of my favorite movies, Time Coop, and
in that film, John Claude Van Dam plays a cop
(22:47):
who travels through time and maintains the connuity of the timeline.
Street Fighter is another great John Claude Van Dam movie.
I think that's probably his second most commercially successful, based
on the video game Street Fighter. It's a really fun
video game film. It's the last performance of the late
(23:08):
great Rauel Julia Gomez Adams from the Adams Family when
we were kids, and I am a fan of that
one as well. I think that's excellent. Lionheart is a
great junk Claud van Dam movie. Nowhere to Run is
really good, but I think one of my favorites is
Universal Soldier, which is fantastic. It's a franchise of films,
(23:32):
but the first one is the best one, I think,
and that's a crash course on JCVD.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
All in Texas and Global a Field. On July twelve,
El Eite Wrestling founder, co founder, co owner, president, CEO,
head booker Tony Khan thank you for taking the time.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Hey, thank you for taking the time. It was really
fun to talk to you about it, and especially somebody
with so much knowledge of AW and so much knowledge
of rassline. I really enjoyed the interview. Thanks for doing this.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Jason enjoyed having you. Man.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Appreciate you. Thank you.
Welcome to the Metal Ground podcast and exclusive interviews with
some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Stop joy me today is a man who wears many hats.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
He's an executive for Full NFC and the Jacksonville Jaguars,
but is also and we're going to speak about this,
the co founder, co owner, president, CEO, executive producer and
head booker of All Elite Wrestling, the one.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And only mister Tony Khn. Tony, how are you doing it?
Speaker 4 (00:39):
I'm doing very well, Jays. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thank you for being here.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
You're coming off a successful Grand Slam Mexico at Arena Mexico.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Aw's debut in Mexico, historic Arita.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Can you talk about the importance of a successful show
in that market and branching out to these international markets.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Absolutely. That was a fantastic show and it was huge
for us for many reasons. It was just a great
fun event, the fans at a great time, and it
did very very well on television. It was the most
watched episode of AW since last year, and that was
before the simulcast, so you know, based on our TBS data,
(01:19):
this was the most watched AW on cable in nearly
a year and then a lot of the key demographics.
Most watched AW show in over a year, and when
you factor in the streaming viewership, I think this was
the most watched AW program in a long time, long
over a year, maybe years, and one of our best
(01:40):
shows ever, one of our best received shows ever. We
went into a new market, working with great partners, the
first AW show we've ever done in Mexico, and it
was a great event. The wrestling was awesome, the partnership
is awesome, and there's definitely a possibility, I think of
doing this again. It's almost a virtual certainty we're going
(02:02):
to have a return to Mexico. We've got a great
relationship with CMLL. They own and operate this cathedral of
pro wrestling, which is Arena Mexico, and we had a
fantastic event in Arena Mexico. It meant so much to
so many of the wrestlers to go there because myself
(02:22):
and so many of the AW stars were big fans
of Luca Libre and the pre eminent arena in Luca
is absolutely Arena Mexico. It's one of the greatest buildings,
one of the greatest venues in all of pro wrestling,
and it made a great home for AW Dynamite this
past Wednesday. It was a fantastic, fantastic event, and I
(02:45):
can't wait to go back for another Grand Slam Mexico
and hopefully many great events to come under the umbrella
of CMLL working with AW.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, and like I think as a view in a fan,
it just something felt different about the show. I think
the presentation, the stage is set up, it was Dynamite,
but it felt kind of like a pay.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Per view, absolutely, And I saw a great line on
Twitter that it felt like watching a show taking place
within the universe of another show. I think I saw
a tweet and I'm really sorry I will misattribute this
surely if I try and attribute it to a person.
(03:29):
But I saw somebody say it was a great show
and it was akin to watching an episode of night
Court taking place in the Cheers Bar, and I thought
that was a great, great reference. Yeah, it was AW
but taking place in this iconic venue that we always
associate with CMLL. We've never seen an American wrestling promotion
(03:52):
go to Mexico and work with CMLL and be invited
to run a show, let alone a major TV show
an AW Dynamite and a Grand Slam event out of Rina, Mexico.
It was a huge success and I'm very excited to
go do it again.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
You talked about CMLO and that American audience. One of
the build up storylines before Grand Slam was MJF pointing
out that Mystico was Sincara and that American audience might
not have been familiar with the magnitude of what Mystico
was to that Mexican audience.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
How important was it.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
For you to showcase how big of a deal he
is to that CMLL audience.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
It was very important. And we've featured Mistico and AW
in the past. He's on a fantastic run in AW.
He has a spotless record here and he's one of
the most beloved stars in Mexico and a top international wrestler.
He does have experience here in America. In fact, I
(04:55):
was actually at the first ever sin Car match. It
was in my hometown, Champagne, Illinois, and I had been
a fan of Mystico for many, many years at that point,
and now I've been a fan of Mystico for well
over twenty years since I was in college. And he's
just a great man. He's a great star in this sport.
(05:15):
He's an iconic athlete, and it was so incredible to
see Arena Mexico get behind him on his entrance. Wherever
we go, there fans that know Mystico that are excited
to see him. We had a great video package a
few weeks ago for those people who weren't familiar with
Mystico getting them caught up. We had some videos, and
(05:38):
of course Mistico's made a lot of appearances here in
advance of Grand Slam Mexico. But I don't think anything
prepared the fans and any of us, frankly for the
kind of reaction he was going to get when we
went to Arena Mexico, when we played that classic entrance
theme when he came out, and what a great match
Mystic Goo versus Mji fit absolutely fantastic encounter, and it
(06:03):
let me on the bone. I think we could absolutely
see a rematch down the line at some point. I
hope so, and cmll I know I'd love to do that.
I think mist Goo wants another piece of MJF two
and that would be great for the fans.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Some of the fans won a piece of the JF two.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah, definitely the Mexican fans. I would love a piece
of MJF. He was very fortunate to make it out
in one piece. But absolutely it's a great partnership working
with CMLL and their athletes, and this event was a
grand slam in many ways for AW and just an
absolutely fantastic showcase for the AW wrestlers and the CMLL
(06:45):
wrestlers in the home of CMLL and this iconic Luciah
Libra a venue.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
All In, Texas is coming up this next month of
July twelfth at colob Life Stadium or Globe Field in Arlington,
and talk about that it's your biggest show of the year.
We're wrestling fans here, but sell me on All In
as if I had no experience, just casually New Pro
Wrestling wasn't familiar with the AW brand.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
AW All In coming up July twelfth, just weeks away.
It's the biggest AW event ever in America and it's
a can't miss show. AW always delivers on pay per view,
and this is unique because this is the biggest stage
Aw's ever attempted in America. We've been doing shows for
over six years. We have an incredible track record of
(07:35):
delivering on these pay per views. We bat the highest
average I think of anybody when it comes to putting
on major events. You can always count on an AW
pay per view having great matches and having absolutely great, great, great,
great rivalries at a great time for the fans. This
(07:57):
is going to be a great environment too. It's very unique,
so I think if you can't make it to Globalifefield
in Texas, hopefully you could be their live. It's so
fun to experience these shows live. As you saw at
Grand Slam in Mexico, the fans were having a great
time and that was a unique environment. This is going
to be something unique. We've never tried to run a
(08:17):
major stadium like this, and it's poised to be the
biggest AW crowd in America ever. It's already one of
the top three gates in the history of the company,
and it's going to be surely one of the greatest events.
We've got major matches, major championship fights with huge implications.
(08:40):
I'm really excited about Hangman Page challenging the AW World
Champion John Moxley for the title. I'm so excited about
AW Women's World Champion Timeless Tony Storm defending the world
title against the TBS champion and the Owen Hart Foundation
(09:01):
Tournament winner, the undefeated Mercedes Monet, and that is just
going to be an absolutely fantastic match, a match that
is truly years in the making, and so excited for.
The unified AW Championship match, the AW Continental Champion Kazushka
Okada taking on his greatest rival in one of the
(09:25):
greatest rivalries of all time to be in sports, but
certainly in the history of pro wrestling, and that is
the AW International Champion Kenny Omega and Okada Omega. Their
matches have been classic, the rivalry is classic. It's something
we've never ever seen before in AW, something we've been
(09:46):
looking forward to for years. I can't wait for that,
and I know that with the AW fans clamoring for
that match, it's certainly set the stage to make this
feel like not only the biggest AW live event ever
in America, but I also think the biggest AW pay
(10:08):
per view ever in America. And we've also announced men's
and women's Casino Gauntlet matches coming up. It's great, great format,
it's the most exciting new match in pro wrestling in
many years, and the winner of each the men's and
the women's Casino Gauntlet match will earn a future world
(10:31):
title shop and given the size, the stage, the implications
of this show, I think this is our biggest show
in America ever and I'm so excited for this event.
It is also the first pay per view we've ever
done in the state of Texas, and the Texas fans
(10:53):
are absolutely rabbit. They make for great shows. I think
we were just talking about Arena Mexico and Grand Slam Mexico. Know,
certainly the environment was unmatched and the engagement with the
fans and the passion of the fans in Arena Mexico
was unbelievable. And when we do pay per views in Texas,
(11:13):
one of the real features that you know, I've been
looking forward to is bringing that audience we get because
it's our first ever paper even Texas. I've always wanted
to have that energy from the Texas TV crowds and
see what it's like at a pay per view, And
when we do TV, there's some of the best fans
(11:34):
and I really believe they're going to bring the energy
and this is going to be a great, great show.
July twelfth, Saturday afternoon, aw all in. It's an earlier
start time than usual as we've done with ALL in
the past few years as an afternoon show here in America,
and I think it's going to be a great event.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
You mentioned the confirmation that both the Men's and Women's
Casino Gauntlets we're gonna be on the card every year.
When you guys put those matches on, there's these big
surprise entrance and stuff like that. The comments made by Swerve,
Strickland and will Osbury about bringing in free agents who
just want to be AW stars and want that mentality
(12:14):
that AW is the team to play for. Are you
sharing that mentality? Like maybe you're approaching free agency differently
because there's a lot of people out there that have
become recent free agents that have name dropped your company,
and maybe there's a little bit of a perception change.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Well, there's a very good perception about AW in twenty
twenty five. This company's doing great shows. This feels like
the best year ever in AW. There was a major
change at the start of the year that definitely created
a fresh, exciting environment. That is the simulcast. Every Wednesday,
(12:48):
we do wrestling on TBS. Every Saturday night we do
wrestling on TNT, and It's absolutely fantastic to have AW
Dynamite every Wednesday night, AW Collision every Saturday, and having
these great partnerships with TVs and TNT. But now we've
got the simulcast, which has opened up a whole new audience.
(13:09):
It's allowed us to reach people that didn't necessarily have
access to TVSS on Wednesdays or TNT on Saturdays. And
having those events live on Max streaming as they're on
TVs and TNT, it's grown the audience and the shows
have just been fantastic this year, and I think the
(13:30):
combination of really great events maybe the most consistent run
we've ever had of TV and pay per views, which
is saying something because we've had so many great runs
of television and I think the best track record of
all on pay per view over the years. So it
really is set a high bar for all of us
(13:52):
here at AW. And I think with that high bar,
the fact that we've cleared it and this is in
so many ways the best year of A yet, I
think it speaks really highly to the wrestlers, the staff
of AW, and certainly the fans and how they've been
delivering at the live shows and the kind of growth
we've seen on TV. At the end of the year,
(14:15):
there were so many positive things about AW. We were
so excited about twenty twenty five. But we've been able
to grow and grow our TV audience as we've also
started simulcasting. So in addition to having our biggest TV
audience in a very long time, this past week, this
whole year has been a huge uptick for AW on TV,
(14:38):
and then when you factor in the additional fans watching
on streaming on the simulcast, it's just going fantastic for us.
So there is a great perception about AW. It's a
great time to work here. It's also a lot of fun.
It's a fun place to work. It's a great place
to apply your trade as a wrestler, and we're looking
for the very best. This is where the best wrestler.
(15:00):
AW has the best wrestlers in the world, and we
want to keep it that way. So absolutely, it's a
very very high bar to reach this roster, and I
think we want to maintain the quality.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, Tony, Honestly, I was gonna ask you, like, because
because you guys have used that statement, restore the feeling.
Restore the feeling because you guys did come in with
a lot of momentum of you know, the goodwill of
being different, being an alternative and all that. And I
feel like, you know, the internet cynical. There's tribalist fans.
They say a lot of nonsense online, and I feel
like this year there has been a change where a
(15:40):
lot of people are like, Dynamite has been consistently great.
This week's Dynamite has been awesome. It's been this amount
of time, and I feel like a lot of that
like positivity came out after your Double or Nothing press confidence.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I know a lot of people a lot longer than that. Jason.
I think Collision has been consistently great all year too.
I think both been to sicently great every Wednesday and Saturday.
I agree with that that the Double and Nothing press
conference was very well received. I really appreciate saying that.
I didn't think this goes back to even January and
(16:14):
Grand Slam Australia was a huge success in February. I
think that was one of our best TV events ever.
And I do think that's probably the best episode ever
of Collision. Grand Slam Australia in February. Revolution in March
was an excellent pay per view, we had a great dynasty.
In April, we also had a really important event, AW
(16:36):
Spring Breakthrough, which is considered one of the best episodes
ever of AW. Wednesday Night Doctamite also really an important milestone.
It's where AW became the longest running prime time pro
wrestling show in the history of Turner Sports. And I
completely agree with you. I think you know, Doublin Nutting
(16:58):
was possibly the best pay per view show we've ever
done for Shannon. By the time we guys a May,
this momentum has been rolling and rolling. The perception keeps
getting better and better. So I do agree with you.
I think this started earlier. And I appreciate what you're
saying because I know.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I know that's what I'm saying too.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I'm saying like, I think you guys have been on momentum,
and I think people even the most cynical who are
just you know, they live for negativity online or just
starting to say, you know what it is getting to
be like what it was a few years ago. And
I do, I do see that there's been a change
where it's like I think a lot of momentum shifting back.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
I think it's a lot better than it was a
few years ago. Because there was Dynamite, you didn't have Collision. So,
you know, it's been something new for us, growing into
doing a new show and having now four hours of
aw and when we first started, we were just doing
two hours of Dynamite and that was fantastic, And I
(17:56):
think we've been able to try to hit that same consistency,
and really I think Dynamite's a better show now than
it's ever been, and Collision, I think is a better
show now than it's ever been too, and consistently throughout
twenty twenty five, both shows have been really strong. I
think for many years when we started up, we had
great pay per views and we had two great hours
of TV every Wednesday night, and now we're delivering something
(18:19):
very different twice as much TV every week. It's a
hard thing to do and it's something that is yere
in twenty twenty five, I think we've done a great
job on so I actually think it's better than it's
ever been. To your point, you know, that's why we
haven't used that expression restore the feeling in a long time.
I think it's been right for a long time, and
I completely agree with you. I really do think you're
(18:43):
onto something too, because I think there was already a
really good vibe and a really good perception of what
we've been doing this year. And I think Double or
Nothing the quality of the event, the event open people's eyes,
the success of the pay per view, and the aftermath,
I think you're right. A lot of the comments were
(19:03):
well received, but the most important thing was the wrestling show,
and the wrestlers did so well, and the fans that
night in Phoenix were fantastic and anarchy. The arena is
an amazing match. Hangman Page and Will Osprey had an
absolutely fantastic match. Mercedes Monet and Jamie Hayter was great,
(19:24):
just top to bottom, a really fantastic show. And when
you look at Double or Nothing, it's the original aw event.
It's where we set the standard from the very beginning
for our first show. I think it's a really great
debut event that we had in twenty nineteen, and we've
(19:45):
tried to go back and over the years we've had
some great Double or Nothing shows. I really thought this
was the best one yet. So you think Jason really
onto something that that definitely helped people identify pinpoint what's
been going on here, that we're having a great year
and we all take a lot of pride in it,
and that's why, you know, looking back, I think this
(20:08):
is something unprecedented, even better than we've done before, because
we've had great runs, we've had consistent runs, but we're
doing something new now and giving the fans something new
with Wednesday Night Dynamite, Saturday Night Collision, and all of
it being simulcast and available to a wider audience, not
(20:28):
only people that may have never had access to TBS
and TNT, but even people over the last six years
that might have not kept their cable, people that have
become cord cutters and are active on streaming that no
longer have TBS and TNT, people that might have watched
aw in the past. What's incredible is as we've added
(20:53):
that streaming audience looking just to the cable audience, the
cable audience has grown too, against all expectations. So that's
been really great and I really appreciate what you're saying.
Thank you for sure. It means a lot. For sure.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Switching gears real quickly. How's Trevor Lawrence coming along?
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Doing great? Trevor Lawrence doing great? William Cohen is a
great coach. We're really fortunate to have the great staff
that Liam's put together, and Trevor Lawrence has a really
talented group of players around him. And I'm really excited
for the twenty twenty five Jaguars. It should be a
great year. And with the new staff, the energy they're bringing,
(21:38):
and a young roster with some new players on it
that we're really excited about. I think twenty twenty five
should be a great year, and and Trevor personally is
doing really well.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
If I just knew John cud van Dam casually and
hadn't watched any of his movies, where Do I start?
I knew you'd like that one because I saw you
and Brandon Walker do it, so I figured i'd throw
that one in.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
It's a different one. John Claude van Dam is a
great actor and he's had some classic films. His most
commercially successful film is Time Coop. So it's a great
place to start. It also represents what we do with
AWTV tapings because a lot of times, if we tape
(22:24):
a show, most of the show's alive. Every Dynamite is
live every Wednesday, but every once in a while, if
we do tape a show. The fans can be in
two places at once. They can be in the arena
at the show and watching it at home. It's a
lot like one of my favorite movies, Time Coop, and
in that film, John Claude Van Dam plays a cop
(22:47):
who travels through time and maintains the connuity of the timeline.
Street Fighter is another great John Claude Van Dam movie.
I think that's probably his second most commercially successful, based
on the video game Street Fighter. It's a really fun
video game film. It's the last performance of the late
(23:08):
great Rauel Julia Gomez Adams from the Adams Family when
we were kids, and I am a fan of that
one as well. I think that's excellent. Lionheart is a
great junk Claud van Dam movie. Nowhere to Run is
really good, but I think one of my favorites is
Universal Soldier, which is fantastic. It's a franchise of films,
(23:32):
but the first one is the best one, I think,
and that's a crash course on JCVD.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
All in Texas and Global a Field. On July twelve,
El Eite Wrestling founder, co founder, co owner, president, CEO,
head booker Tony Khan thank you for taking the time.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Hey, thank you for taking the time. It was really
fun to talk to you about it, and especially somebody
with so much knowledge of AW and so much knowledge
of rassline. I really enjoyed the interview. Thanks for doing this.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Jason enjoyed having you. Man.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Appreciate you. Thank you.
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