September 24, 2025 • 31 mins
Adam Barnard is joined by AEW President and CEO, Tony Khan! Tony and Adam discuss the success of AEW All Out, tonight's AEW Dynamite from Pittsburgh, Kris Statlander's big AEW Women's World Championship win, and Mark Briscoe as part of the future of AEW.
Special thanks to 10th Ward Barbershop - Proudly serving the historic 10th Ward in Lawrenceville and surrounding areas, 10th Ward Barbershop is a full service barbershop offering quality haircuts, beard trims, and hot shaves. Schedule your appointment with Finn Balor and Corey Graves' favorite barbershop today.
Host/Executive Producer: Adam Barnard
Additional Production/Narration: Sam Krepps
Engineer: Carl Pannell
Intro Music: Carl Pannell
Outro Music/Musical Accompaniment: Enrichment
Instagram/X/Threads/Bluesky: @thisisgoober | @fndradiopod
A Butts Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton, Proprietor.
Special thanks to 10th Ward Barbershop - Proudly serving the historic 10th Ward in Lawrenceville and surrounding areas, 10th Ward Barbershop is a full service barbershop offering quality haircuts, beard trims, and hot shaves. Schedule your appointment with Finn Balor and Corey Graves' favorite barbershop today.
Host/Executive Producer: Adam Barnard
Additional Production/Narration: Sam Krepps
Engineer: Carl Pannell
Intro Music: Carl Pannell
Outro Music/Musical Accompaniment: Enrichment
Instagram/X/Threads/Bluesky: @thisisgoober | @fndradiopod
A Butts Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton, Proprietor.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Foundation Radio was brought to you by tenth Ward Barbershop,
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(00:22):
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The best way to see them is to make an
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(00:43):
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Schedule your appointment today to see Kane, Jordan and the
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we thank them for sponsoring the program. This is Foundation Radio.
(01:15):
Here is your host, Adam Barnard.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Peace world and welcome everybody to another special conversation for
the Sportster. My name is Adam Barnard. Thank you again
so much for joining me today. My guest needs no introduction,
but I'm going to give him one anyway. He's the
president and the CEO of All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan.
Thank you so much for your time, sir, great to
see it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Thank you, I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Absolutely I want to congratulate you on a fabulous show
in Toronto this past weekend with All Out. Talk to
me about the reception that you received after All Out
and how you think the event went overall.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
I thought it was a great show. It was very
positively received. We got great feedback from the fans about
All Out. I think our fans really enjoyed the show
and it was a huge success. It was the most
tickets we've ever sold for All Out. It was a
huge event for AW and also it sets up a
lot of very exciting things for tonight Wednesday Night Dynamite
(02:12):
coming off of one of our really great monumental pay
per views we just launched with our pay per views
on HBO Max and we're back on TDS tonight, or
you could watch a show on HBO Max and coming
back for Wednesday Night Dynamite after such a great pay
per view, I have a lot of great stuff set
up for tonight. I'm very excited about ADW having such
(02:34):
a big twenty twenty five and now we have a
new Women's World Champion and she's making her first, maybe
her only defense of the world championship tonight. Very excited
for that to have Chris Statlander versus Mina Shirakawa in
a world title fight. Tonight, Chris Statlander defeated timeless Tony Storm,
such a great world champion at aw All Out. It
(02:58):
was an awesome show, and now tonight we're going to
have Mena coming back. She's going for revenge for Tony,
but also trying to capture the championship for herself. I
think Meat is one of the top stars in the
world of wrestling, and I'm very excited to have her
as the challenger. And I'm so excited about Chris Statlander
being the aw Women's World Champion. She's been here for
(03:19):
six years. Since we've started our very first year, Chris
Statlander was on some of the very first episodes of
Wednesday Night Dynamite, and she's been a top star.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
She's been a former TBS champion.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Of course, Dynamite's on TBS every Wednesday night at eight o'clock,
including tonight. Chris has been a great face of the
company and for Wednesday Night Dynamite on TBS. It's very
fitting to have the first woman over to hold the
TBS Championship and now the aw Women's World Championship. Chris
Statlander defending the world title against a top challenger and
(03:57):
somebody who has a real personal issue. Na Shirakawa wants revenge.
Chris stat Lander took that championship by surprise from timeless
Tony Storm, who had maybe bitten off for the first time.
More than Timeless Tony Storm could shoot as Timeless Tony
Storm was such a great champion for over seven months,
defending the title against all comers, and finally she tried
(04:19):
to take on three top challengers in one night and
it cost her. And I think Mina Shirakawa, the person
who's closest to timeless Tony Storm, everybody in the world
really wants that title. She wants payback for Tony two,
and it's going to be a great championship match, and
it's tonight. It's just hours from now, and it's on
(04:39):
TBS at eight pm Eastern seven pm Central tonight AW Dynamite,
or you.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Can stream it on HBO Mannix. But either way you
won't want to miss the show.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
It's going to be a great show tonight, coming off
such a great pay per view, and I thought that
Statlanders title win was one of the real highlights of
an awesome AW all All Out show this past weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I can tell you that I was very surprised but
also very excited to see Christtlander win the AW Women's championship,
obviously unexpected because you know, big Tony Thomas, Tony Storm fan.
But we'll get into Chris a little bit later, but
I want to talk about pull apart some of the
things that were so good about All Out. This was
obviously the first pay per view that AW streamed on
HBO Max. How do you feel from a you know,
(05:23):
a business perspective, the initial launch win and what was
the feedback that you received from fans using HBO Max
for the first time to stream, you know, an aaw event.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
It was great.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I think the AW fans really enjoyed having the event
on HBO Max. There's great pay per view providers all
over the world carrying the event, and here in the
United States, we had great feedback.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
It was our first show on HBO Max, first of many.
We have a great partnership and it includes.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Having Wednesday Night Dynamite and Saturday Night Collision on HBO
Max and also on TBS and T and T, and
really great feedback from the fans that were there and
from the network. We had the president of TBS and TNT,
Jason Sarlaniz at.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
The aw all out event.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
He was there for the Tailgate Brawl that was live
on TNT ahead of the event.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
He was there for the pay per view.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It was really great to have Jason with us, and
the wrestlers had a really great time getting to visit
with the president of the networks, and the fans had
a great time at the show. I thought it was
just an awesome event and it really sets the stage
for a huge show tonight.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
We're really fired up for tonight.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
Another big thing coming out of this event was to
have such an incredible main event match with Kyle.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Fletcher and Hangman Page.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I thought that they just went out there and absolutely
for the TNT champion to go out and challenge for
the world title. Two of the top young stars in
wrestling and two men at the top of their game
right now, which is really exciting for us to have
two guys with so much in front of them, and
in particular to have a world champion like Hangman Page
(07:10):
that has just been such an incredible fighting champion since
he won the world title from John Moxley at aw
All in Texas, fighting the top challengers, whether it was
mjf at Forbidden Door, giving John Moxley a rematch. John
Moxley such an incredible world champion, and then of course
(07:32):
Kyle Fletcher the TNT Champion. What an amazing match over
thirty eight minutes of hard hitting action in the main
event of All Out. It was just an amazing show.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I thought.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I think they really hit the metrics for me. I know,
like I said, I had a chance to talk to
Kyle Fletcher last week. He was very excited about the opportunity.
But I think also and I asked you at the
media call as well, about where you saw Kyle Fletcher
as far as part of the future of AW I
want to tie it back to another question I had
for you as well, because for me, among the highlights
of the show, I'm a big Mark Brisco guy. It
(08:03):
can't help but love the guy so much. Him and
MJF had an incredible match. They put on a hell
of a performance together. I wanted to get your thoughts
on the match and then specifically your thoughts on Mark
Brisco as a part of the future of AW.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, I'm glad you asked. I think Mark Brisco is
a huge part of the show.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
I thought that Mark briscoe versus MJF was such an
amazing match, and I was so happy for Mark Brisco
to finally get that payback. I think MJF deserves some
confidence and absolutely Mark Brisco is one of the top
stars in aaw and the fans love Mark Brisco everywhere
we go. He's such a great hero for the fans,
(08:43):
and I was so happy for Mark Brisco to get
that huge win in that awesome TNT Tables and Tax
match versus MJF.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
What a fantastic fight they had.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
It was an outstanding match and another one of the
great highlights of this awesome pay per view. So I
was really happy for Mark Crisco. I think MJF is
a huge star. He's a huge part of AAW. He's
a great wrestler. I have a lot of respect for
what he did to have two amazing matches in two
different countries. Incredibly, to go from Mexico be an Arena
(09:21):
Mexico in Mexico City, and then to go to Toronto
and in less than twenty four hours to have two
amazing matches wrestling Mystico for the CMLL World title and
then wrestling Mark Brisco in this tables and tax match
at AW all Out. It's amazing and congratulations to CMLL
are great partners.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
On ninety two years.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
They had an amazing anniversary show and I'm proud that
AW was able to come and be a part of it.
And I think MJF, even though he's not a great person,
he was a great representative in some ways to have
incredible matches and be a great wrestler for.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
AW in CML.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
And when MJF focuses on the wrestling, I do think
that's when he's at his best. And this was not
necessarily a pure wrestling match, but it was a great fight.
Risco versus MJF Briscoe got the big win, and now
Brisco has a chance for more payback because MJF had
screwed Mark Brisco in this match against Takeshita, as Takashia
(10:22):
was the real not only one of the stars in
pro wrestling, the winner of the g One Climax, and
one of the most popular rising stars that we've seen
in this group of villainists rule breakers in the don
Kallis family. The fans seem to really think there's something
to ta Keshaa from what I've seen, and he's another
(10:45):
amazing wrestler. And I'm very excited about tonight because we'll
have this incredible trios match coming out of this pay
per view. Mark Briscow had wrestled to Keshua in a
fantastic match on a tow Collision, one of the best
main events in what I thought was one of the
best episodes ever.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Of the aw Collision.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
At the end, hours after his own wedding, MJF skipped
his honeymoon and the next day came instead to cost
Mark Brisco this big match, and I thought, you know,
having seen what an incredible match Mark Brisco.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
And Takeshita had.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Now I thought Mark Briscoe had put out a challenge.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
There was real merit to this.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
He said, I want a chance for payback. I want
to bring the conglomeration. We want to fight with the
don Kallis family. Well, the don Kallis family. After this
amazing match they were in, they've sent not only to
Keshaa coming out of the incredible three way match he
was in, but also the Unified Champion Kazushko Okada, as
(11:51):
Kazushko Okada and Takeshiada were involved on opposite sides of
this incredible triangle, this three way match.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
I mean, it was like, really to have such.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
An incredible match to begin with, like Mascroderata, who was
also a fantastic in the Unified title match to Cashada
and Okada, and I really thought that that was another
one of the highlights of the show was that incredible
Unified title match. And there's so much animosity within the
(12:27):
family between Ocata and to Cassada, and that is far
from over, I think, And they're going to be on
the same side in this match, teaming with another one
of the top wrestlers internationally and in an aw which
is Etcesa. And to have three incredible wrestlers in the
same group to Cashaa, Okada and at Cicero one a
(12:49):
formidable group, and they're going to be taking on Mark Risco,
who's teaming with a man who's undefeated in aw and
has the most impressive record of anybody in the company
since the retirement of Staying, which is Hologram. It'll be
Mark Brisco, Hologram and a mystery partner, but I don't
think they've left that much mystery to it. The way
(13:12):
that the phone call went with a Conglomeration, I think
the fans have a pretty good sense of who it's
going to be, and I think it's really great. I'm
excited for this match to have the Conglomeration going against
that great trio of Okata to Cashita and that ccero.
And speaking of Mark Brisco, I'm really happy he got
(13:32):
his payback versus MJF. I know he still wants that
TNT title that's held by Kyle Fletcher, who had that
amazing Maine Event match with Hangman. He was trying to
go through Takashiaa to get that shot at Fletcher and
MJF cost him. He got the payback on MJF and
now Mark Brisco has a chance for more payback. But
he has one of the most incredible trios in recent
(13:55):
memories standing in front of him with Takashua Okata and
at CCERO.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Tonight on Dona.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Well, there's anybody that can pull this off, I know
it's Mark Brisco. I'm very excited for that and hopefully
a TNT championship in his future as well. But something
else that happened during all that that I wanted to
talk about. It was a major surprise during the cop
copin Christian, let me make sure I get it right,
Christian and Cope. My apology is mister Cage versus FTR
was the first appearance of Beth Copeland, and I'm curious
(14:22):
if this is situated as more of a one off
appearance or if she is potentially all elite.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
I loved having that participate in aw She was fantastic
and I was sorry to see after all the great
visits she's had your backstage and I was excited to
have for be a part of this event. I was
excited to have her celebrate the SAS show. Great night
for her family for Adam Copeland to go in front
(14:52):
of his hometown fans in Toronto, and for Adam Copeland
to get a chance to not only reunit with his
childhood friend, his longtime friend and longtime partner, and it
had also been a long time since they had teamed
and to have Cope and Christian Cages back together was
(15:13):
special enough. And then to have them wrestling against FTR,
their hated rivals. I thought this was such an exciting match.
I was so pumped to have this on aw all Out,
this great grudge match after everything that's happened between also
the former friends with Adam Copeland and FTR, and what
(15:36):
should have been a great moment for Adam Copan to
celebrate with his wife and for the Copland family.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
I was so happy to have Beth Copeland there. I
was really glad she.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Would participated in aw all Out. It was really unfortunate
what happened then with FTR attacking the Copeland family, and
in particular I thought what FDR did to Beth.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Copeland was arable, and.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I'm very excited that Beth joined us for aw all Out,
But I did not like what FDR did.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Derek, and I'm sure there's come up and says on
its way for the both of them, and especially for
mister Stokely, who, as we know, gets no host. But
I want to go back to AW wrapping up its
residency in Philadelphia a few weeks back. You guys did
a phenomenal job. I was there for a lot of
the shows. It was absolutely unbelievably impressive and well done.
I wanted to get your thoughts on your time there
(16:29):
and if there was any news about potentially where your
next residency could be.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I have to think about that.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I'm very excited.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
We'll be doing two nights in Jacksonville very soon, which
is where the original residency was where we spent over
a year in Lockdown. So we will be having two
nights coming up title Tuesday in just a few weeks.
It's amazing is we're coming up on the six year
anniversary of Wednesday Night Dynamite just one week from today.
We've got Dynamite Tonight on TBS, and this will be
(17:02):
the last show of the five years going into the
six year anniversary show next week. We'll have the six
year anniversary of Wednesday Night Dynamite this coming Wednesday after
Tonight's show and then a week later we'll have a
big week in Jacksonville. It'll be Monday Night Football, then
(17:23):
Title Tuesday coming for AW and really really a big,
big chance for us to go back to the fans
that were so supported to us in a lockdown and
then we did all the shows here and opening up
shows for the fans. AW was the first place to
bring the fans back live and in the NFL. Week
(17:46):
one of the NFL actually came a couple months later
after we brought the fans back and the Jags.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Used the same seating plan.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
It became the basic seeding plan people used to bring
fans back in the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
We were the first wants to do it.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
And Week one of the NFL, after AW had started
bringing back the fans, the only teams that had fans
in the stands Week one of the NFL were the Jags.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
And the Chiefs, and we did it safely.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
We have no known code transmissions for the fans, and
it was a really exciting time and I was really
glad that we were able to give shows to the
fans every week in lockdown and we never took a
week off. So I'm excited we'll be doing back to
back nights in Jacksonville, and that's kind of a mini residency,
(18:34):
but very excited to be spending a couple of nights
back where we started the residencies after having great stints
in Chicago and Philadelphia, and then we'll have to think
about it, but there's been great times, whether it was Jacksonville, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Dallas at the Sports Stadium, we've had some great runs.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Of shows and definitely all those places.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
And more are great contenders for another awesome residency.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
But it's also fun being on the road.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
I'm excited to be in Pittsburgh tonight, I'm excited to
be in West Virginia on Saturday, and then excited to
be having a six year anniversary show next Wednesday. A
week from tonight in Hollywood, Florida, we all have a
collision event in Lakeland, Florida.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Then the next night we'll have two nights in Jacksonville
the week after that.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
So pretty fun to be back on the road, but
absolutely I enjoyed our time there. It was a great
residency in Philadelphia, some very exciting shows. I mentioned I
thought that one episode in particular was probably one of
the best collisions we ever did in the history of
the show.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
There was also a Dynamite in there that I thought
was one of my favorites. I thought the match a
man Tag involved in Kenny and Hangman.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Teaming up with Jet Speed against the Young Bucks Josh
Alexander and Kyle Fletcher. That really set the stage with
Kyle Fletcher and joh shels Ander attacking after setting the
stage for Fletcher versus Hangman and the terrible attack that they.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Put on Kenny Omega.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
I thought that we did some great shows there, so
I really enjoyed that residency a lot.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I agree that was one of my favorite live wrestling
shows that I've ever been to was at Dynamite with
the eight man Tag. So really appreciate coming out and
hopefully we'll see you back in Philly again soon. One
of the things I wanted to mention it again, thank
you for a time. Only a couple more questions for
you here, but you mentioned during the all out media call,
then you mentioned again about the fans and how it's
important for you to make sure that the fans have
access and specifically when it comes to ticket prices. I
(20:37):
know that there's been a lot of conversation recently about
higher ticket prices for certain events. Have you felt any
pressure as the president of the CEO of AW to
stay competitive with ticket prices based on those other things
that they're doing, you know, outside of your company, or
have you felt that it was more important for you
to stay the course as you've been doing well.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
I think we have really always we've made it very
family friendly.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
From the very first eight w show.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
It's always been important to have affordable tickets for the fans,
and we've always kept the entry price very affordable. And
that's been consistent for AW from the very beginning that
there's been affordable tickets in the arena. And sometimes I
have to say that it's really been over the years,
(21:27):
for me, something that we've always made a point of emphasis,
and you know, we bring it up time after time
throughout the year, and.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
For me, most of the focus is going to be.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
On putting the wrestling show together, focusing on getting the
best wrestlers in the world and the best matches and
putting the.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Best shows together.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
But that's always been a philosophy of AW is we
want to make it so families can come to the show,
and so we've always kept affordable tickets in the arena,
and I do think in professional wrestling, aw's absolutely the
best value you.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Get for your tickets.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I appreciate you saying that the AW Dynamite unto is
one of the best live wrestling experiences you've had. I
think coming from somebody like yourself that's been to a
lot of pro wrestling, that's very high praise. And we
get high praise like that from people that come.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
To the shows.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
So, whether it's the show tonight, if you can't be
with us live tonight in Pittsburgh, there's still tickets available.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
You can join us tonight.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
But if you can't get tickets or can't be there tonight,
watch it on TBS, watch Collision on TNT, check out
all the shows on HBO Max.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
We really would love for you.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
To kind of check out AW for anybody that's new
to the company. I think for us, we've been having
a lot of people this past year really positive feedback
from them saying that the ticket prices for AW are
a big pot positive point for the company.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
So I think that's a really good thing.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
I want to make it affordable and we're still doing
great business. You know, we've had more gates over a
million dollars this year than ever before if you look
at how many huge gates we've had. This was another
one this past weekend for All Out Forbidden do Or
was one of the biggest gates in the history of
the company. All in Texas was the biggest gate we've
ever had in North America. We had a massive gate
(23:25):
in Australia for Grand Slam Australia. So time after time
we've put up huge gates, over a million dollars, some
multimillion dollar gates this year. So we're doing great business
while keeping the entry price affordable for families, and that's
an important thing about AW.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I think absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I agree. Two more questions for you here. I wanted
to talk a little bit about. I want to just
ask real quickly about Chris Jericho. I know that this
future there's been conversation about Chris. Do you have any
further clarification about potentially if we can see Chris Jericho
back with AW soon we're into the future.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
I think Chris is certainly one of the most important
stars ever in AW. He's the first ever AW World Champion,
and for me, I think Chris is one of the
very foundational stars at the very beginning of the company,
and I would say that if possible, I would love
(24:22):
to have Chris back as soon as possible. And you know,
we'll see when Chris returns, but I think Chris is
always somebody that we love having an AW and you know,
the door's always open for Chris's return. So he's been
a big star for us, and he also has a
(24:44):
lot of things going on outside of pro wrestling, and
whether it's acting or his music career, he's doing a
lot of great things. But when he's in AW he's
always been a key piece and a multiple time world
champion across multiple promotions including AW and again where he's
the first ever champ we've ever had, and a huge
(25:05):
part from the very beginning of the company. So definitely
always thinking the best of Chris and would be excited
to get his return. But he's also doing a lot
of great things and acting and music, and that's one
of the things that makes Chris such a unique star.
But Chris Jericho is absolutely one of the greatest stars
ever in AW.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I know the women's division has had a significant amount
of multi women feuds over the past year, and even
happening right now, Is it possible that we may get
a women's blood and Guts match this year? I wanted
to know, pick your brain on that and see what
the possibility was for that.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
I think it could happen.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
It's quite possibly something we could do. I think for
blood and Guts, people have to look out for that
because it's a special setup and you'll know when you
see it because it's too rings, and it means a
different stage and a different setup for the wrestling, different
set up for the arena, less ringside seating than they
(26:04):
would normally be because the two rings take up a
lot of the floor, and a different seating plan.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
So people will.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Know when they see it, and I'll definitely announce blood
and Guts when the time's right. But there are a
lot of really exciting things happening with the women in AW,
the men in AW and everyone here. We're just doing
really exciting things, I think. But the women's championship match
I thought was outstanding. It all out, speaking of multiple women,
(26:33):
I thought all four of them were tremendous and I
also thought that it was a great TVs championship match.
Speaking of first ever champions we had the first ever
Women's World Champion Rio challenging the TBS champion Mercedes Monet,
somebody who holds championships all over the world and is
one of the biggest stars in wrestling, and I think
one of the most talented wrestlers. And Mercedes and Rio
(26:56):
had a tremendous match. Talk about a great challenger with
She put up a great, great fight that was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
And then what a wild tailgate brawl to.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Kick things off going into the pay per view that
was outstanding. I have a ton of respect for all
eight of those women, and that was a wild fight.
And absolutely, when you talk about blood and guts, that's
the wildest kind of fight.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
It is very crazy.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
And I do think we have a great roster of
women's wrestlers.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
In aw I believe as were.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
The best wrestle and I think that right now we
have the best women in wrestling now too. And I
think that women's blood and guts is absolutely something to
consider and something I have considered and we'll keep considering.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Tony con I want to thank you so much for
your time. I also want to get mentioned real fast.
I want to give the opportunity here to hype up
your big announcement tonight on Tonight's AW dynam I know
everybody's talking about it. I want to give you the
opportunity to kind of let fans know what they can
expect ahead of your big announcement tonight.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Well, you can expect me to make a big announcement
tonight on Wednesday Night Dynamite, and it's going to be
a lot of great wrestling.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
There's a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
I really always appreciate you having me on Adam to
talk about AW talking about pro wrestling. You're a great writer,
a great journalist, and a great and a great interviewer
about wrestling. So I always appreciate anytime you give us
this opportunity, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Excited for tonight.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Thanks for having us on the Sports Star, and thanks
for talking to me about Wednesday Night Dynamite, about this
past weekend.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
About eight of all out.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I really appreciate the kind words. I'm glad we've been
able to make some magic and give you some great shows.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That you've enjoyed.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I hope your viewers feel the same way, and hopefully
you can all check out the show tonight Wednesday Night
Dynamite Tonight, eight pm Eastern seven pm Central live on
TBS tonight, or you can stream it on HBO Max.
I'm very proud we're keeping that traditionalive of over fifty
(29:09):
years of pro wrestling on superstation TBS, and we do
it every Wednesday, and next Wednesday we celebrate this six
year anniversary of Dynamite, and we do it every Wednesday
on TBS, the network that has the richest tradition of
pro wrestling of any network of all of television, and
we get to do it also now on HBO Max,
(29:29):
which has the greatest content and the best shows, the
best movies, and now the best pro wrestling.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
With AW Tony Cohn. Thank you so much for your time.
Like you said tonight, aw Dynamite. Check it out APM Eastern,
check your local listings for start times in your area,
and you can also simulcast it live on HBO Max.
And don't forget to keep it tuned to the Sports
because every week, every Wednesday, you'll see my AEW Dynamite
results and recap for your review. Tony Kahn, thank you,
sir for your time and your kind words. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Thank you. It was great SA to.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
This episode of Foundation Radio is hosted recorded and produced
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the executive Voice Sam kreps. Our mixing and engineering, as
well as our intro music is by Carl Panel. Our
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Follow Adam on X or Twitter or whatever and Instagram
(30:42):
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(01:15):
Here is your host, Adam Barnard.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Peace world and welcome everybody to another special conversation for
the Sportster. My name is Adam Barnard. Thank you again
so much for joining me today. My guest needs no introduction,
but I'm going to give him one anyway. He's the
president and the CEO of All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan.
Thank you so much for your time, sir, great to
see it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Thank you, I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Absolutely I want to congratulate you on a fabulous show
in Toronto this past weekend with All Out. Talk to
me about the reception that you received after All Out
and how you think the event went overall.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
I thought it was a great show. It was very
positively received. We got great feedback from the fans about
All Out. I think our fans really enjoyed the show
and it was a huge success. It was the most
tickets we've ever sold for All Out. It was a
huge event for AW and also it sets up a
lot of very exciting things for tonight Wednesday Night Dynamite
(02:12):
coming off of one of our really great monumental pay
per views we just launched with our pay per views
on HBO Max and we're back on TDS tonight, or
you could watch a show on HBO Max and coming
back for Wednesday Night Dynamite after such a great pay
per view, I have a lot of great stuff set
up for tonight. I'm very excited about ADW having such
(02:34):
a big twenty twenty five and now we have a
new Women's World Champion and she's making her first, maybe
her only defense of the world championship tonight. Very excited
for that to have Chris Statlander versus Mina Shirakawa in
a world title fight. Tonight, Chris Statlander defeated timeless Tony Storm,
such a great world champion at aw All Out. It
(02:58):
was an awesome show, and now tonight we're going to
have Mena coming back. She's going for revenge for Tony,
but also trying to capture the championship for herself. I
think Meat is one of the top stars in the
world of wrestling, and I'm very excited to have her
as the challenger. And I'm so excited about Chris Statlander
being the aw Women's World Champion. She's been here for
(03:19):
six years. Since we've started our very first year, Chris
Statlander was on some of the very first episodes of
Wednesday Night Dynamite, and she's been a top star.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
She's been a former TBS champion.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Of course, Dynamite's on TBS every Wednesday night at eight o'clock,
including tonight. Chris has been a great face of the
company and for Wednesday Night Dynamite on TBS. It's very
fitting to have the first woman over to hold the
TBS Championship and now the aw Women's World Championship. Chris
Statlander defending the world title against a top challenger and
(03:57):
somebody who has a real personal issue. Na Shirakawa wants revenge.
Chris stat Lander took that championship by surprise from timeless
Tony Storm, who had maybe bitten off for the first time.
More than Timeless Tony Storm could shoot as Timeless Tony
Storm was such a great champion for over seven months,
defending the title against all comers, and finally she tried
(04:19):
to take on three top challengers in one night and
it cost her. And I think Mina Shirakawa, the person
who's closest to timeless Tony Storm, everybody in the world
really wants that title. She wants payback for Tony two,
and it's going to be a great championship match, and
it's tonight. It's just hours from now, and it's on
(04:39):
TBS at eight pm Eastern seven pm Central tonight AW Dynamite,
or you.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Can stream it on HBO Mannix. But either way you
won't want to miss the show.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
It's going to be a great show tonight, coming off
such a great pay per view, and I thought that
Statlanders title win was one of the real highlights of
an awesome AW all All Out show this past weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I can tell you that I was very surprised but
also very excited to see Christtlander win the AW Women's championship,
obviously unexpected because you know, big Tony Thomas, Tony Storm fan.
But we'll get into Chris a little bit later, but
I want to talk about pull apart some of the
things that were so good about All Out. This was
obviously the first pay per view that AW streamed on
HBO Max. How do you feel from a you know,
(05:23):
a business perspective, the initial launch win and what was
the feedback that you received from fans using HBO Max
for the first time to stream, you know, an aaw event.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
It was great.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I think the AW fans really enjoyed having the event
on HBO Max. There's great pay per view providers all
over the world carrying the event, and here in the
United States, we had great feedback.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
It was our first show on HBO Max, first of many.
We have a great partnership and it includes.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Having Wednesday Night Dynamite and Saturday Night Collision on HBO
Max and also on TBS and T and T, and
really great feedback from the fans that were there and
from the network. We had the president of TBS and TNT,
Jason Sarlaniz at.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
The aw all out event.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
He was there for the Tailgate Brawl that was live
on TNT ahead of the event.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
He was there for the pay per view.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It was really great to have Jason with us, and
the wrestlers had a really great time getting to visit
with the president of the networks, and the fans had
a great time at the show. I thought it was
just an awesome event and it really sets the stage
for a huge show tonight.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
We're really fired up for tonight.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
Another big thing coming out of this event was to
have such an incredible main event match with Kyle.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Fletcher and Hangman Page.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I thought that they just went out there and absolutely
for the TNT champion to go out and challenge for
the world title. Two of the top young stars in
wrestling and two men at the top of their game
right now, which is really exciting for us to have
two guys with so much in front of them, and
in particular to have a world champion like Hangman Page
(07:10):
that has just been such an incredible fighting champion since
he won the world title from John Moxley at aw
All in Texas, fighting the top challengers, whether it was
mjf at Forbidden Door, giving John Moxley a rematch. John
Moxley such an incredible world champion, and then of course
(07:32):
Kyle Fletcher the TNT Champion. What an amazing match over
thirty eight minutes of hard hitting action in the main
event of All Out. It was just an amazing show.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I thought.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I think they really hit the metrics for me. I know,
like I said, I had a chance to talk to
Kyle Fletcher last week. He was very excited about the opportunity.
But I think also and I asked you at the
media call as well, about where you saw Kyle Fletcher
as far as part of the future of AW I
want to tie it back to another question I had
for you as well, because for me, among the highlights
of the show, I'm a big Mark Brisco guy. It
(08:03):
can't help but love the guy so much. Him and
MJF had an incredible match. They put on a hell
of a performance together. I wanted to get your thoughts
on the match and then specifically your thoughts on Mark
Brisco as a part of the future of AW.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, I'm glad you asked. I think Mark Brisco is
a huge part of the show.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
I thought that Mark briscoe versus MJF was such an
amazing match, and I was so happy for Mark Brisco
to finally get that payback. I think MJF deserves some
confidence and absolutely Mark Brisco is one of the top
stars in aaw and the fans love Mark Brisco everywhere
we go. He's such a great hero for the fans,
(08:43):
and I was so happy for Mark Brisco to get
that huge win in that awesome TNT Tables and Tax
match versus MJF.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
What a fantastic fight they had.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
It was an outstanding match and another one of the
great highlights of this awesome pay per view. So I
was really happy for Mark Crisco. I think MJF is
a huge star. He's a huge part of AAW. He's
a great wrestler. I have a lot of respect for
what he did to have two amazing matches in two
different countries. Incredibly, to go from Mexico be an Arena
(09:21):
Mexico in Mexico City, and then to go to Toronto
and in less than twenty four hours to have two
amazing matches wrestling Mystico for the CMLL World title and
then wrestling Mark Brisco in this tables and tax match
at AW all Out. It's amazing and congratulations to CMLL
are great partners.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
On ninety two years.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
They had an amazing anniversary show and I'm proud that
AW was able to come and be a part of it.
And I think MJF, even though he's not a great person,
he was a great representative in some ways to have
incredible matches and be a great wrestler for.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
AW in CML.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
And when MJF focuses on the wrestling, I do think
that's when he's at his best. And this was not
necessarily a pure wrestling match, but it was a great fight.
Risco versus MJF Briscoe got the big win, and now
Brisco has a chance for more payback because MJF had
screwed Mark Brisco in this match against Takeshita, as Takashia
(10:22):
was the real not only one of the stars in
pro wrestling, the winner of the g One Climax, and
one of the most popular rising stars that we've seen
in this group of villainists rule breakers in the don
Kallis family. The fans seem to really think there's something
to ta Keshaa from what I've seen, and he's another
(10:45):
amazing wrestler. And I'm very excited about tonight because we'll
have this incredible trios match coming out of this pay
per view. Mark Briscow had wrestled to Keshua in a
fantastic match on a tow Collision, one of the best
main events in what I thought was one of the
best episodes ever.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Of the aw Collision.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
At the end, hours after his own wedding, MJF skipped
his honeymoon and the next day came instead to cost
Mark Brisco this big match, and I thought, you know,
having seen what an incredible match Mark Brisco.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
And Takeshita had.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Now I thought Mark Briscoe had put out a challenge.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
There was real merit to this.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
He said, I want a chance for payback. I want
to bring the conglomeration. We want to fight with the
don Kallis family. Well, the don Kallis family. After this
amazing match they were in, they've sent not only to
Keshaa coming out of the incredible three way match he
was in, but also the Unified Champion Kazushko Okada, as
(11:51):
Kazushko Okada and Takeshiada were involved on opposite sides of
this incredible triangle, this three way match.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
I mean, it was like, really to have such.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
An incredible match to begin with, like Mascroderata, who was
also a fantastic in the Unified title match to Cashada
and Okada, and I really thought that that was another
one of the highlights of the show was that incredible
Unified title match. And there's so much animosity within the
(12:27):
family between Ocata and to Cassada, and that is far
from over, I think, And they're going to be on
the same side in this match, teaming with another one
of the top wrestlers internationally and in an aw which
is Etcesa. And to have three incredible wrestlers in the
same group to Cashaa, Okada and at Cicero one a
(12:49):
formidable group, and they're going to be taking on Mark Risco,
who's teaming with a man who's undefeated in aw and
has the most impressive record of anybody in the company
since the retirement of Staying, which is Hologram. It'll be
Mark Brisco, Hologram and a mystery partner, but I don't
think they've left that much mystery to it. The way
(13:12):
that the phone call went with a Conglomeration, I think
the fans have a pretty good sense of who it's
going to be, and I think it's really great. I'm
excited for this match to have the Conglomeration going against
that great trio of Okata to Cashita and that ccero.
And speaking of Mark Brisco, I'm really happy he got
(13:32):
his payback versus MJF. I know he still wants that
TNT title that's held by Kyle Fletcher, who had that
amazing Maine Event match with Hangman. He was trying to
go through Takashiaa to get that shot at Fletcher and
MJF cost him. He got the payback on MJF and
now Mark Brisco has a chance for more payback. But
he has one of the most incredible trios in recent
(13:55):
memories standing in front of him with Takashua Okata and
at CCERO.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Tonight on Dona.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Well, there's anybody that can pull this off, I know
it's Mark Brisco. I'm very excited for that and hopefully
a TNT championship in his future as well. But something
else that happened during all that that I wanted to
talk about. It was a major surprise during the cop
copin Christian, let me make sure I get it right,
Christian and Cope. My apology is mister Cage versus FTR
was the first appearance of Beth Copeland, and I'm curious
(14:22):
if this is situated as more of a one off
appearance or if she is potentially all elite.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
I loved having that participate in aw She was fantastic
and I was sorry to see after all the great
visits she's had your backstage and I was excited to
have for be a part of this event. I was
excited to have her celebrate the SAS show. Great night
for her family for Adam Copeland to go in front
(14:52):
of his hometown fans in Toronto, and for Adam Copeland
to get a chance to not only reunit with his
childhood friend, his longtime friend and longtime partner, and it
had also been a long time since they had teamed
and to have Cope and Christian Cages back together was
(15:13):
special enough. And then to have them wrestling against FTR,
their hated rivals. I thought this was such an exciting match.
I was so pumped to have this on aw all Out,
this great grudge match after everything that's happened between also
the former friends with Adam Copeland and FTR, and what
(15:36):
should have been a great moment for Adam Copan to
celebrate with his wife and for the Copland family.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
I was so happy to have Beth Copeland there. I
was really glad she.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Would participated in aw all Out. It was really unfortunate
what happened then with FTR attacking the Copeland family, and
in particular I thought what FDR did to Beth.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Copeland was arable, and.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I'm very excited that Beth joined us for aw all Out,
But I did not like what FDR did.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Derek, and I'm sure there's come up and says on
its way for the both of them, and especially for
mister Stokely, who, as we know, gets no host. But
I want to go back to AW wrapping up its
residency in Philadelphia a few weeks back. You guys did
a phenomenal job. I was there for a lot of
the shows. It was absolutely unbelievably impressive and well done.
I wanted to get your thoughts on your time there
(16:29):
and if there was any news about potentially where your
next residency could be.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Well, it's a great question.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I have to think about that.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I'm very excited.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
We'll be doing two nights in Jacksonville very soon, which
is where the original residency was where we spent over
a year in Lockdown. So we will be having two
nights coming up title Tuesday in just a few weeks.
It's amazing is we're coming up on the six year
anniversary of Wednesday Night Dynamite just one week from today.
We've got Dynamite Tonight on TBS, and this will be
(17:02):
the last show of the five years going into the
six year anniversary show next week. We'll have the six
year anniversary of Wednesday Night Dynamite this coming Wednesday after
Tonight's show and then a week later we'll have a
big week in Jacksonville. It'll be Monday Night Football, then
(17:23):
Title Tuesday coming for AW and really really a big,
big chance for us to go back to the fans
that were so supported to us in a lockdown and
then we did all the shows here and opening up
shows for the fans. AW was the first place to
bring the fans back live and in the NFL. Week
(17:46):
one of the NFL actually came a couple months later
after we brought the fans back and the Jags.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Used the same seating plan.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
It became the basic seeding plan people used to bring
fans back in the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
We were the first wants to do it.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
And Week one of the NFL, after AW had started
bringing back the fans, the only teams that had fans
in the stands Week one of the NFL were the Jags.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
And the Chiefs, and we did it safely.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
We have no known code transmissions for the fans, and
it was a really exciting time and I was really
glad that we were able to give shows to the
fans every week in lockdown and we never took a
week off. So I'm excited we'll be doing back to
back nights in Jacksonville, and that's kind of a mini residency,
(18:34):
but very excited to be spending a couple of nights
back where we started the residencies after having great stints
in Chicago and Philadelphia, and then we'll have to think
about it, but there's been great times, whether it was Jacksonville, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Dallas at the Sports Stadium, we've had some great runs.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Of shows and definitely all those places.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
And more are great contenders for another awesome residency.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
But it's also fun being on the road.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
I'm excited to be in Pittsburgh tonight, I'm excited to
be in West Virginia on Saturday, and then excited to
be having a six year anniversary show next Wednesday. A
week from tonight in Hollywood, Florida, we all have a
collision event in Lakeland, Florida.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Then the next night we'll have two nights in Jacksonville
the week after that.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
So pretty fun to be back on the road, but
absolutely I enjoyed our time there. It was a great
residency in Philadelphia, some very exciting shows. I mentioned I
thought that one episode in particular was probably one of
the best collisions we ever did in the history of
the show.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
There was also a Dynamite in there that I thought
was one of my favorites. I thought the match a
man Tag involved in Kenny and Hangman.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Teaming up with Jet Speed against the Young Bucks Josh
Alexander and Kyle Fletcher. That really set the stage with
Kyle Fletcher and joh shels Ander attacking after setting the
stage for Fletcher versus Hangman and the terrible attack that they.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Put on Kenny Omega.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
I thought that we did some great shows there, so
I really enjoyed that residency a lot.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I agree that was one of my favorite live wrestling
shows that I've ever been to was at Dynamite with
the eight man Tag. So really appreciate coming out and
hopefully we'll see you back in Philly again soon. One
of the things I wanted to mention it again, thank
you for a time. Only a couple more questions for
you here, but you mentioned during the all out media call,
then you mentioned again about the fans and how it's
important for you to make sure that the fans have
access and specifically when it comes to ticket prices. I
(20:37):
know that there's been a lot of conversation recently about
higher ticket prices for certain events. Have you felt any
pressure as the president of the CEO of AW to
stay competitive with ticket prices based on those other things
that they're doing, you know, outside of your company, or
have you felt that it was more important for you
to stay the course as you've been doing well.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
I think we have really always we've made it very
family friendly.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
From the very first eight w show.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
It's always been important to have affordable tickets for the fans,
and we've always kept the entry price very affordable. And
that's been consistent for AW from the very beginning that
there's been affordable tickets in the arena. And sometimes I
have to say that it's really been over the years,
(21:27):
for me, something that we've always made a point of emphasis,
and you know, we bring it up time after time
throughout the year, and.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
For me, most of the focus is going to be.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
On putting the wrestling show together, focusing on getting the
best wrestlers in the world and the best matches and
putting the.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Best shows together.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
But that's always been a philosophy of AW is we
want to make it so families can come to the show,
and so we've always kept affordable tickets in the arena,
and I do think in professional wrestling, aw's absolutely the
best value you.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Get for your tickets.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I appreciate you saying that the AW Dynamite unto is
one of the best live wrestling experiences you've had. I
think coming from somebody like yourself that's been to a
lot of pro wrestling, that's very high praise. And we
get high praise like that from people that come.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
To the shows.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
So, whether it's the show tonight, if you can't be
with us live tonight in Pittsburgh, there's still tickets available.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
You can join us tonight.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
But if you can't get tickets or can't be there tonight,
watch it on TBS, watch Collision on TNT, check out
all the shows on HBO Max.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
We really would love for you.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
To kind of check out AW for anybody that's new
to the company. I think for us, we've been having
a lot of people this past year really positive feedback
from them saying that the ticket prices for AW are
a big pot positive point for the company.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
So I think that's a really good thing.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
I want to make it affordable and we're still doing
great business. You know, we've had more gates over a
million dollars this year than ever before if you look
at how many huge gates we've had. This was another
one this past weekend for All Out Forbidden do Or
was one of the biggest gates in the history of
the company. All in Texas was the biggest gate we've
ever had in North America. We had a massive gate
(23:25):
in Australia for Grand Slam Australia. So time after time
we've put up huge gates, over a million dollars, some
multimillion dollar gates this year. So we're doing great business
while keeping the entry price affordable for families, and that's
an important thing about AW.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I think absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I agree. Two more questions for you here. I wanted
to talk a little bit about. I want to just
ask real quickly about Chris Jericho. I know that this
future there's been conversation about Chris. Do you have any
further clarification about potentially if we can see Chris Jericho
back with AW soon we're into the future.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
I think Chris is certainly one of the most important
stars ever in AW. He's the first ever AW World Champion,
and for me, I think Chris is one of the
very foundational stars at the very beginning of the company,
and I would say that if possible, I would love
(24:22):
to have Chris back as soon as possible. And you know,
we'll see when Chris returns, but I think Chris is
always somebody that we love having an AW and you know,
the door's always open for Chris's return. So he's been
a big star for us, and he also has a
(24:44):
lot of things going on outside of pro wrestling, and
whether it's acting or his music career, he's doing a
lot of great things. But when he's in AW he's
always been a key piece and a multiple time world
champion across multiple promotions including AW and again where he's
the first ever champ we've ever had, and a huge
(25:05):
part from the very beginning of the company. So definitely
always thinking the best of Chris and would be excited
to get his return. But he's also doing a lot
of great things and acting and music, and that's one
of the things that makes Chris such a unique star.
But Chris Jericho is absolutely one of the greatest stars
ever in AW.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I know the women's division has had a significant amount
of multi women feuds over the past year, and even
happening right now, Is it possible that we may get
a women's blood and Guts match this year? I wanted
to know, pick your brain on that and see what
the possibility was for that.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
I think it could happen.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
It's quite possibly something we could do. I think for
blood and Guts, people have to look out for that
because it's a special setup and you'll know when you
see it because it's too rings, and it means a
different stage and a different setup for the wrestling, different
set up for the arena, less ringside seating than they
(26:04):
would normally be because the two rings take up a
lot of the floor, and a different seating plan.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
So people will.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Know when they see it, and I'll definitely announce blood
and Guts when the time's right. But there are a
lot of really exciting things happening with the women in AW,
the men in AW and everyone here. We're just doing
really exciting things, I think. But the women's championship match
I thought was outstanding. It all out, speaking of multiple women,
(26:33):
I thought all four of them were tremendous and I
also thought that it was a great TVs championship match.
Speaking of first ever champions we had the first ever
Women's World Champion Rio challenging the TBS champion Mercedes Monet,
somebody who holds championships all over the world and is
one of the biggest stars in wrestling, and I think
one of the most talented wrestlers. And Mercedes and Rio
(26:56):
had a tremendous match. Talk about a great challenger with
She put up a great, great fight that was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
And then what a wild tailgate brawl to.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Kick things off going into the pay per view that
was outstanding. I have a ton of respect for all
eight of those women, and that was a wild fight.
And absolutely, when you talk about blood and guts, that's
the wildest kind of fight.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
It is very crazy.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
And I do think we have a great roster of
women's wrestlers.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
In aw I believe as were.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
The best wrestle and I think that right now we
have the best women in wrestling now too. And I
think that women's blood and guts is absolutely something to
consider and something I have considered and we'll keep considering.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Tony con I want to thank you so much for
your time. I also want to get mentioned real fast.
I want to give the opportunity here to hype up
your big announcement tonight on Tonight's AW dynam I know
everybody's talking about it. I want to give you the
opportunity to kind of let fans know what they can
expect ahead of your big announcement tonight.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Well, you can expect me to make a big announcement
tonight on Wednesday Night Dynamite, and it's going to be
a lot of great wrestling.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
There's a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
I really always appreciate you having me on Adam to
talk about AW talking about pro wrestling. You're a great writer,
a great journalist, and a great and a great interviewer
about wrestling. So I always appreciate anytime you give us
this opportunity, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Excited for tonight.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Thanks for having us on the Sports Star, and thanks
for talking to me about Wednesday Night Dynamite, about this
past weekend.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
About eight of all out.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I really appreciate the kind words. I'm glad we've been
able to make some magic and give you some great shows.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That you've enjoyed.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I hope your viewers feel the same way, and hopefully
you can all check out the show tonight Wednesday Night
Dynamite Tonight, eight pm Eastern seven pm Central live on
TBS tonight, or you can stream it on HBO Max.
I'm very proud we're keeping that traditionalive of over fifty
(29:09):
years of pro wrestling on superstation TBS, and we do
it every Wednesday, and next Wednesday we celebrate this six
year anniversary of Dynamite, and we do it every Wednesday
on TBS, the network that has the richest tradition of
pro wrestling of any network of all of television, and
we get to do it also now on HBO Max,
(29:29):
which has the greatest content and the best shows, the
best movies, and now the best pro wrestling.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
With AW Tony Cohn. Thank you so much for your time.
Like you said tonight, aw Dynamite. Check it out APM Eastern,
check your local listings for start times in your area,
and you can also simulcast it live on HBO Max.
And don't forget to keep it tuned to the Sports
because every week, every Wednesday, you'll see my AEW Dynamite
results and recap for your review. Tony Kahn, thank you,
sir for your time and your kind words. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Thank you. It was great SA to.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
This episode of Foundation Radio is hosted recorded and produced
by Adam Barnard. Additional narration and production is provided by
the executive Voice Sam kreps. Our mixing and engineering, as
well as our intro music is by Carl Panel. Our
outro music and additional musical accompaniment are produced by Enrichment.
Follow Adam on X or Twitter or whatever and Instagram
(30:42):
at This is Goober, and follow the show on X
and Instagram at FND Radio Pod. Find our entire show
archive at Foundation Radio dot net. This has been a
Buttz Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton proprietor
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