08/31 ProWrestling.net Free Podcast: Tony Khan media call regarding Sunday's AEW All Out pay-per-view

Tony Khan answered questions from the pro wrestling media via conference call on Tuesday while promoting Sunday's AEW All Out pay-per-view (65:29)...

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Hello everyone, thanks for joining ustoday for this special call with Tony Kahan
to discuss the upcoming aw all Outevent in Chicago this weekend. So by
now you know the drill, sothat we give everyone an apple opportunity to
connect with Tony. Please one questionper person. We ask you kindly refrain
from asking two parted questions. Also, we ask you your questions or focus

(00:25):
best as possible on the upcoming showor the shows this weekend in Chicago.
And finally, please check now thatyour phone is unmuted. So let's get
to it. I'm gonna turn overto Tony now for some opening thoughts,
and then we're gonna open the linesfor your questions. Tony Telliers, Hey,
thanks Jim, thank you everybody forjoining it today. I'm very excited

(00:48):
about aw all Out, very excitedto be back in the Chicago area,
and soon I will be back inthe city of Chicago itself and in Chicago
at the Chicago Suburbs where the originalall in was held at the Now Arena.
Very excited about the show, veryexcited about the city, and a

(01:10):
lot of really exciting things happening inaw and surely coming out of last night's
show a lot of things to belooking forward to on this pay per view,
but also had to make a lotof changes to the last night's events.
As I mentioned, I put apost out they used to be called
tweets before the show started, andit was one of the more challenging events.

(01:32):
It reminded me of the pandemic erain terms of evan to scramble in
the last twenty four hours. Prettymuch up to the start of the show,
a lot of the top stars wereunavailable either due to illness and even
more so due to the hurricane.So we had top stars like Soreya and
Swerve who we had good ideas forand they were unavailable due to illness.

(01:53):
And then so many people coming outof Florida unavailable due to the hurricane,
including Kenny Omega, and I wouldI really liked to have at Kenny Omega
there. He's involved in one ofthe most important matches on the show,
versus to Cash It, which I'msure we're going to talk about here,
So we would have loved to havehad Kenny there, but very excited about
the one on one Omega versus toCash It, a match we've been looking

(02:14):
forward to it a long time,and it's something I know Kenny has been
looking forward to for a really,really long time. Speaking of the pandemic
era, that's when he first askedme about bringing to cash it into a
EW several years ago, in anempty daily place. So very exciting to
come from an empty daily place toearlier this week Wembley Stadium setting the record

(02:36):
for pro wrestling the most tickets eversold for any event. And what a
way to come back to America now, back where it all began. So
I'm really excited to talk to youabout it. I just wanted to point
out some of those things. Andwith that, Jim, please take it
away, sir. Oh, we'lldo okay, Tony. We're gonna start
with Jim Varcelon from the Miami Harold, and after Jim it'll be Connor Casey

(03:01):
from Comic Book. Jim, you'reup first. Thank you. Congratulations on
all in eighty one thousand, plusten million. I wish I could talk
more about that, but I justhave to ask. We'll see him pumped
be part of All Out. It'sit's a it's a great question, Jim.

(03:25):
I I really appreciate you asking.We're still continuing to investigate an incident
that happened before all in, Ican't comment any further about it at the
time. I appreciate you asking,and if I get say more at this
moment, I would I'm still lookinginto some things, and I promise I've

(03:46):
always done my best to be honestwith the fans, and in this situation,
I'm doing my best to be honestabout what what's happening. And I've
been looking into this, and pleasebear with us, and I appreciate you
and the fans, and we'll backto you as soon as we possibly can.
I promise. All right, Jim, there you go. Thank you
for that question. Connor Casey fromComic Book is Next. Connor will be

(04:12):
followed by Steve fall from Ten Counts. Connor, Hey, Tony, appreciate
your taking the time today. Youmentioned some of some of the hurdles that
getting last night's Dynamite presented, whetherit be illness or travel. Has this
week given you any pause to maybereconsider running pay per views on back to

(04:34):
back weekends in the future. Well, it's a great thought, and absolutely
I knew there would be some obstacles, but I think going between these two
big events. One of the reasonsI feel really strongly about it is the
live of that aspect, and we'vebuilt live events that draw really, really

(04:54):
well, and these are going tobe Obviously, we're following up what last
week is the biggest gates in thehistory pro wrestling, and it's hard to
go back from looking at a tenmillion dollars gate, a gate that was
actually over ten million dollars paid,one of the very few times that's ever
happened in sports entertainment or pro wrestling, and I think it's a huge,

(05:17):
huge milestone. And then it's prettyamazing what's happening this week because we've got
massive gates still coming this weekend,and very excited about the real estate we've
built here. I think it'll beinteresting to see next year where these events
live and how they're presented, andthat was something we were having the conversation

(05:38):
about earlier this year on the pathto creating aw All in and of course
All Out as one of our signatureevents. Where will these events live next
year? It's an interesting question thatwill be an all in one hundred percent.
It will take place at Wembley StadiumAugust twenty fifth, and it will

(06:00):
be a historic night for us togo back to where we set that great
record, and All Out is areally important event for us as it stands.
I think it's a big part ofLabor Day weekend. I think in
the future, you know who's tosay what platform these events will live on.
But I don't think it's unheard ofto run major events close together.

(06:21):
Some people have done major events inthe same venue of the same city back
to back, and that doesn't posethe same logistical challenges. But I think
in this case, it's a uniquecircumstance of the working calendar that you have
a three day weekend in England,the Bank Holiday that we were just able
to utilize to create the biggest businessday in the history of pro wrestling,

(06:46):
and then come back to a placewhere we've had all this success and it's
going to be Labor Day weekend,and it's going to be an exciting time
and it's really an important holiday fora lot of people here in America,
and I think all Out we've builta great tradition now over the years.

(07:06):
It's our fifth All Out event andit should be a great show. And
I'm very excited to go back tothe United Center, which has been one
of our best venues. Thanks allright, Thanks Connor, Steve Fall from
tin Count Army. Steve Fall fromtin Count your next, and Steve will

(07:27):
be followed by Bill Pritchard from wrestlesOn. Steve Hey, Tony. I
love these calls. I love thepress conferences after the paper of views.
But recently at all In you hada media junk kid on the Friday before
the event where media could have oneon one interview seven to ten minutes with
talent and coming out you have Starcastconected to All Out, and you have
wrestled Dream Full Gear or someone andso forth. You know your calendar,

(07:50):
but could we see more media junkits before these events where media can show
up and do one on one interviewsfrom professional wrestlers, because that would be
amazing for all of us. I'msoooting on the call. I'm open to
that. Uh well, we've neverdone this on the call before. See,
like we've we're doing new things.We're testing the testing the formats,

(08:13):
testing the fabrics of the very calls. Jim, I've never punted a question
back to you, to the bestof my recollection, during one of these,
but I think that's a great idea. I mean, yeah, yeah,
I think it's a great thought.It's a great idea. We'll keep
that under advisement. See, that'sthat's a great idea. It absolutely is.
Well you ready for you broke formathere, appreciate it. It's a

(08:39):
great question and stuff to us toanswer that one. So we'll get back
to you on SKI. Bill Pritchardfrom Russell Zone you are next, and
Bill will be followed by Samantha Shipmanfrom The Daily DDT. Bill, Good
afternoon, Tony. How are you. I'm very well, Bill, thanks
for asking. How are you saying? Good? All Out has a heavy

(09:03):
Ring of Honor roster presence this year. Any news on Ring of Honors next
standalone pay per view or how they'llbe integrated into AWTV going forward, Well,
it's an interesting thing. So rosterchampions is so strong right now.

(09:24):
I think we have it through aw and Ring of Honor between the two
promotions, the strongest group of championsin the world in my opinion, and
now Ring of Honor. The championsincludes MJF and one of the legends of
Ring of Honor, Adam Cole.So you have the aw World Champion MJF
one of the biggest stars in wrestlingand its partner also one of the biggest
stars in wrestling. And it's verycool because this is the only major championship

(09:48):
in r OH that Adam Cole neverheld during his original run there. And
in addition to m jap and AdamCole, what a roster of champions when
you have Audio Castignoli, Samoa,Joe, Katiori, Shibata and this great
crew. We have a great women'sworld champion, a Tina. I've been

(10:09):
looking to get a scena involved,and I'll just be super honest about this.
I really like what we're doing withthe Sena and Billy Starks. I
have a lot of fun looking thewomen's wrestling on Ring of Honor. I
liked working with them. They hada great match recently on the show.
They'll They'll be on ROH again tonight, rh on on a Club tonight.
And I was with Billy Starks atthe arena last night and waiting for her

(10:33):
to get cleared because she had aninjury. I don't think it's anything that's
going to be long term or superserious, and hopefully she'll be back soon.
But I was hoping to get Athenaand Billy have involved. Now,
if Billy does get cleared, I'mstill optimistic I can get them a match
on the Zero Hour and and puttogether a great Zero Hour. But Billy

(10:54):
and Athena have something really going greaton Ring of Honor, and Athena is
a great world chap and I've reallyreally enjoyed this great run. Now dating
back about a year almost it's aFinal Battle and you asked me about the
ROAH pay per views, and aScene has been a great champion and I

(11:16):
think dating back to Final Battle andfittingly enough, that will be a great
Ring of Honor event. We're planningto have a Final Battle in December.
It was a great event for us, very successful last year, so I'm
looking forward to that. But youknow, Athena has been a very active,
competitive world champion, having a lotof fun with that run, and

(11:41):
I was planning to get a Sceneinvolved, and I'm still thinking either way
that will happen, but I'm optimisticshe'll be able to have a match involving
Philly Starks and they've been doing somereally cool stuff. I was talking to
Mocks yesterday at the arena and he'sputting together a cool tournament. You know,
I enjoy talking to him about prowrestling a lot, and a lot

(12:03):
of the women we've worked with ina w are going to go, and
I love for them to get theexperience. It's one of the great things
about independent wrestling and why we loveworking with independent wrestling promotions, especially when
the person who's putting some thought behindit is one of the best minds in
wrestling and Max and he's got atournament that Billy's involved in there and October

(12:24):
eighth, Renee, I believe,is the ambassador for the event, and
it's a great event. And whenI see names, uh, you know,
not only Billy Starts, but MarinaSchaffier, Burt Vixen, Tricia Dora,
Alison Kay Jani Tie and others.I like all of them. They've
all worked here in the past,and you know, I think that's a

(12:46):
great chance for them to get somereps. And in the case of Billy
in particular, you know, Iwas saying to mak Got at eighteen years
old, she's doing some great stuff. I just want to make sure she
takes care of herself because she wrestlesreally hard and gets beats herself up.
A lot, especially for an eighteenyear old, and you know, I
think she's got a lot of potentialthat she's got. That's a match i'd

(13:09):
love to I think the team isa great champion. I think Claudio is
an amazing world champion. And sohaving a pair of great singles world champions
like a Sena and somebody like aClaudio Castignoli who can step into the ring
and I believe has a case tobeat any wrestler in the world, and

(13:30):
a great world television champion. SamolaJoe now is approaching the longest rain in
the history of r H and whenyou look at the matches he's won,
I mean over the last year plus, he's had a lot of great wins
with that title. And now withMJF and Adam Cole is the tag champs,
that's two of the biggest stars inpro wrestling. We have great six
man champions. There's the longest reigningsix man champs ever, Bryan Cage and

(13:52):
the Gates of Agony, and theGates of Agony were barely a you know,
to see how far Tola and Cohnhave in over a year since the
Gates of Agony became a team andsince they won the six man championship,
they've come so far, and Ithink it's really cool. I mean,
the Gates of Agony were a teamwe put together. They've never teamed before,

(14:15):
and you know, I remember thefirst ROH show we were still talking
about the name, what the namewas going to be, and what's the
finishing group was going to be.I mean, that was how I knew
they were to each other. Andthey've come so far, the Gates of
Agony and Brian Cage. I thinkthat's what's our ROH is all about.
And also different styles. We've gotsome great pure wrestling, a great pure
wrestling champion who I could write anentire book about how much I loved Shabata

(14:39):
and how great I think he isand what a great pure champion he is
for ROH, and we have thatgreat puer wrestling, and then you have
a hard hitting style like Brian Cageand the Gates of Agony, you know,
thrown around big needy guys, havingsome great matches with teams like Iron
Savages, and also taken on highfliers like some of the best Buchadors or

(15:00):
had a great match here with DariusAction and Lee Johnson. So a lot
of great champions in RoHS. That'swhy I like to feature the best in
the world. And obviously I'm veryclose to that roster as well, so
we're going to utilize some of thosestars. But now the ROH list of
champions, you know, you don'twant to gloss over, that includes MJF

(15:20):
and Adam Cole. And I don'tknow a fan and wrestling right now that
isn't excited about what MJF and AdamCole are doing, if they've been,
if they've really been following it,because it's really exciting and it's certainly the
most neagle moving story I you know, we've had as far as putting it
out in the biggest tickets sell,the biggest the biggest paid fan attendance in

(15:50):
the history of pro wrestling in themain event. So a lot of great
things happening there, and that's whyI've wanted to get that crew very involved,
and I thought it would be rightto have a lot of them involved
on this all out of that andfeatures some of the top stars across wrestling
across these two events, all inand all out, and that's kind of

(16:11):
what some of the thinking was forthose uh ROA champions to why. I
think you know they're in a strongposition right now. Thank you, Bill.
Samantha Shipment from The Daily DDT isnext. Samantha will be followed by
Daniel Yanovski in The Sporting News.Samantha, Wait, Hi, Tony,

(16:37):
how are you hey? I'm well, Samantha, how are you good?
Thanks? Bill kind of took ourI guess you've actually answered my question.
I was gonna ask about Athena andher involvement this weekend and if we'd see
any of that. So that's goodto hear. So I'm gonna pivot my
question what I was gonna originally askyou. So last week you mentioned Wrestle
Dream, and that would be somethingthat's coming up to honor Antonio Anoki with

(17:03):
that. Could we since you know, in the last year or so,
we've seen the creation of the IDGPWomen's Championship and also the Strong Championship,
So will we see women involved inWrestle Dream and would either of those titles
potentially be defended on Wrestle Dream.I would love for that to be the
case, and I'm optimistic we cando that. So I've been talking to

(17:23):
New Japan about potential involvement in theshow. Some of the top men and
women that can be involved, andI would really really like that, So
that's certainly something to pay attention to. I think one of the great stars
that's been involved in New Japan ProWrestling who I have a ton of respect
for is Mercedes Mona, and Ithink we have a good relationship, and

(17:45):
I also think she is one ofthe greatest wrestlers on the planet. And
it was great to have Mercedes Monaat aw all in. She's not available
to wrestle right now, but whenshe does wrestle, I think she's as
good as anyone and one of thebest in the world. Old I have
so much respect for her as acompetitor, and certainly you know she's one

(18:06):
of the top stars in the world. I don't know that she would be
physically cleared at that time. I'mnot expecting that because she had a major
injury, but when she is clearthat somebody were really interested in working with
And also she's had great experiences inNew Japan. She's been a great champion
there, and I think that's somethingto keep an eye on also in the

(18:26):
future for both companies. And Idefinitely would love to have involvement from New
Japan, from the men and thewomen, and get as many of the
IWGP champions and the Strong Champions involvedin the show. And of course the
Strong title has been featured in aw before win Wolla was the Strong Champion,
we featured the Strong Women's title,and now featuring the Strong Men's title

(18:48):
with Eddie Kingson as the champion.Thank you, thank you, Samantha,
as promised Daniel Yanovski from The SportingNews his nets and he will be followed
by Dominic D'Angelo from Inside the Ropes. Daniel, Hey, Tony, how
are you doing today? Dam verywell? How are you pretty good?

(19:10):
Thank you? You reasually discussed havingthe idea of all in and all out
close to one another. I waswondering, due to potential price issues that
people may have. As you seeonline there may be people talking about it
and potential streaming ideas for the future, would you consider doing a bundle deal

(19:30):
for all in and all out atsome point? I know if you can't
really talk about streaming options, butit just seems that it's been a growing
topic on social media. La Uh, well, do you ever watch Get
Smart. You're seen the show GetSmart, the TV show Get Smart one,

(19:52):
if you ever watch that show.So would you believe that I tried
that in this case? That whenmac Mark says that it's not always the
case, he's exaggerating, But inthis case I did. I really thought
that would make a lot of sense. But it was not something that was
viable across all the cable carriers.It's not something that's really been tried.

(20:15):
I've been It's crazy to say this, but Dynamite is a thing that I've
been writing on paper and I've wantedto do since I was twelve years old,
and dynamite always led up to payper view events, and before there
was bundling of events, before therewas long before there was streaming platforms.

(20:38):
In the nineties, when I waslike a twelve thirteen year old kid,
that pay per view bundle was oneof my dreams. And it's kind of
amazing because that was in the ninetiesand it's twenty twenty three now, and
it's been like twenty eight years sinceI wanted to do that and have a
pay per view bundle across weekend.It's still really pretty much impossible to do.

(20:59):
To get the cable carriers and allthe satellite providers and the streaming platforms
and get a uniform solution. Itwas really hard to come up with something,
and it's a great thought, andit's something I literally wanted to do
for twenty eight years since I wasa small boy. And the reality is

(21:21):
it would have been impossible then,and I would have thought that it would
be a little bit easier technologically,but in the long haul, I would
like to find a way to createthat. It was something I was hoping
to find a way to create thisyear, or utilizing streaming, and there
are things that have been tried andtrue. Are first of all, live

(21:41):
events in pro wrestling, and froma live events standpoint, this is going
to be the biggest month in thehistory of aw by far right, I
mean not pretty obvious because a onemillion dollar date is great in pro wrestling,
and very few people ever in prowrestling have achieved a one million dollar
date. Last weekend, we didsomething that a lot less people I've ever
done and is the true rarefy there. And I thought we were living high

(22:07):
on the hog. I thought wewere really doing something special all these years
with a million dollar gait, andit's true we were a very few people
have ever done that. That isrest on history. But you know what's
cooler than a million dollar gate isa ten million dollar gate, to paraphrase
the social network. So that bundleis a great thought. I'm very sympathetic

(22:30):
to what people are saying, andin the future, I think streaming could
make that type of thing an easiersolution in the future, but certainly for
linear cable satellite pay per view carriers. That is actually something I've coached Chris
Harrington a long time ago about andyou know, we thought it was a
good idea, but unfortunately executing itacross cable satellite streaming providers and all of

(22:56):
our different partners had been really challenging. And I'm optimistic that technology continues to
improve and we look at different platformsthat I think there could be a way
to do that. Because I feelreally powerfully about the real estate we have
here. I think we know we'vedone something special at Wembley. I think
everybody knows we've done something special atWembley. You know, it's like frank

(23:19):
and old school. I think thewhole town knows we've done something pretty special
at Wembley, and I think nowChicago, this is a huge weekend for
us all out, and I knowthere's a way to execute it that's perfect
for everybody, and I think thetechnology and the future is going to make
that a great solution for us.But definitely these two things that are tried

(23:45):
and true, live events and payper view. I know that both are
going to be great live events,and I know we'll have a great pay
per view audience and it certainly allin. Speaking of pay per view,
this will also be the biggest payper view months in the history of a
w by far across these four weeks, because all In was the most successful

(24:06):
aw pay per view in well overa year, one of the biggest ever
and will probably end up, ifnot in the top two, would definitely
be in the top three. Andwhen it's all said and done, it
could end up being our number twopay per view of all time. So
this will surely end up being ourbest month ever on pay per view,

(24:29):
and in addition to best month oflive events. I know those are kind
of sometimes old fashioned things and wrestlinglive event ticket sales and pay per view,
but there's still very much real revenuestreams to the business, and this
is going to be a great weekend. I promise we're gonna have a great
time with Starcast and I'm very excitedabout the pay per view show All Out

(24:51):
on Something. Thanks, thank you. Daniel Dominic D'Angelo from Inside the Ropes
is next, and Dominic will befollowed Bill Bodkin from The Pop Break Bombini.
Hey, Tony, how are you. I've seen gets Smart, so
I know the reference very good.Okay, So my question for you,

(25:11):
I've been as we're on the callhere, I'm writing an article about John
Moxley and his comments about Terry Funkand his passing, and he mentions about
like how everybody can learn a lotfrom Terry Funk. I kind of wanted
to get your perspective on Terry's legacy. But on top of that, too,
what do you think you and theaw Roster could learn from the legacy

(25:33):
of Terry Funk. That's a greatquestion. I'm a huge fan of Terry
Funk. I first saw Terry Funkwhen I was eight years old on Great
American Bash nineteen eighty nine Glory Days, and I thought it was some of
the greatest stuff I've ever seen.I wanted the tape from Blockbuster Video,

(25:53):
and then I started calling every BlockbusterVideo and every video store in Central and
there were lots of different unaffiliated videostories and mom and pop shops back then,
and there's a lot of surrounding towns. And my parents did not particularly
love or even like wrestling, butthey were very cool about my love for
it. And I remember going tovideo stores all over looking for more of

(26:18):
those eighty nine WCW pay per viewsbecause I just had to see more of
this guy. And he is oneof the greatest wrestlers I've ever seen in
my life. I didn't get achance to know him personally in these later
years. It was something I wasinterested in. It's one of those things
I'll always regret not having that chance. Tommy Dreamer mentioned he wanted to get

(26:41):
us together at times, but therewere a couple of times where he tried
to put it together and it justdidn't work out. But we were obviously.
I know everyone knows Terry Funk andTommy Dreamer very close, and I'm
very close to Tommy Dreamer, soI have a lot of friend They're closer
Terry Fonk also, But it's likeyou know, it's kind of like I

(27:07):
can only imagine the tributes it willcome out. It'll be a very sad
day here in Chicago and all overthe world, if you know, if
and when anything ever happens to MichaelJordan's and I think the praise will be
so glowing. But it's hard toarticulate a new a new thought, something

(27:32):
that hasn't been said, an originalidea about what makes Terry Funk so special,
because it's all been mine. Sohe's so great, and it's hard
to articulate the greatness of somebody who'sso much better than everybody else. But
he's right John. When John saysthat we can all learn a lot from
Terry Funk, I'm sure I thinkwe can all see John has learned things

(27:52):
from Terry Funk. And certainly thereare great wrestlers today that will keep his
legacy alive. There's so many peoplethat respect Terry Folk will be one of
those great names that lives forever inthis business. And certainly I was I
was very, very sad to hearthat when he passed away, and thinking

(28:17):
of his family and to me,yeah, he's personally one of my heroes.
And you know, my dad andI watch him ECW then later after
that, and again my dad didn'tlove wrestling, but he was very cool
to take me to ECW when thatwas the thing that was the most important
to me, and and if Iachieved my academic a goal, that was

(28:38):
what my big reward would be.And that's why I achieved my academic goals,
frankly, because I wanted to goto ECW. And Terry Folk's a
huge part of that legacy too,But really across all of pro wrestling,
I think Terry Fonk leaves a major, major footprint and the biggest of shoes
to fill. Thank you very much, Thank you, Dominic. Bill Bodkin

(29:03):
from the Pop Break is next.Ella j from a Wrestling Gal will follow
Bill. Bill, You're up,Hey, Tony. At the media scrum
for all In, you you liketook this moment and you stated how monumental
all In was for a w andfreeview, And it wasn't just because of

(29:25):
the gate, wasn't just because ofthe attendance, but because of just like
the struggles that you and aw havehad over the past two years, from
injuries to conflict and whatever. Weall know what they are, but now
that you've had the success of AllIn, how does that refocus you as
not only as a creative, butsomeone who's looking to put new ideas out

(29:48):
there or go after new talent.How are you what's your mind space now
that you've had the most successful wrestlingshow of all time. That's a great
question. I'm very excited to buildto a great event. We'll have a
great event this weekend, and Iwill come back to that if it's okay

(30:10):
after answer your question, I'd liketo talk a little bit more about this
weekend, but I think we can'ttalk about this weekend or anything in wrestling
right now without talking about what happenedat all In. We're going to come
back to it, and it's goingto be I promise that I will spend
so much time thinking about how tomake next year's All In a worthy successor.

(30:32):
I am absolutely committed to that.And the event was so powerful and
we set records. We sold moretickets than any event ever. We have
hit highs in our pay per viewbusiness that I think we've really only hit
once before. I believe this willend up being our second pay per view

(30:52):
of all time as it stands,and we've captured stands all over the world.
Their interest tonight is going to bereally exciting because coming up soon tonight
in the UK, they're going tobe replaying all in all over the all
over the channels, and it's onlinear TV across ITV four, iv X,

(31:18):
so pretty much everybody in the countrywith a television set or anybody with
media capabilities, for anybody can accessITV for free. And you know it's
I always call it, it's arabbit Ears channel. Anybody can get it,
and rabbit Ears has come a longway. I mean, that's one
of those things I saw firsthand inthe past decade is I can't believe how

(31:41):
much easier it is than when Iwas a kid, when when we would
switch off satellite for the local TVchannels, and certainly there was a big
difference. I would rather watch stuffon my satellite than the local TV channels
because its reception was much better.And and to see how far it's come
in recent years for people with whatare effectively now digital raveters, and so

(32:04):
anybody can watch ITV and now thewhole country is going to be able to
see it, and I think that'sreally special, So very excited about that
and coming off the event, it'sit's inspirational, but I also think it
inspires other people. Talking to wrestlersoutside of a w I think there's a
whole new perception of what it meansto go to AW. You know the

(32:27):
show he delivered. Look, everybodybefore all In would have said, I
believe that there's a spectacle in wrestlingand every wrestler's dream. You know,
when they were growing up, therewas no AW and a lot of people
would say that, you know,the only spectacle and for many years was

(32:49):
WrestleMania. And I think a lotof people would argue that like WrestleMania at
its heights, like the Silver Domeor a lot of the stadium shows,
that Starkade never reached that pinnacle.And I can say that we've done a
show that generated more revenue than anyStarcade ever, and that is aw all
In. And it sold more ticketsthan any wrestle maaning ever and the staging

(33:14):
was grand. I think next year, one thing I'll look at maybe the
set. But if we build abigger set, it might mean selling a
few less of the premium seats becausethe set takes up some space you know.
So that's that helped us put alot of the best inventory on sale
and this but the spectacle, theoverall spectacle of all in was as biggest

(33:38):
spectacle and as well produced of awrestling television show and pay per view events
specifically, is any major event inwrestling. We are on the biggest stage
ourselves now, and there's not onlyone wrestling event that is on the biggest
stage. And we've done things thatnobody can take away. The most tickets
sold, the quality of the event, the wrestle, and the spirit of

(34:00):
the fans, which was the mostpositive spirit I've ever seen leaving any wrestling
events ever. And we have greatevents, and after the shows, the
fans are around their hotels, they'rearound the airports. We see them,
and generally we put on great showsand people have a great time, and
most of the events we've done ina district of very well received. I

(34:21):
stand here before you today and Iwill say this again on this call,
just to reiterate this. I trulybelieve. And I've watched every big wrestling
event this year across the major companies, and I think whether I saw them
live or saw them later on replayand I believe that among the best events
all year in wrestling are Revolution,Supercard of Honor, the Forbidden Door,

(34:47):
Death Before Dishonor, and aw allIn, and I would take those five
shows again, those three aw eventsI mentioned Revolution and Forbidden Door and All
In and of course a Supercard ofHonor and Death before this Honor. I

(35:07):
would take those five events against prettymuch anything all year. So we have
really great events and people get veryexcited. But the spirit leading All In
was something completely different. So notonly did we sell the most tickets ever,
but we touched a lot of people. We made new fans all over
the world, We brought in fansfrom all over the world. It was
really special, and we get todo it again, and I can look
at things we can do differently andapproach it differently to make next year unique

(35:30):
experience. But it's definitely our clip. You know when you watch like every
show open the beginning of primetime wrestling. When I was a kid, you
saw the Silverdome clips, the Silverdomeb roll. You saw those clips that
b roll all the time. We'regoing to show it all the time.
It's a big deal. I meanfor years you would see that Silverdome clip.

(35:52):
Well, I hope we'll be ableto show this year's and next year's
and make them feel really special andshow how big a to be, because
that's what all in symbolizes, ifthat makes sense, And I was gonna
I will try to come back tosome of those other points, but I
would like to touch on specific stuffabout this weekend's pay per view show.

(36:13):
Two of the matches in particular thatI'm really excited about one of them that
I will I will. I willstart with one of them that was confirmed,
and that is Omega versus to Cashit Up. I think it's a
great match and it's really important tous. I mentioned this earlier on the
call. It's a match that Kennyhas really wanted for a very long time.

(36:35):
For many years, He's talked tome about to cash it up and
what he saw and to cash itup, and for to cash it to
betray Kenny. For don callis tobetray Kenny and go with a younger man,
a bigger man, a more physicallyimposing in some ways man, and
turn on a guy that he practicallyraised, a guy that he helped bring
to the championship, and now he'stray him in for a younger model.

(37:01):
Certainly, Kenny Omega is a popularstar around the world, and he's also
very respected as one of the bestwrestlers, and Don Kalis has really disrespected
one of the top stars. Iwas really hoping to have Kenny here,
but I understand that the hurricane madeit impossible last night. So last night
we didn't get to hear from him. Are his thoughts about to kesh it

(37:24):
up and where he stands with this? But you know, I think we'll
get another chance ahead of the event, hopefully, and I do think that
that match will be amazing and itis something we've really been looking forward to.
I had talked to Kenny at onepoint to pull back the curtain about

(37:46):
doing that match at All In,and there were some fans that asked about
should Kenny do the singles match orthe trio's match, and but I also
thought the six man match made alot of sense. There was a Golden
Elite Trio's match on the original AllIn, and to have a Bushee teaming

(38:06):
up instead of the Unbucks this timewith Hangman and Kenny, but to have
a golden Elite match against in thiscase top rivals the Bullet Club gold and
to cash Ita, I thought itmade a lot of sense and I thought
that was a great match, andKenny also really was excited to do the
match in Chicago one on one withTakashita. So I've been very excited about
both matches, and I think it'sthe best of both wolves to be able

(38:30):
to have Kenny, Hangman and aBushe together and then teaming up with both
of Kenny's great tag partners in aBushe and the Golden Lovers, and of
course Kenny and Hangman were the greataw teams, so I really like that
and love their opponents too. Ithink to cash Ita amazing and Jay White

(38:51):
and Juice Robinson are phenomenal and excitedabout having all all three of them competing
this Sunday and all out. ButKenny versus Tkesh it as a huge match
and I think it's gonna really deliver. Hopefully we'll get another chance to hear
from Kenny since he was not ableto travel last night to help build this
up on Dynamite, but certainly veryexcited about the match. Another match I'm

(39:14):
really excited about and I've been excitedabout for a long time. And it's
one of those matches in AW thatwe've never had. It's one of those
matches in AW that it was somethingI personally had looked forward to for a
really long time. And I believethere are two of the greatest stars ever

(39:36):
in AW and I was very excitedfor the match already, and I thought
the end of Dynamite really helped pushit over the edge. And that's John
Moxley versus Orange Cassidy, and it'syou know, there's a lot of discourse
among fans and certainly it's you know, all In was the best received event

(39:59):
we've ever done, is the mostsuccessful event we've ever done, and even
in the lead up to that,the most successful, well received thing we
ever did. I had a lotof people, a lot of fans saying
you should have put John Moxley versusOrange Caffy on all In And you can't
please everybody, but I felt likeit's such a unique opportunity for the company

(40:19):
to me personally, to do StadiumStampede and Wembley Stadium was the most surreal
experience of my life to have AndreasPereira and Tim Reim standing there. And
if you follow international football, andyou know where those people are. That's
they're really a big deal. Andthen especially if you follow a fume,
you know they're a really big dealto me personally too. And to have
Andrea's Pereira and Tim Reim. They'rewatching the guys running through the hallway,

(40:43):
Guy's going up to the Royal Boxleading and you know, and they were
down by me in the chair seeingall this unfold. Marco Silva was up
in the box with his family.This is all surreal that this is happening
in a place where I've had somany special memories of my family, guys
bleeding in the Royal Box, whereI had the biggest celebration in the history

(41:05):
of my family together when we gotpromoted versus aston Villa. And I'm seeing
the same the same bar where wheremy mom went to give a glass in
champagne, and the guys are smashingtheir heads. Gone pretty special and cool.
My mom couldn't believe it when Itold her they were going to let
us fight in the little box.And I thought the stadium stampede was perfect,
but a lot of people thought rangersalong on the show last week.

(41:27):
I really love London. I loveOnebley stadium, and I'm sure you can
hear that in my voice and bywhat I'm saying. I also really love
Chicago. I mentioned this to thefans last night. I had never been
out of the state of Illinois formore than three weeks consecutively until I was
about thirty years old. I've reallyalways been anchored here in Illinois until my
dad bought the Jaguars and I startedworking on the football stats. I've been

(41:53):
working on that from Illinois in myapartment and for a long time, but
it was not something a lot ofpeople for pratzing back then, football analytics,
and we have become i believe,the best in football at it,
at football analytics and data integration andplayer tracking and utilizing all that information.

(42:16):
And I still love working on it. But now we have a great staff
of people that are in the office. I used to be in there eighty
hours a week, and I don'thave to be in Jacksonville in that office
eighty hours of a week anymore becauseI can get involved online and still do
a lot of the things. Idid come in help out with the undrafted
free agents, help out weeks aweek during the football season. But you

(42:37):
know now I'm working on the roadand living with a w and at Fulham
and but but you know, it'scrazy to say. Until my dad bought
the Jags in twenty twelve, Ihad never been out of the state of
Illinois for more than two and ahalf weeks consecutively, and coming anytime I'm

(43:00):
back in Chicago, it's really specialto me. And All Out is one
of the most special events in awSo there were some of the matches at
all In that I saw how theycould naturally lead into All Out, and
I think they were matches people wantedto see on All In and that's Omega
versus to Cash It, and certainlyOrange Cassidy versus John Moxley. I also

(43:22):
have to do a TV show thatit is the flagship show. We've got
great TV now with Dynamite, Rampageand Collision, and for Dynamite, last
night, I felt like we needto do a great go home Dynamite.
We're gonna have a great, greatstuff on Rampage tomorrow and certainly have a
huge go Home Collision live at theUnited Center on Saturday. But I felt

(43:43):
really strong that Orange Cassidy and JohnMoxley the special match something I've been saving
for years, going back to Januaryof twenty twenty, I had a very
limited interaction with these two in amox versus Trent match in Daily's place again
three and a half years ago.Over three and a half years ago,
thinking back that far, that's howlong I've really wanted to do John Moxley

(44:06):
pus his own Cassidy. The Internationaltitle didn't exist yet then, but the
International title is a very real thingnow and every week on TV practically you
see one Cassidy on at least oneof the shows out there at the Champion
fighting. The promo he gave atthe end of the show was real and
from the bottom of his heart,and I've seen so many people praising it,
but it's the truth. That's whohe is, that's what he's done.

(44:29):
He is the hard working champion,and he's a great wrestler. He's
very respected in the locker room andOrange Cassidy versus Moxley is one of those
great matches we've wanted to deliver.But I also thought that Penta Alero Mieto
deserved a huge platform and this greatmain event match. He had every reason

(44:50):
to want the match with Moxley.He's also had a long rivalry with Orange
Cassidy. We've seen them team inrecent weeks in the Stadium Stampede and going
into the Stampede to get there teamwork, their cohesion. They teamed up on
Collision, but really it's been along rivalry between the Death Triangle and the
Best Friends, and certainly two ofthe more popular members of the whole thing
that rivalry and the Death Death Triangleand the Best Friends would be Orange Cassidy

(45:14):
and Pentel Jeremieto and Penzel wanted theshot to go to all out. Also,
it's a huge opportunity for Pente tobecome the first wrestler in aw to
hold the international title, the tagteam title, and the Trio's title,
and not only to become a singleschampion in aw for the first time,
because I do believe Pentel Jeremieto orRacing, either one of them would be

(45:37):
a great singles champion. But togive Penta that great main event opportunity.
He had an awesome match with OrangeCassidy, I thought last night, and
we had a lot of top wrestlersthat had issues. You know, when
you're missing big stars like the oneswe were missing yesterday do to two.
You know, having people step uplike that, it's a big deal.

(45:58):
And I'd always wanted to do Orangecass the versus Penta in that in that
big main events spot, and Ithought they really delivered. And now to
have one of the real dream matchesfor me personally in AW, in a
match that look, thousands of fans, we're badgering me in a good way,
like I like it, Like thatOrange Cassidy versus Mox should have been

(46:21):
last week at Wembley Stadium. NowI think it's really exciting that it's going
to happen for the International title atthe United Center, two of aw's greatest
stars ever, Mocks versus Nch Cassidyfor that international title. That pack and
now Arrange Cassidy in particular have reallyelevated to one of our top championships.
In my opinion, it's one ofmy favorite championships in wrestling year. Thank

(46:44):
you, Thank you, Bill Ella. J from A Wrestling Gal is next,
and I will follow that with awriting question from Jerry Rush from Irish
Wrestling and Entertainment. Oh Hi,Tony, can you hear me? Yeah?
Hi? Hi? So you weretalking about Chicago. Obviously AW is

(47:08):
no stranger to Chicago, but likeyou did also say you got to achieve
your light, your longtime dream ofhosting a wrestling show in Wembley Stadium when
you ran AW all in. Lookingforward, I'm curious to know do you
have any other aspirations of bringing AWto a specific city or venue in the
future. What a great question,Thank you, Ella. I've been able

(47:31):
to hit a lot of the specialones, you know. Truly, for
me personally, we've done a lotof the venues that have touched me.
The most one that people don't thinkabout much, the tenth episode of AW
Dynamite was in the State Farm Centerin Champagne, Illinois, formerly known as
the Assembly Hall. I've it's crazybecause we've done hundreds of Dynamites now so,

(47:55):
but I've also seen a few hundredbasketball games in that venue, and
also the first wrestling I ever sawwas in that venue, and it was
really cool to go there. TheUnited Center is one of the real special
sporting venues. We've done great eventsthere and of course this Sunday will have
a great event there that I'm excitedabout. Wembley was one of the biggest

(48:16):
things Jacksonville. I didn't know howsoon it was going to happen. It
happened a lot sooner than I've expectedthat we'd be able to wrestle in the
stadium. We've never put sands inTia Bank or excuse me now it's ever
Bank Field where we did the StadiumStampede. But we have had a lot
of great events in Daily's place inJacksonville. Wembley was one of the biggest

(48:37):
for me, another one we've done. This is a lifelong goal. It's
still crazy we've gotten to do somany of them. Thank you, Ella
for making me feel great about allthe great stuff we've been fortunate to do.
The Forum, and the Forum isone of my favorites. And I
grew up I haven't a lot oftime to watch TV. I want to
get back and watch this season twoof Winning Time because I grew up as

(48:58):
a big fan of the Lakers,and I kind of kind of like some
of the eighties wrestling. I justmissed it and came in on the back
end of it. You know,Magic Johnson and Hulk Coogan, both of
them were kind of coming off abig run in nineteen ninety one. And
then slowed down a little bit fordifferent, very different reasons. And but
then I spent a lot of mychildhood going back and watching the stuff they'd

(49:22):
been doing in the eighties, whetherit was the NWA and Crockett with Rick
Flair or the WWF with Huld Cooganand the Mancho Man, or eighties basketball
and renting old videos and watching classicgames with Magic Johnson's Lakers against Isdiah Thomas
Pistons and Larry Bird Celtics and allthose great teams. And the Forum was

(49:45):
a dream venue for me. Andwe've done that, So that's another really
special one. Arthur ashe was anotherone, and we go there and that's
a dream. And so we haveall these places and it's still cool because
we get to go back to them, and every time I go it's surreal.
So now I have to think ofanother one, and I don't know,
it's a great question. We've doneso many of the of the best

(50:07):
one there more so than most people. Uh you know, the ted d
BIOSI gimmicky at seasonal residences. AndI've been fortunate to live in a lot
of different places, so there's anumber of places I would call home.
Here in Chicago and La Jacksonville andof course London and have been fortunate to
do events in all those places.M I'll keep thinking about it, but

(50:30):
now I'm glad you asked, becauseyou really pushed me to think of something
else that will target my emotional heartstrings as much as all of those did.
Thank you, Ella, Thanks Ella. And Jerry Rush was due to
be next, but Ella's question wasessentially Jerry's. So we're gonna we're gonna
move down to queue here. We'vegot about five more minutes to go,

(50:52):
so this is the lightning round.Brandon Thurston, we're gonna call on you
next, and if there's time afterthat, we go to Stephanie Chase from
Digital Spy, and then there's timeafter that, well we'll see what's up.
But right now we're gonna go withBrandon. I was just wonder if
I could follo up on the firstquestion, and respecting me, you can't

(51:13):
say a lot out to see apunk situation, but would you be able
to say that You'll give an answerby Sunday. I'm sure a lot of
fans are wondering whether Punk will beon the show before they hit the purchase
button on Sunday. That is mygoal, and I promise that is what
I hope that we have a resolution. And I don't expect a full resolution

(51:36):
by least expect it's some more informationby then, and I'm gonna keep working
on it. It's a challenging situation, to say the least, Brandon,
and not something I was hoping tobe dealing with. But I really appreciate
you asking. Thank you, Thankyou, Brandon. Stephanie Chase from Digital
Spy, you or next or willfollow steparate if there's time. With Nikki
Boushi from Women's Rustle Talk. Steph, Hey, Tony, how are you?

(52:02):
I'm very well, thank you forasking, Stephanie. And well I'm
just about to watch the All Inreplay here on ITV four and it was
such a huge success you've ananced itfor next year. I was wondering,
on top of that, have youlooked into doing a UK tour or brigand
Dynamite in collision to the UK nexttime with all In? It's a great

(52:22):
thought. I specifically did not wantto this pastime because I felt that aw
all In should be the very firsta e W show in London, and
it was obviously a lot of firstat once, but I thought it really
had to be our very first showto keep that first time energy. And

(52:45):
it's a great familiarity that the fanshad with our products through television, and
I'm sure many of them had traveledover the years to shows as well,
but certainly largely through the power ofITV and our streaming service on AW plus
on Fight. I think the penetrationof AW and the UK really showed because

(53:06):
our first event ever and you havejust tens of thousands of people across a
massive stadium, and you've got,you know, a crowd that of over
eighty one thousand paid fans that manyof whom had never been to an AW
show before. But we're completely familiarwith almost everybody on the card and their

(53:31):
stories and their signature moves and signaturemoments in the matches. And I thought
that the crowd participation was amazing andit was a real testament to how avid
fans are in the UK. Andgiven that great fan avidity, certainly in
the future I think that could makesense. It was just something in this

(53:52):
year. I in particular, Ifelt like all Inch the first AW show
ever in Europe, and I thoughtthat made it even more powerful, and
it was a lot of first allat once, and it all came together
to be the greatest great evening I'veever been a part of. Although for
a lot of you in America itwas a great It was a great day,

(54:14):
probably not an evening, especially onthe West coast. It was early
in the day, and I wascurious how it would work as a pay
per view. It worked incredibly well, and even though it was earlier start
time in the US than our usualshows, it worked really well. And
that's an understatement. It was amassive success, and certainly in the future,

(54:35):
more events over there, that's somethingI'd certainly consider and as long as
I can keep one hundred percent ofthat focus on aw all in. Thank
you very much, Stephnie. Okay, thanks Stephanie. So as promised,
we're gonna get We're gonna tap forNikki Boushi from Women's Russell Talk, and
then let's let's finish up with Seanross Sap from Fightful Nikki Hi, Yes,

(55:06):
can you hear me? Yes?Yeah? Hi? Hi? Hey?
How are you very well? Howare you? Nick? Hi?
I am I'm really good. SoI wanted to ask because I've been at
the Collision shows for the past twoweeks, and I've noticed that the continuation
of the feud between Mercedes Martinez andChris dat Lander has kind of been pushed

(55:31):
to the side. Can you talkabout briefly the decision to go with Ruby
SOHO, and can you also giveus an update on Mercedes Martinez moving forward?
Well, Mercedes Martine has been doinggreat. I think Chris dat Lander
has beaten Mercedes Martinez in a matchand they had a great match, and

(55:52):
obviously Mercedes was displeased with the result, and I thought Willow had a great,
great response to it, and theyended up having a great tag team
match out of it, which Mercedesand Diamante won, and it wasn't the
cleanest win, but it showed Mercedes, Mercedes Martinez and Diamante will do what

(56:13):
it takes to pick up a bigwin. I have a ton of respect
from Mercedes Martinez. She's been greatin ROH and that's why I called her
in to come work on aw Collision, and she'd be great on any show
in a w R ro OH.She came to me and mentioned that she'd
have some interest in working with Diamante, and I thought it was a great

(56:34):
idea. They had a great historytogether and I love I loved the match
they had. I thought they didgreat and they had a great tag team
match with Willow and Chris, andthen the singles match, uh, you
know we just had with Willow andDiamante was excellent. But I think there's
a lot of possibilities coming out ofit. I would say Willow and Mercedes

(56:57):
would have a great one on onematch, And you know, particular,
I think the winner of Chris Statlanderversus Ruby, soho, whoever is the
TBS champion coming out of All Out, would have a great list of challengers
potentially lined up to face them.And certainly Mercedes Martinez is somebody who could

(57:21):
be a great challenger for the TVschampionship at any time. What's your point.
I think that was it was agood match Mercedes versus Chris, and
certainly Mercedes could be in line fora rematch at some point too. Thanks,
thank you, Tony, Thank youvery much. Nikki. We're gonna

(57:42):
squeeze in Shaan Ross Staff to finishup. Sean Ross Staff can fightful.
It's only thanks for taking the time. There were reports that you had spoken
with cm Punk before a w allin, and he expressed some maybe some
frustrations. Is that true and wouldany of that have affected this card,
the direction of it or the bookingof it, completely separate of what is

(58:07):
being investigated right now. I thinkwe had good plans that had nothing to
do with the incident. I thinkwe've been having great shows on Collision and
really a hot run of events ForbiddenDoor, with a great show and coming
out of Forbidden Door, I thinkIt's been a really exciting summer and I've

(58:30):
been really happy with everything. Iwas really happy going into a w all
in. I thought it was doinga great job on all the shows.
I think the event itself had agreat card and it was the most positively
received event we've ever done. I'mreally grateful to everybody who wrestled on the
show and everybody who helped set theshow up and the lead into it was

(58:52):
great. I thought we had agreat Wednesday TV. It was really in
my opinion, it was one ofthe best Wednesdays. We had a great
go home show on Dynamite and thenhad a great go home Collision. The
Dynamite show, a lot of peoplesaid was the best go home show we've
ever done, and I really enjoyedit. I thought it was awesome.

(59:13):
It was a great balance of matchesand promos, and that can be a
really hard thing to do sometimes.I've always said, you know, I
do these calls of you a lot, and often it's the day after that
go home show, and it's achallenging things. And this was one of
the best received ones we've ever done. The last Wednesday and then the Collision
was excellent, and I felt likeall the TV was really strong going in,

(59:37):
and we had a Wednesday taping wherewe taped Dynamite in Collision, and
I thought it was great and Iwas very happy, and the shows were
excellent. I think I had nothingto do with the people that have been
wrestling each other any of this stuff, and I you know, I can't
comment on any of the incidents oranything, but I was I was really

(59:59):
proud of every but you wrestled onall in and the show is I thought
it had been really strong. Ireally like UH to go home stuff we
shot on Wednesday at Collision, soUH, and and on Dynamite obviously the
Wednesday that we take them built togetheractually UH in Atlanta, so that's all

(01:00:22):
I can really say about about thewrestling, and then I think stuff has
been going well. But you know, as far as what you're asking about
any of the other stuff, Ican't really speak to that part. But
I do think everybody was doing agreat job on the wrestling shows. Thank

(01:00:43):
you, Tony. We are done. Do you have any any thoughts to
conclude with? Yeah? Thanks,Jim. I'm really very appreciative every time
we do one of these calls.I know it's some of the some of
the familiar people asking the questions.Hopefully we've been able to answer you.
I'm not the person picking the questions. It's a little different than the scrum

(01:01:05):
where we see all your faces andcan kind of point you out in the
crowd. But I really do tryto stick around and answer as many as
I can, and you know I'mnot trying to avoid any questions from any
of you. I really appreciate you, and I know that your coverage,
each and every one of you whoasked a question today or came to a
scrum or even if you've never cometo one of these and you just recap
them. All of the people whocover AW cover pro wrestling, you're the

(01:01:32):
ones who are are linked to thefans in many ways. You're the ones
who promote these events. You're theones who create the coverage and h you
know, it's not your job tobe a fan of pro wrestling, but
I know a lot of you arefans of pro wrestling, and coming out
of this week having something so specialas aw all in, it's a really

(01:01:54):
great time for the company and there'sa lot to be excited about, and
I'm very fired up to go backto the United Center. Even if there
have been some challenges in the backstage, I do think there's stuff I'm very
excited about on the card and bigmatches to look forward to. I didn't
get asked about it specifically, butI think it's a big deal to Young

(01:02:15):
Bucks and FTR teaming up For along time, nobody thought they would see
that in pro wrestling, and theseare not best friends. It's been a
hard road with Young Bucks and FTR. You saw at the end of the
match at Wembley. It's a verycompetitive relationship, you know. I think

(01:02:37):
FCR and Young Bucks would consider themselvescompetitors, not close friends, and very
excited to have them teaming up againstBullet cloak Old on this show. Very
excited about a lot of the wrestlingon the show, and in particular,
you know we mentioned a lot ofthe matches. I think Mirrol and Powerhouse
Hops really have a great opportunity toshowcase on pay per view here, which

(01:03:00):
I've been excited to give them,And this show means a lot to need
important to put on some big matchesin front of Chicago, which has been
really key town for a w andeven before aw back, but dating back
to all In and in addition tobeing a hometown for me, and so

(01:03:22):
very excited for that, and it'sgonna be a lot of great stuff on
the card. I think we mentionedstat Lander is on a great run and
I have a lot of a lotof excitement to see Chris Statlander getting there
with Ruby Soho again given some oftheir past I'll never forget the way the
crowd reacted to their match in LasVegas, and Chris Statlander has come a

(01:03:46):
long way since then, and I'mvery excited for this and two matches in
particular I mentioned earlier Kenny Omega versusTokashita. That is a match that would
fit on any show in the world, and I think the fans in Chicago.
I'm very, very confident you're goingto get a great, great,
great wrestling match with Omega versus TakashiIta, but also a grug match because

(01:04:12):
Kenny is super pissed. And wealso have a match that I've wanted to
see from the beginning of aw andin John Moxley and Launch Cassidy. I
think they're going to deliver something reallyspecial. I'm very excited about that match
and the whole card. I reallyappreciate a lot of you who will be
at the show in Chicago, andI just wanted to let you know if

(01:04:34):
you do come, I'll do mybest to answer all your questions. If
you've ever been to one of thescrums, we really do try to get
everybody in at some point and makesure everybody gets the chance to ask somebody
a question at some point in thescrum. And I just wanted to thank
you all one last time, thanksfor doing this, and hopefully see you

(01:04:55):
in Chicago. Thanks Jim, thankyou Tony, and thank you you again
for everyone for being part of today'scall. We're gonna have as we normally
do. The audio link to today'ssession available here. Shortly so with that,
it's already been like like twenty fivea milestone week grade W and there's
a lot more so to come.So we appreciate your service the wrestling community.

(01:05:17):
It plays a major role in allwe do and on behalf of Tony
and everyone at a w bessured thatwe appreciate you. Thanks again, we'll
see you this weekend.