The Ariel Helwani Show - Tony Khan

Episode Date: October 6, 2022

The founder of All Elite Wrestling joins Ariel for a conversation about: If AEW has exceeded the expectations he set for it when he launched the pro wrestling organization in 2019 (8:17) MJF's future with the company (15:28) His reaction to Vince McMahon stepping down this summer (27:10) Being a "challenger brand" to WWE and his thoughts on the current WWE product  The infamous Labor Day presser last month when CM Punk aired AEW's dirty laundry (33:00) His relationship with Nick Khan (51:31) Plus, the guys talk about Khan's busy schedule and other performers AEW might go after.Tony Khan is an American businessman, promoter, and sports executive. He is the son of Shahid Khan, who owns the Jacksonville Jaguars and English Premier League club Fulham.To support our show, simply give The Ariel Helwani Show a 5-star rating on Spotify and subscribe to Ariel's YouTube channel.

Hey everyone, hope you're doing well. Welcome back to a brand new edition of the Area Helwani show. It is Thursday, October 6th, 2022. Appreciate you joining us. I know you've been off the last few weeks. It's been a bit sporadic because a lot going on in my world, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this show. I love this show. I love this feed. I love doing this because it's where I get to do these long form interviews with people who don't fit in the world of the other stuff that I get to do. So it is great to be back. And this one fits that bill. I've wanted to talk to

Tony Khan, who's the head man over at All Elite Wrestling for quite some time, also works for the Jacksonville Jaguars. His father owns the Jaguars, also his father owns Fulham Football Club. And I have to say, you know, the guy's got a lot on his plate. Not only that, analytics. He's got an analytics company, a media company. He's got a ring of honor company that he also runs. I mean, there's a lot going on in this man's world. So he's a very busy guy. And he was kind enough to give us almost 90 or so minutes of his time. I've never talked to him before. I've never met him before. And I've been wanting to do this one for quite some time. It was hard to get. And here we are. We finally got it done. And so we talk about the three-year anniversary of AEW Dynamite. They

celebrated that anniversary on Wednesday. They're on TBS, also Rampage on Fridays. And the ups and downs of the company, the growth of the company, the good, the bad, the ugly, some recent drama, some recent news, MJF, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, asked him about Bray Wyatt, all that stuff and more, of course, WWE being competitors with them, his relationship with them. He was very open with his time. And it was interesting, the stuff that he wanted to talk about and didn't want to talk about. So I hope you enjoy the conversation. Interesting look at the business. Had a young man who's about to turn 40, who's doing a lot in the world of sports, who has a lot on his plate. And it was really interesting to

pick his brain. So without further ado, I won't waste any more time. Here is my much anticipated, long-awaited conversation with Tony Khan of All Elite Wrestling. Enjoy. I'm very delighted that you're here speaking to me because if I could break the fourth wall, I thought you didn't like me for a long time, Tony. I felt like we had heat and I didn't know why and it kind of hurt my feelings. No, not at all. Quite the opposite. I just want people to clear the interviews they do with us. And it's nothing to do with you, but I really like it. And since then, I think we've done a lot of great stuff in collaboration with you. But it's my first time getting to visit with you in person, even though I think we've been in some arenas and big events at the same time.

And now we get to talk together. And I'm really excited about it. So as somebody who enjoys your show and enjoys your work, this is fun for me. Thank you. I appreciate it. I wasn't going to bring up the interview thing that you were talking about. But was that a shoot? Did you allude to it?

I feel like you alluded to it, though. Right now? well when you're like in yeah why would i not like you i don't know i've tried to have you on before and i was having a hard time but you're a very busy guy and i understand that i get very sensitive you literally let off with that i know i did like well i wasn't actually referring to that but i thought it was more because i was told the pr people were mad at me not you in that regard. I think they were frustrated that you circumvented Mandy, who does a great job. She does a great job and she never even heard of this thing. And it was like, well, I was sticking up for her. And I think she deserves to be stuck up for it because she's awesome.

And now you've gotten to know her a little bit and she's great, right? Actually, I don't know who that is. I deal with Danny. Oh, you have not. Okay. So now I feel really embarrassed. Danny, you've never introduced your boss, who's a really nice lady. And Danny's sitting here on this Zoom.

Danny's the man. Danny's the man. He's the one that makes all this happen. Danny's a great guy. He's an awesome guy. And, you know, through the coordination of some awesome people, Mandy O'Donnell, she never heard of this thing. And I don't think Danny, at that point, to be fair, Danny, I don't think had heard of it either. So yeah, but it was-

Well, happy we cleared it up. Well, I'm, this is great. And we had MJF on in studio on the MMA Hour right before the Queen show. That was a big deal. We'll get into all of that. But can I ask you right off the top, like, I know you were just coming from another meeting right now for your other, I've always wanted to ask you this, if your life was a pie chart, right? Could you break it down for me? Like what percentage is devoted to AEW? What percentage is Fulham? What percentage is Jacksonville? One of those jobs is too much for one person and you're doing three in addition to the true media stuff, in addition to now Ring of Honor. Could you even break it down possibly like in a week or a day, how much you're devoting to each one?

Well, I think the world has changed and you're able to multitask now. And so much of what we do is online or in our phones or in our laptops and the way we're talking right now. And years ago, even this conversation wouldn't have been possible without us flying and making a trip to book a face-to-face interview. A lot of things are possible now. And it's a really fluid thing. It just depends on what time of year, you know, if it's the NFL draft, well, that's a weekend and, you know, Dynamite's on a Wednesday. And so I can focus then on the draft over the weekend and the draft. There's

often a football fixture in England during that time. So I'm often a football fixture in England during that time. So I'm watching a football fixture in England on the weekend of the draft. And it just so happens the Saturday is my busiest day of the year in the NFL, probably signing up on drafted free agents, which is something I've had the good fortune to find some good ones, including a few players who are with us right now and contributing to the Jaguars. And I like doing all the things I do. I started with football and then my life was awake. When I was awake, it was almost 100% NFL football. And then a lot of what I do is either automated or in the hands of people. You mentioned True Media, which is a

company I own out of Boston, which is managed by amazing people. And they founded the company. And so I invested with them and then founded the company. And that, so I invested with them and then purchased the company. And now together, the three of us run the company and they do an amazing job with that. Fulham football club, super hands-on with, but do a lot of it from overseas abroad and have done it that way for six years with the player transfers. And right now I think we're in the best position we've been in since my father purchased the team. And when he bought the team, I didn't work in the football side at all. And I had nothing to do with it for several years.

And it was only after they'd had, you know, some bad results and had gotten relegated. And then they almost went down to the third division where in the summer of 2016 I took over doing the transfers and we brought in 14 new players and changed the team and then within two years we were back in the premier league and then we were down and we got back up and then we went down and now we're up and uh we did it in the best. I think we've done it yet. The squad came together. They won the league championship and our coach Marco Silva is so tremendous. And I think we have a great group of people there. Great CEO, Alistair McIntosh.

And I like to oversee the transfers and loans and have done that since 2016. And now working with them on Zoom, the same way we're talking and through the summer we're talking like this every day for hours and it's amazing yeah and to be able to do it now you know so you can do things like that and uh sometimes backstage early in the day during a dynamite might be working on a transfer so this is probably not the stuff uh that 95 percent no i'm fascinated as someone who has like a lot of things going on as well like time management is very this is probably not the stuff that 95% of the people. No, I'm fascinated.

As someone who has like a lot of things going on as well, like time management is very interesting to me. So I was just curious how you are able to navigate through all these very different jobs and different roles. As I said, Wednesday, three-year anniversary of Dynamite. Congratulations, mazel tov, as my people like to say, on this massive deal. I'm wondering if you could be honest with me with me, are you exceeding your expectations? If we would have spoken back in October of 2019, did you think you'd be at this point?

Are you maybe disappointed? Did you think you would be even further along? Are you blowing your own expectations out of the water? How would you gauge how far you have come in three years? I think we've come an amazing way in three years, and I think we've vastly exceeded any expectations at that point. When Dynamite launched three years ago, we were not on TBS yet. We were on TNT. It was because of a big vote of confidence and support of management that we've gotten new opportunities since then. We've grown our

portfolio. We're doing more things with Warner Brothers and more now it's Warner Brothers Discovery. And the new management this year has been the best yet for us, for AEW in terms of really giving us opportunities. And I think this year, the three-year anniversary show that we have tonight is a great way to showcase everything they've done to roll out the red carpet for us and make this such a special way to celebrate the anniversary with an extra 15 minutes at the end of tonight's episode on TBS, which starts at like 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central as it does every week. But then we have an additional 15 minutes at the end of the show. So it's two hours, 15 minutes live on TBS tonight. And

we also have two hours live on TNT for the first time ever. It's AEW Rampage followed by AEW Battle of the Belts 4. And I'm very excited about the idea of bringing Battle of the Belts to Friday night after Rampage, but it's also pretty interesting trying two hours again. And I can tell you firsthand, the network was really pleased with how we did with Grand Slam Rampage to have two hours perform and have the second hour hold up really well. And that was a really strong performance, not only in the 10 p.m. hour for the first hour, but the second hour of Grand Slam Rampage performed very well. And so it's a great opportunity and I think it bodes well

for this Friday. So it's really been tremendous. And this year in particular, we've seen our best run of ratings in the last six weeks. And, you know, it's been challenging circumstances at times, but in many ways, it's been the most stable TV crew I've had the entire year. And it's been really, really great. And the shows have been tremendous. And I think going into the three-year anniversary, it's really fitting that we have some of the best wrestlers in AEW peaking at this great time to have Jon Moxley, the AEW World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho come

out of Grand Slam with a Ring of Honor World Championship. It's Chris Jericho's eighth World Championship. And if you're somebody who follows professional wrestling, and if you haven't seen AEW, I tell you no lies. And I swear to you as a wrestling fan, somebody who really loves it, this is some of Chris Jericho's best work. And I am one of the biggest Chris Jericho fans of 30 years and was a tape trader when I was 12 years old, trading for Chris Jericho tapes in Japan. I was there at his last two matches in ECW in person. My father brought me to the ECW arena when I was 13 years old and my dad did not like wrestling at all. This was all in pursuit of getting me to achieve a higher education because I had been

admitted to a school I didn't want to go to. And they bribed me by taking me to the ECW arena. And I've followed Chris for a long time and he's done so much for AEW. Like we would not have gotten off the ground. I don't think without Chris, he was instrumental in the launch. His star power brought so much focus to our first pay-per-view in the early Dynamites. And he was the first AEW world champion. And now Chris has peaked in terms of physical fitness. And that's why we were able to bring back Lionheart this year, because Chris is back in that physical condition. And as a Jericho fan, you probably know, you know, as a wrestling fan, I believe a

huge part of his legacy is like, he was a really, not only a very charismatic star, really athletic, who had great matches, very physically fit and looked like a great wrestler in his prime. And, uh, Chris was a huge star from us for the very beginning, but right now in terms of physical fitness is the best he's ever looked in AEW by far. He lost 31 pounds this year. Wow. Yeah. he looks fantastic. I mean, his body transformation from last year to this year, incredible. By the way, I'd be remiss if I don't wish you an early happy 40th as a 1982 baby. So

a lot of exciting things happening for you. I think you're turning 40 in the next few days. So congratulations on that as well. You mentioned Rampage. And so you've got Rampage on Fridays. You've got Dynamite on Wednesdays. Do you ever foresee a day where Dynamite is live two, two and a half hours, whatever the case may be? And then you're also live in a different venue on Fridays for Rampage. Because now sometimes, you know,

you're taping it afterwards, but this week you're not. So do you ever foresee a day? Would you like that? Or do you think that's not necessary? I don't know what it will do permanently, but I know going forward for the next month, most of rampages for the next, I'm really through full gear. Most rampages are live. Okay. So, uh, that's the idea. We're going to step it up going into full gear and step it up for rampage. So we have rampage live this week. We're doing a separate rampage show. It's actually,

it's a standalone show, but we are doing it on a Thursday in Canada, to be honest, because it makes a lot of sense with the traveling crew and with everybody up there for a lot of reasons to do it over the Wednesday, Thursday, rather than keep everybody up there the extra day. But there's also great opportunities with keeping that venue for two days and the business deal we made, that was a really good deal. And so this has been a big milestone month for AEW because like we're talking about tonight on TBS,

we're celebrating the three-year anniversary of AEW with this huge show. Your good friend MJF is going to open up the show in a big match with Wheeler Yuta. It's been building for a long time. I think people are really going to open up the show in a big match with Wheeler Yuta. It's been building for a long time. I think people are really going to enjoy it. And to see, frankly, one of the people who was one of the top young stars when AEW launched against somebody who has been one of the best young stars for AEW this year, I think it's very cool.

And there's a lot of great matches up and down the card that you'll see. I mentioned Chris Jericho and what great condition he's in and how amazing a year he's having. Now he's an eight-time world champion and he's going to team with his longtime protege, Sammy Guevara, who's a three-time TNT champion for us against Brian Danielson, one of the world's all-time great professional wrestlers, a six-time world champion himself, and his partner, the Ring of Honor pure champion, Daniel Garcia, who has kind of been at a bit of an impasse between what I would call pro wrestling and sports entertainment or the force in the dark side, call it what you will, but, uh, uh, you know, the, the, the right

and the wrong. Uh, could I ask you, you mentioned MJF, my good friend. Um, I, I think, and I've said this on many different platforms. Uh, I think he's one of, if not the best thing going in pro wrestling today, regardless of promotion. Um, I'm, I'm a huge admirer of his work. Uh, he reminds me of, you know, prime 1980s Roddy Piper, uh, the way he conducts himself, just the mic work, everything about him. A few months ago when we did that interview and even afterwards, like when he's talking about his contract and now I think you've done a nice job of kind of blending that into the program as well. And it's stuff that fans, especially of my generation, like we like that stuff and we're

not sure what's a work, what's a shoot. He's calling you a mark, all that stuff. Initially, were you comfortable with him talking about, because in the business, historically, we don't know when contracts are up. Were you comfortable with all of that? This is one of those things that I don't want to talk about, but I do think I agree with everything you led off with. I think he's one of the best wrestlers in the world.

It's amazing how much he's accomplished already at such a young age. He's a of the best wrestlers in the world. It's amazing how much he's accomplished already at such a young age. He's a great talent. And I have so much respect for that part of what he does. And, you know, you compared him to Roddy Piper. I think I grew up idolizing Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, Chris Jericho. And, you know, he's got the, you know, really some of the qualities of some of my all-time favorite pro wrestlers. So definitely agree with all that stuff.

And now to have him on the show on a regular basis, it's tremendous. And like I said, the last six weeks or so, the shows have been our best runner ratings of the year. And there's great stories coming together. And of course, we know MJF can challenge for the championship anytime he wants, coming out of all out as the winner of the casino ladder match. And now we have a very interesting situation framing around the world title. We have the world champion, Jon Moxley, who's also going to be going in to his hometown, Cincinnati, to defend the title as it stands right now against Hangman Page. So that's pretty interesting with Hangman, the former champ, going into Mox's hometown and

Max looming. There's a lot happening in AEW, as I mentioned, but also with Jericho and Danielson. I'm very excited about something that's going to be happening tonight on AEW. Oh, is that a tease? National scissoring day. It's going to be, you call it a tease if you will. But it's something very, very, very near and dear to all of us in AEW that we've watched grow from back here in the back of Daly's Place, right behind where I am right now, from when the Acclaimed was formed and how far they've come and now they're the world tag team champions and I think it's awesome and it's a testament to Max Caster Anthony Bowens to daddy ass and also to all the great wrestling fans that supported the acclaimed and supported everything they've done and how hard they've worked

to become the champs it's awesome and it's it's because of those guys, but also so much of it is because of the fans. And I think it's awesome. Could I just follow up if I may? The reason why I'm so drawn to MJF is because he talks about the side of the game. You're a football guy. We love the business side of sports, right? Free agency, transfers, deals. This I think is brilliant. So I'm just curious, why don't you want to talk about it? This I think is part of his appeal. And I think it's great for the storyline, his spot in the company. He's going to be a free agent in a year and a half or so. And you're talking about it on the broadcast as well. Yeah, but I don't see how going into detail about it other than talking about his wrestling and what he brings to the show.

And of course, you know, everything he brings is great promos, his great ideas. There's a lot there. But, you know, I think you're you're starting when you want to get into the contracts and that aspect of it with me. Same as my other jobs. If you wanted to talk about the contracts at Fulham, I would probably be kind of vague. I would say like, I really like the player. I think it's good business we're doing. And I think it's a great transfer that we're making and we're doing a smart move for the club. But, you know, getting into the numbers and stuff, rarely will I do that. When he was on my show, he just said that he came to terms with you on a deal, but not an extension. Can I ask if that was accurate? Yeah. I, again, I don't want to comment on what we did, but I think he's been well compensated and I'm glad

to have him on the shows and he's like a huge part of it now. So it's great. For you, just curious, I know you've popped up a couple of times. Do you have any desire to be an on-air figure, character, you know, authority figure? I feel like, no, you don't want to. I am a device. And when it is necessary, it can be a very effective one. And we've done 160 episodes. I have made all four appearances in 160 episodes.

All of them did about a million. Some of them were really every time they were very necessary. Some involved a little bit of talking. Some involved really none. The only four times I've been on the show were, you know, the most regrettable was at the end of the Brody Lee tribute show. And then there was the purchase of Ring of Honor. There was the announcement of the Forbidden Door And then there was the purchase of Ring of Honor. There was the announcement of the Forbidden Door. And there was the announcement of the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions. Some of these did over a million, all of them did. But it's not like I'm a big hamper on the TV, but it's also not like a device I go to very often unless it's absolutely necessary. So it's four times out of 160. We're showing up on a very, very low percentage of the shows.

So if I'm on a couple percent, 98% of the time, you're not going to see me. And I think that's important to note. And I'm fascinated by your role. So I mentioned all the titles, but I think the one that the fans are most interested in is you being the booker, right? I think the Wrestling Observer named you Booker of the Year for three straight years if i have that correct um it's been two i've it's the and it's the fans that vote sure sure no and that's a huge uh you know um you know that's a huge sign of respect from the fans but you know we hear about uh writing teams and stuff and i

spoke to daniel brian or brian danielson, about this, how like when he came over, no script. And at first he was like, wow, this is amazing. No script. Could you just tell us like as far as writing the show, is it really just you or is it you and several others? And if there are several others, how many people are involved in that? Well, it's me. And I put together an outline every week and have done that for a few years now. And it's gone well.

And I started doing it that way. And I think things really, you can look at the numbers, like there's a direct lineup when I started doing it. And, um, it's helps me keep everything organized and helps me keep everybody organized as best I can. I think the best thing for AEW is what's happening right now. The opportunity we have tonight and going forward this week to have more television time for the incredible roster, because I think we have as good a roster as anyone in wrestling, but we don't have seven hours or five hours of TV most weeks. We have three hours and I'd like to maximize it, but it's incredible this week. We have four hours and 15 minutes of live TV, two hours and 15 minutes tonight on TBS and two hours on Friday on TNT.

That's pretty cool. And it's the first time we've ever done four hours and 15 minutes of live TV in a week. So that's awesome to celebrate the three-year anniversary. And it's very consistent with the incredible support we've been getting recently from Warner Brothers Discovery. This really has been a banner year for us. And this summer, we've gotten the chance to work on integrations in a really changing media landscape where these are really valuable opportunities that I think signal where we stand in the ecosystem of entertainment in the biggest content creator on the planet right now. And they're running a really smart business.

And the new boss brought us in to help promote Shark Week, which is so important to them. And so near and dear to Discovery for good reason, because it's the longest running, most successful TV theme week ever. And now, based on doing a good job on that, we got the opportunity to work on House of the Dragon and do an entire House of the Dragon episode, you know, using footage from the show, using some of their content. And what was awesome is I also think it was one of the best episodes we've ever done. And, you know, getting a chance to bring Ricky the Dragon's team boat in and work with the Dragon and the Dragon Slayer and have a great two out of three falls match. Brian Danielson, of course,

was involved there wrestling with Daniel Garcia. And then tonight they're team great two out of three falls match. Brian Danielson, of course, was involved there wrestling with Daniel Garcia. And then tonight they're teaming coming out of that. So it's been building for a long time. There was a lot of respect coming out of that house of the dragon match building to that match tonight against the guys who in the very first episode of Dynamite paired up Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. And to have that protege mentor relationship and then celebrate that on the three-year anniversary, I think it's cool. And to be

able to work on the House of the Dragon for HBO, that was pretty cool. And I've worked here for three years now, and that's the first chance I've ever had to work on anything with HBO. And then to have the TBS and TNTPR come back and say, you did a really good job and HBO is known for having really high standards and they thought you did awesome. So that's a good sign. And it means a lot to me because I love HBO. And now we're getting these great opportunities. But the biggest thing we can do with AEW to me is get more opportunities

for this great roster to wrestle because i think three hours is amazing and we can do even more uh with more time and the stability of the roster we've had in recent weeks we've had this great run of ratings uh there's a lot of exciting things happening across the shows i mentioned great champions before somebody who's been a really consistent performer came over as a free agent, Tony Storm. I mentioned the tag team champions who are a homegrown act. We've developed here two individual wrestlers who came together in AEW as a team, as the acclaimed and won the titles. But the team they won them from are two of our best free agents we've ever signed both

this year, Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland. And so it's been a great group of wrestlers coming together for us. And I really believe across the two hours of Dynamite and the one hour rampage, there's even more opportunity to do more, which I think we can show this week. Before we got on, we were talking about my good friend, Mark Ramondi. You know him well of ESPN, writing a book on WCW. And I think you would agree we're almost exactly the same age. The best time in wrestling history was, you know, the WCW, WWF, E! Monday Night Wars, right? The competition. When there's no competition,

wrestling isn't as fun. Like we love that, right? I loved that era then. But if you asked me then, I was like, oh, well, I wish I was in the 80s. Like, so, but now looking back on it, I do think that might be true. But it's also hard to say what the best era. It's definitely a great era. One of the best, if we want to say that. And I would say that's part of the reason why fans were so excited when AEW came with strong backing and big names on the roster because they wanted competition.

They wanted a Pepsi to the WWE's Coke, for lack of a better analogy. Could I ask, when you found out that there was gonna be a regime change over there, what was your reaction? Because I think a lot, I said to myself, I felt the product was stale and I thought that you guys were doing a much better job

of keeping fans on their toes and presenting something fun. Now I think their product has gotten a lot better and I think most fans would agree. Did you take that as, all right, let's go, let's buckle up. It's going to be a bigger fight, a more fun fight. What was your reaction when you found out about these, I mean, massive regime change where Vince leaves and now it's, you know, Triple H in charge? Yeah, that kind of was how I felt. I definitely, I'm always up for the challenge. And I think there have been elements that have seen a big the challenge. And I think there have been elements that have seen a big improvement there. And I've been open to say that. I think there's been a lot

of improvements there. And I definitely think for us, we've had a lot of big improvements too in recent weeks and have been- Like a rising tide lifts all boats, right? Type of thing? I mean, we're both, you know, I think both are very competitive and have been very competitive in the past, obviously. And it's, you know, I think both are very competitive and have been very competitive in the past, obviously. And it's, you know, I think in this case now, hopefully going to be good for everybody. There's probably a bit more similarity in what we're looking for in terms of the profile of a free agent, which I think is already going to start being a thing. So we'll see how that goes. I think we're like looking at more similar people.

There was definitely something happening this year where there were wrestlers being released from there that came here that I definitely believe belong on national television, worldwide television that are huge stars in AEW. And some of those people, I think, would have made sense. And I don't think if there hadn't been a switch in the person who makes that call, not sure any of those people, or not sure of at least many of those people would have been released. And then I think we were the benefit. I think the benefit, you know, the benefit of that was for AEW, I think, because there's some really good names, including some I've mentioned that have come over this year that we're very fortunate to get. And I think, so there may be more similarity in terms of who you let go? Because maybe, you know, the Malachi Black situation, there's reports out there that you aren't so keen to let him go because there's interest in him on the other side. Like, are you, in a previous era,

you're like, all right, if I let this guy go or this woman go, they're not going over there. But now because you have similar interests, perhaps you'll think twice about that. Who have I really let go though? That wasn't either a contract that expired or wasn't for cause because I haven't really done a lot of letting people go. Or not fight to keep someone or resign someone. You know what I mean? I do think there's a more similar profile in what we're looking for, which is probably good because I think the way we're doing things is good. I think, like I said, there's probably been a lot of improvements since the switch. I've been pretty open to say that. It's not the first time I've said it in an interview.

I'm a wrestling fan. Do you watch the product? Do you even have time to watch their product to see what the competition is doing? I watch a lot of wrestling. I watch a lot of wrestling from different places. Do you consider the product? Do you even have time to watch their product to see what the competition is doing? I watch a lot of wrestling. I watch a lot of wrestling from different places. Do you consider them competition? I've said before, I can think all wrestling is competition. I don't know if you've heard me say this before. Some people ask me why I'll talk about other wrestling companies, especially WWE. And I'll tell you, it was literally a book handed to me over three years

ago before the launch of Dynamite by Warner Media at the time before it was Warner Brothers Discovery. And it was telling me what our place already because Dynamite hadn't launched, but we had carved out a space in the pay-per-view business where it was clear we weren't a niche business because we had already outperformed every company other than WWE for 20 years. So we were already not just number two, but the biggest number two in the pay-per-view market in 20 years, because the numbers we did for our first summer pay-per-views were bigger than the numbers WCW was doing in their last 18 months of business. And, um, and then since then we've, you know've posted numbers that nobody's done since the 90s other than WWE, literally. So, you know, 1999, we were talking before we started very briefly, just as we jumped on about WCW.

And I think, you know, it was mid to late 99 was the last time they saw those kind of numbers and then never again. And so we carved out a space and they handed me a book and it was how to be a challenger brand. This is what you are. A challenger brand. I learned then three years ago, a challenger brand is not the industry leader, but it is also not a niche brand, a niche brand, tomato, tomato, if you will. And it is not that. It is a big company. It is Pepsi.

It is Burger King. It is maybe Arizona iced tea. It is a big company. It is Pepsi. It is Burger King. It is maybe Arizona Iced Tea. It is a challenger brand. It's a big company. But many people don't know that they're not the industry leader, but people like them and many people prefer them. And that's why they have a very big base. That's Pepsi. That's Burger King. That's maybe Arizona Iced Tea. Like I said, I think that's AEW as a challenger brand. So what, look at Burger King marketing. What is Burger King marketing? I mean, basically a lot of it is, Hey, McDonald's sucks guys. So, uh, and I don't, especially now, like if there's been improvement, I am not like Burger King. Okay. Like I, uh, and I respect the hell out of both Burger King and McDonald's as, as businesses.

I'm just using them as sure. You know, textbook examples, literally for me, educationally textbook examples. And, uh, so for AEW, you know, it's just part of what we are. We're a challenger brand. There's no reason to pretend we're not. That's what you are. Embrace it. So it's literally a corporate philosophy handed down on high to me by my boss.

Yeah. I mean, I don't think you have to explain that. Of course, they have a head start and you guys have made, I think you've exceeded expectations in the last few years. That's why I wanted to know if you agreed with that statement. Dying to ask you obviously about Labor Day. Yeah. Yeah. By the way, by the way, just, you know, I do agree with it. I just wanted to give you, because I get asked sometimes that, and I thought it was a good way. Sure. Yeah.

You know, because you asked about, do I consider them competition? Well, sure. I consider them, in many ways, the industry leader, but I consider us a strong challenger brand and people all the time knock us for our position. And it's like, you know, would you tell the CEO of Pepsi like, oh, you didn't sell as many bottles as Coke? Would you tell, you know, and it's, we're a big company he had to say. I was dying to know what was just happening in your mind in that moment as all that was unfolding. Could you share any of that with us? I cannot share any of that with you. Okay. Were you upset? I can't talk about it, but I appreciate and understand that you had to ask. Fair enough. Could I ask what is the state of

your relationship with CM Punk you can ask but i appreciate that you asked but i cannot answer that my friend okay fair enough could i ask what's the state of his relationship with aw like is he is he going to come back is he suspended i think there's a lot of uh intrigue a lot of questions regarding where he sits right now i know he's nursing an injury but is he going to come back, or is that up in the air? You can ask, but I cannot answer that and comment, my friend. Fair enough. And what about the other particulars involved in the alleged incident afterwards? Can you comment on their status with the company? Are they back at least?

I mean, it's a whole thing. I just can't talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. I understand. I had to ask. I understand what you talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. But you know, I understand. I had to ask. I understand what you got to do. Could I ask this question? I mean, I think at one point you mentioned that you felt like your back was against the wall during that press conference

when you had the mic, so to speak. Could you explain why you felt that way? Why you felt like you were, and even afterwards, did you feel- When did I say that? What did I say? I think you were saying like, you know, you felt like they were coming after you.

They put three shows on that weekend and that was a door thing. Oh, yes, yes. So I just mean like that was your mindset going into the weekend before all the other stuff happened. And so after the weekend, did you feel even more so? I thought that Wednesday, by the way, after with MJF and Moxley in the ring, like really galvanized and really sent the message that like, hey, we're okay. Like everything you guys want to say, we're okay. I thought those were the right two people.

But just for you internally, this is your baby and you're feeling that way going into the weekend. And then this supposed stuff happens coming out of the weekend. Did you feel even more so like, man, I got to fight on behalf of my child? Like this is serious business here. Yeah, this was absolutely very important coming out of all out, no matter what happened. And then probably more so than ever for us to hit a home run in the weeks that followed. And we have, and we, you know, we had a great show coming out of that in Buffalo and then started the

Grand Slam tournament of champions went through Albany, and then into Queens, where we did our biggest live gate ever for AEW Dynamite. Again, we're going on about 160 episodes of Dynamite. And to have over a million dollar gate and be only the second wrestling company ever to do that on television in America. And only, I think, the second company ever for TV in the world, for that matter, to do it. And it's a pretty great milestone for us and just a big month of milestones, like you said, with tonight being the three-year anniversary of AEW. And this big thing to have four hours and 15 minutes, two hours and 15 tonight on TBS, two hours on TNT, it's a great opportunity. And I

think the wrestlers here, the staff, everybody who's come together has really earned it. And, you know, I think we're really, really in a great position now coming out of that. Like you said, I did feel like that weekend we had to put on a great show and then to follow up with something great. And I think the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions, there were some really great matches and we've crowned a great champion. There's a very intriguing situation now with the champion, the former champion and MJF looming and big matches on deck tonight. So it's pretty cool. You recently signed Paige, now known as Soraya, her real name, right? Uh, could I ask, is she going to wrestle for AEW or is she going to be more of a, an authority figure,

just, you know, a manager, if you will? Well, I don't want to say what Soraya's role is going to be yet, but I think that's one of those, uh, stay tuned to dynamite, you know, tonight and rampage every week and you'll find out, uh plan is. But Soraya is tremendous and it's great having her in AEW. She's such a recognizable star all over the world. And what a great signing for us in the UK where AEW is by far the number one television wrestling company in the world. And I would be remiss if I didn't bring up that point that now AEW Dynamite on Friday nights has gotten moved up and we've got a big run of shows now where Dynamite is actually starting on Friday at 9 p.m. Of course, it's Wednesdays here in America. Wednesday night, Friday night.

It's on Friday. And now it's been moved up because the ratings have been so strong. We just had our biggest viewership ever. We've topped it multiple times now. The Quake by the Lake set a new record. And then we had this huge opportunity that they moved Grand Slam up two hours. And now they're looking to move more of the shows up two hours. And I just think it's awesome.

What network is that? ITV. Okay. And it's free to air. It's great to have a direct way, you know, it's, it's, uh, great to have, um, a direct way to reach all the viewers in the UK. And so we have this massive reach in the UK and ITV similar to our relationships here in America with TBS and TNT, you have this great history of showing pro wrestling. ITV has got this amazing history of wrestling. And so they're the best possible TV partner you could have.

And my, my pal action Bronson did great in his debut. Was that a one-off or will we see more of him? That I cannot say, but I thought he did tremendous. And both of us have definitely left it open for him to come back. He was tremendous. And I really like him a lot.

He's better than you thought it would be. Cause I, I thought he was like a young Bam Bam Bigelow out there. He's tremendous, right? He was not only better than... I went and watched him train and I gave him the highest praise. Which is if I didn't know you were Action Bronson, if I didn't know you were this massive

international megastar, that's the highest praise you can give a celebrity wrestler is you were so good that if you told me this was somebody we're going to bring in a new guy, we want to try him out on dark. I would say tremendous. He looks like he'll fit right in. So that's the highest praise you can give a celebrity wrestler. I think he's crossed over where he's, he's, he could really do more. So action Bronson was awesome and really great guy.

What a really nice, respectful, just cool man. Cool man. Legend. Can I ask you about one? Not sure if you can respond but uh you know i wouldn't be me if i if i didn't try uh i thought when wyndham rotunda was let go from wwe that he would have been a natural for you guys obviously he hasn't signed with anyone we don't know there's rumors he might be coming back did you ever have a conversation with wyndham or his management about coming to aw i don't want to talk about like people I haven't, haven't talked to, but he's a great guy.

Uh, I think I've said this in interviews before, so I wouldn't be giving anything away. I think I see, he was at Chris Jericho's birthday party. Uh, and, uh,

you know, I've never talked to him about that kind of a thing, uh, in person or anything. So I, I, uh, think he's a tremendous talent and,

uh, you know, I wouldn't, the same as I said before, I wouldn't want to like comment on stuff with, you know, people specific negotiations or who we didn't understand. On a football team, right? Like when you're the GM of a team, there's obviously people who work for you that work with you. There's, you know, director of operations, things like that.

There's a whole, there's a whole scout with you, with signings. signings just curious like what is the process is it is it you do you have a person that you really lean on and say should we you know should we sign uh danielson i know every situation is different i understand that one is like a no-brainer i mean i don't need any help with that like uh but then yes yes there's a huge how's that process go, there's a huge group of people. How does that process go? Well, there's a big group of coaches and executives. And we've recently promoted some of the high-performing coaches and producers to the vice president level. And we have a great group of executive, executive vice presidents, vice presidents, coaches, and different people in the organization who bring people in. Sometimes it's a wrestler that scouts somebody and bring them in. And at the end of the day, I have to decide if I'm going to sign them and put

them on the roster and pay them. But it's changed how we do it because at one point, I think AEW Dark was the premier tryout system in America. And we weren't the only ones scouting it. There are plenty of people who would tell you that, you know, WWE was recruiting off AEW Dark during the pandemic. And it would be, you know, if anybody says that's not true, okay, whatever, you're full of shit. So, and so, yes, I do think we've had a really good system of coaches and production people. So you asked me about putting the show together before too, and to touch on that. I mean, so I'll put an outline together and there's a lot of people I'll run stuff by, but, um, you know, I'm trying to talk to a lot of different people about ideas.

I'll sit down with, um, a group of people like on timing the show, making sure I have all the breaks, right. Cause we have to make sure we get the commercial on timing the show, making sure I have all the breaks right, because we have to make sure we get the commercial breaks in the show, because that's important, because that's how you get paid. And that's our job. And then, of course, announcer copy and more specifics, transitions, wraparounds, and things like that, that we put into the show, but I'll come in with an outline and I'll sit down with, uh, you know, Tony Shivani, QT, uh, a couple of people backstage, Sanjay has become really valuable. And, uh, then there's a lot of people throughout the years, you know, that you'd go to whatever their stuff is, you know, I think there's specific people, even if they're not, um, working in an office job se, that you'd go to like a Chris Jericho, Brian Danielson, John Moxley.

And of course, you know, people who are working, you know, even office jobs like Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks and CM Punk and, you know, different people that would come in with ideas. And then, uh, you also, um, have, you know, people that, uh, just a good amount of people that'll just pitch me an idea. And a lot of times I'll mark them down and it's something we can fit in. I want to do them. But the biggest thing is I would love to have more time because I think it would pay off and everything would get stronger if there were more hours of TV. It's why I'm so excited about tonight getting the two hours and 15 minutes on TBS and on Friday getting the two hours on TNT because it's the most live TV we've ever gotten either night, let alone both. And, you know, there's a cool milestone with the anniversary to make it all why we're getting it. And now I think based on Grand Slam and the lead up to Grand Slam doing so well, it bodes really well for us. I know we're up against the clock. Do you have time for three more questions?

I'm not up against the clock. I'm good for you. Oh, they told me. No, no, no, not for you. Okay. I was stressing looking at the clock this whole time. Okay, well, I won't keep you very long. No, I'm enjoying it. It's great. I appreciate it.

Could I ask you about ROH? Is ROH going to be a standalone thing? Or, you know, now Jericho, like, is there ever going to be a time where ROH is going to be an actual broadcast entity on a network? I would like to do a weekly ROH show. I don't know where it would live. I think based on the very close relationship I have with the largest content creator in the world, Warner Brothers Discovery, it makes a lot of sense to do it hand-in-hand with them however I can. So my first step was trying to introduce them to Ring of Honor. And our first foray into Warner Brothers Discovery doing anything with Ring of Honor is I've integrated some of the Ring of Honor championships and champions into the show. And now we have huge names. I mean, you know, Chris Jericho, Samoa Joe, FTR, Mercedes Martinez, and now Daniel Garcia is a young champion. But the four people, excuse me,

five people I named before that, those are some of the best TV wrestlers we've had in the last decade or multiple decades in some cases. So I definitely think for me, I would love to do a weekly show. But my first step, because you got to crawl before you can walk, especially when you're dealing with such a massive and prestigious company like warner brothers discovery is my first step was to do a pay-per-view with them death before dishonor which we did in july and it did very well it more than tripled the projections and they were floored by it and And it actually would be one of the two biggest ring of honor pay-per-views of all time in 20. Now bring on has been around for over 20 years

and some of the biggest names in wrestling have come through there. And frankly, now I would even say before me, some of the biggest names in wrestling have booked it. And, uh, so it's really cool. I think we're hitting new highs with it now with Chris Jericho, one of the biggest stars ever in TV wrestling, in the TV wrestling era, he would definitely be on anybody's list of the biggest names and the people who've accomplished the most. And now to have him an eight time world champion holding the ring of honor belt, it's very cool to have Samoa Joe, who's a huge wrestling star. I don't need to tell you. And somebody that, uh, has made headlines all over the world as the

ring of honor world television champion. That's a big deal. FTR, one of the top tag teams in the world, uh, holding belts all over the world in the ring of honor world tag team championship. And they've been in the main event of death before dishonor, you know, that was awesome. And so the performance of Death Before Dishonor bodes really well to doing more, more pay-per-views and hopefully a weekly show somewhere in the Warner Brothers Discovery ecosystem would be awesome. You remind me a little bit on social media of like a young Dana White, a 2009 version of Dana White, because you're not afraid to go back and forth with people. He doesn't do that

much of that anymore. And you don't see a lot of executives do that. But even when it comes to football, when it comes to Fulham, when it comes to AEW, you're very active on social media, not just posting things, but replying as well. Do you ever sometimes get heated about something and reply to someone and then say, eh, maybe I shouldn't have done that? Or why give in? Or why even engage in this? It's like maybe I shouldn't have done that? Or why give in or why even engage in this? Did you ever have those moments? I certainly do. I'm just curious if you ever do because you're not afraid to go back and forth with people. No, not really. I think it's great. It's great engagement with the fans. It's great engagement

with people. I love connecting with the fans, hearing what they think. I was an online wrestling fan and I grew up in an age where there was some connectivity and then it got taken away for a long time. And then Twitter really brought it back. And with such a unique platform where, you know, so many of the people in wrestling are on one social media platform and it's communicate, you know, it's not, it's about writing and it's very much up a wrestling person's alley trying to write a witty quip or trying to sum up a story and a tight thing. So I really, really like it.

And I, you know, I think it's all in good fun. So, you know, you can't, you gotta really look forward to in life. And that's why I'm looking forward to tonight on TBS and Friday on TNT, as you know. And for me, were you ever on AOL? Because we're the same age. Of course. Yeah, yeah.

Did you do wrestling stuff on AOL when you were a kid? Like the message boards? Yeah. No, not really. Before AIM, like when it was like dial-up. Yeah, yeah. I know there were other ones. I'd go on like Scoops Wrestling and Raja, I think it was.

Well, those are websites. But like, I mean, like the actual like dial-up. No, no. Like CD-ROM. No, I'm Canadian also because AOL wasn't as big of a deal over there. Did you have Prodigy or was there anything like that you have i had netscape i had maybe i did have prodigy yeah there's compu serve netscape yeah yeah so aol early on like the early version of the buddy list i had like wrestlers on the buddy list and

you could do like brian pelman senior and you're just you're just chatting with them yeah you just legit how'd you know it was them it Because, like, well, people I knew in wrestling confirmed it was them. And also, like, DDP gave me tickets. Oh, wow. That's wild. And then you had Luthes on there. Wow. And I told, I was 12 years old, and I was trading tapes.

And Luthes put a book out, and he was promoting it on there, and he was, like, sending copies of his book. And it was like, you know, it was Luthez. And I asked him about people I liked and he had like a lot of respect for Ric Flair. He told me Buddy Rogers was the best. And I go back and watch it. And it's like, I really like him enamored by Buddy Rogers. I just think he's so great. And it's like the way every time he hits the ropes, it doesn't look like a thing that he's done a million times. It looks like it's, he doesn't want to be doing it. And, uh, it's, he's just been whipped in violently and he's got six different

ways to do it and they all look different and cool. And, uh, he just does so much awesome stuff that you wouldn't expect to see. And he's so charismatic. And I talked to him about how I loved Mid-South wrestling and, you know, Bill Watts, Mid-South, UWF. And I was a big fan of that stuff. And Luthez told me, I don't know if it's true or not. He told me Bill Watts carried a gun and that he would, and I'm 12 years old at the time, mind you. And that Bill Watts had carried a gun and that's how he kept people in line. Well, I'm definitely not carrying a gun. So I assure you of that. Speaking of tweets,

I have to ask you about this one because Dave Portnoy of Barstool, I think confused you and Nick Kahn, who anytime I talk about Nick, I mentioned he used to be my agent. So we have a relationship. Would you like to read Dave's tweet? Would I like to read it specifically? Yeah, sure. Do you want me to pull it up? Sure, I would love it.

Because you want me to read it because he took a shot at Nick? Is that why? No, I just think if you want to tell people what he said and why. Well, yeah, the context, I think, would be fascinating. Let me pull it up here if I can get it real quick. I'll do this live unless he deleted it. You have post-production. We can tighten this up.

Or I can just keep the people. I'll just keep the people going. No, no, no. So there was a tweet. I think it was from Robbie, right? You did an interview with Robbie for My Mom's Basement. I was on with Robbie in this chair on this device. And Robbie told me about this.

And then he read it to me. And I was stunned because I thought he was talking about me. And I was like, because I was like, I didn't know what I did. I didn't do any of this. So I was like, why does he think I did that? And he cleared it up afterwards. So basically, Robbie said that he was interviewing you, Tony Khan, on Monday. And then Dave quote tweeted it and said, when he got to Barstool Van Talk, oh, sorry, when he got Barstool Van Talk canceled, why did he then invite me to sit next to him at a fight at MSG as his guest and pretend that I didn't know he was responsible? Did he think I was stupid or that I just forget? Or is he just that two-faced? And then someone else from Barstool, whose name is Big Cat, Big Cat, right? Then explained that he's talking about the wrong con, which is crazy that there are two cons in the wrestling business.

But that's how these things go. Unrelated, of course. And he explained wrong con. And then Dave then. Big Cat. What's up? Big Cat. Yeah, Big Cat. And then Dave then... Big cat. What's up? Big cat. Yeah, big cat.

And then Dave quote tweeted that again. Quick correction. I got the wrong con. Tony, we like. Nick is the guy who is full of shit. Carry on. And I think that's where it ends. No, there's one more.

There's one more. There's you, right? Is that the one you're referring to? Dave has one more too. I'm just trying to pull this up. Nick got it canceled. Now I have to get to your tweet you said something to the effect of you couldn't be more different um yeah i did say that i think dave got

one more dig in but yes again my fault oh nick is a snake there it is yeah but you said uh two more different people we could not be here's to not being two-faced here's to the big week on aw tv the aw dynamite three-year anniversary wednesday on tbs our first xl two-hour 50-minute episode friday the first ever live two-hour aw rampage battle the belts on tnt there it is so in case you were thinking that i wasn't trying to read i was just trying for brevity to uh you really you really gave it the whole thing the whole spiel thanks pal have you ever met nick k No. So how do you know that he is two-faced? I'm just wondering like where the feud comes from? Like why,

you know, to the best of my knowledge, he hasn't taken any shots at you publicly. Correct me if I'm wrong. You would know. I would rather somebody take shots at me publicly. Why? I would rather,

you know, I have no problem with if somebody has a problem with me saying it to my face. So, uh, yeah, I don't know. I,

this stuff. So why do you feel like he is two-faced? Why do you feel? I didn't say I, I, Dave said that I said, Dave, I,

you know, we're two completely different people. And then I promoted my show to more different people. We could not be, here's not being two-faced. Cause I'm not the guy you're talking about. So why are you two different people? Like you're,

you're both in the wrestling business. Well, first of all, I wanted to do that's buddy Rogers, right? To a nicer guy. It couldn't have happened. Right.

So flip. Yeah. So two more different people. We could not be. So, so first of all, it's a buddy Rogers twist on words. And second of all,

it's true. Cause we're totally different people. I love the nuts and bolts of the wrestling business. And I've never claimed to be, uh, the, the power player agent person, although I am a partner in a talent management company. So I, you know, am in some ways, uh, that is part of what I do, but we do two completely different things. Um, there's definitely some intersections of the things we do, but I think we do them in very different ways. And, uh, we're two completely different people. I don't know. That's fair. No, no, that's fair. I saw one time you did, uh, you cut like a promo on him with the sunglasses with Shivani. And so that's when I go back to, you know,

now think about that. Now, like, let's add the context to that. Now, when did I do that? And why did I do that? Can I do a wind horse? Do you like, yeah, go ahead. Oh, that thing. Yes. Yes. Utah jazz. What's going on in Utah? What's happening in Utah? So if I may, why did I do that? Well, I read online and every wrestling news site at the same time reported that New Japan was going to start working with WWE. And I had active plans with New Japan.

I had literally just reunited Roppongi Vice on Dark Elevation. And then I had plans for Yuji Nagata to come in and challenge Mox for the IWGP US champion and Mox, one of my biggest stars is their US champion. So there's like some intersections and we're starting to like, the ice is thawed. We're like working together at this point. And I read this online and I just, again, I'm going to ask straight out. I called and I asked Rock and I said like, Rock, is is this what's going on? Is it true you guys are talking to them? And if so, do you still want to do all the stuff? Because I, you know, do you want to do Nagata Mox? And is there a future in all this stuff? And I've got a really

good relationship in New Japan and in particular, Rock, who I would, you know, go to bat for as a human being. And then he has become the go between me and ghetto. And we built a really profitable trust between the three of us that way. And, um, that picture of me, mocks and ghetto, I think rock took it. Um, then I posted, you probably saw that I assume because you were very, yeah. And, um, so, uh, I have all the respect in the world for ghetto and rock and I called him and said, is it, you know, what's up? And he said, no, we're with you. There's nothing to it.

Like, um, we want to do this with you and that's how we're going to go. And then I said, well, it's getting a lot of press and today's Wednesday. So I'm thinking I should probably do a promo to get some buzz because also dynamite had been that night. There was a time shift. It was like during the playoffs. Okay. So, um, it was like on at a different time.

So I was like looking for something anyway. And to give a little bit of buzz. So I, you know, we did that before we went live. And it definitely got people talking because it's been a year and a half. And you're talking about it. But it was also true because I did say like which part was true though because was that one of the four appearances or does that one not count that's not on tv that was on social media but that's a character right like you're wearing the sun i've done a million promos on social media i i'm talking about taking

up the tv time from the wrestling stories like said, I've made four appearances in 160 episodes of dynamite. And I think I slipped out once to get fuego, the contract on rampage. So yeah. And I, I don't know. By the way, that question wasn't me saying like,

you're taking up too much. I think you could be on every episode. No, no, no, no, we don't need to do that. I'm just saying that felt like a promo rather than when you've been on,

like when you're announcing ring of honor, you're not in character. That felt like a character. That when you've been on, like when you're announcing Ring of Honor, you're not in character. That felt like a character. That was my wrestling character. That is a wrestling character I was doing that summer. Is that the only time we've seen the wrestling character? No, if you remember, you're a very plugged in wrestling person. You remember that when Kenny was also the Impact Champion,

that I was basically touring with Kenny as his promoter and doing promos. And Tony Schiavone and I would go on impact and plug dynamite tomorrow night or, or, you know, and, and have like, uh, the card for the show. Um, so it would, it would be like, we would go on and plug our own stuff. And I would really, really, uh, very often, um, well, this is kind of funny, you know, in working with New Japan, it's funny, but you mentioned that because it comes up all the time. But what I was about to say was the promo, because the promo was saying like, if you, Hey, every wrestling site basically

today reported that WWE is going to work with New Japan yet. Here I am with the U S champion on the show tonight. I've got Eugene Agata coming to dynamite. I just reunited Roppongi vice and, you know, we're the ones working with new Japan. So I think all the wrestling sites need to cool their jets. Cause this isn't true. And maybe watch dynamite tonight.

You know, at the time now it's on TBS back then it was on tnt and it was a promo for my own show but it was also saying like hey if you read online that new japan's not working with aew that they're going to work with wwe that's not true because aew and new japan have a very strong relationship here's why and then i explained it and i had heard nick called them and that was why i did it i've also told him this since so uh like i've not like you know it was not like it was just an honest thing it was yeah you said you said that to nick yeah oh so you have talked to him not in person yeah oh uh but uh but yeah you asked if i'd seen

him you had conversation i'd even know that you've had conversations with them yes about what i don't know but uh but uh but but nevertheless i have was it a positive conversation i don't want to uh get in if i may but uh again this is you may i understand why you asked but okay i do by the way shoot right now i'm shooting i had no idea you've ever talked to him that's why i asked the question it wasn't like well yeah i'm a super transparent i mean i haven't met him but i have talked to him and it was after this, I don't want to say, but, uh, but I did tell him and it was like, it's not perfect. It was just, that's what it was. It was like new Japan. I read this. I've got, you know, I'm heading over to daily's place to do dynamite, uh, out of my home. Cause at least, you know, I was in my own backyard. It was nice. It was like a two minute drive to the building every day. And, uh,

and it was right behind my office here. So that part was good. And, um, it was ended up being in many ways, you know, we made the best of a very difficult time. And at that point, the new Japan relationship was, was a fresh thing. So it was big for us. And now look at your later, it was probably, I don't know the exact timing on that interview. I have to think it was probably like just over a year before forbidden door, probably like, I think it was on the run, on the run up to double or nothing. So it was probably like, you know, 13, 14 months before, um, forbidden door, probably 13 and, uh, maybe 13 and a half. And, uh, so, you know, look at where it ended up, where we ended up doing over a million dollars on a live gate over now, I, you know, a big pay-per-view number. I think we're

off the top of my head, I think over 130,000 buys for forbidden door now, maybe more worldwide. And it was a huge success for both companies. It's the biggest debut of any of the AEW pay-per-view franchises. And that partnership has yielded millions of dollars. So that's why I went out and said what I said, because it was important to me. And also it was important to the show because if we weren't going to do Mox versus Nagata, I needed to know then and there. And also I wouldn't have done that without talking to New Japan. I was like, Rock, why don't you ask Ghetto? Should I do a promo? It's probably good for all of us, right? I'm not saying anything salacious true because i think they told me nick did call them and that they weren't they weren't going to

do anything with it so did you say it in the phone could i ask in the phone call did you say there's only room for one con in this business did you say that to him i can't i can't say nothing wow you're really stonewalling me here on this no No, I've given you, I think I've given you a lot. No, you have. You have. I'm really, I'm trying to. What is your relationship? Like, do you talk to him a lot or was it just?

I can't. I can't. You can't. But I, you know. Have you ever talked to Triple H? Yeah. Recently? No.

Stephanie? Yeah. Recently? No. How long ago? A long time ago. I would say I would say i would actually pre-aw yeah i i think we all used i thought we were friends actually i think we used to be friends so i mean more competitors than friends right i mean maybe no i was not a competitor at all i was a football oh now yeah now i haven't seen him in a long time but you know i wish him the best they were they

was it about like doing work with your family i'm a big wrestling fan i was and i have a lot a lot of friends around and uh i'm also in florida they were in florida so um it's a small world and they were really nice to me you know once upon a time as a football owner and uh you know it was a different totally different time sure but uh yeah it's been a long time do you think that's the right crew to lead them in as a do you think that's the right crew to lead them in as a wrestling fan like is that the right trio to lead them in this new era i don't know time will tell uh time will tell it's uh it's a really interesting time in the wrestling business though a lot's happened uh in the few years uh you know i'm in this office where

i've worked down this is my 11th season working for the Jaguars. And to think all the changes I've seen, I mean, things happen fast. You know, the expression, it's not, we don't only use it in the NFL. That's the expression they use everywhere. That's life in the NFL. And that's life in the NFL. It's the same in AEW. It moves fast. And I think it works across wrestling. It's a really unique space we've carved out for ourselves. I think you're really close to it. There were like three companies, and I'm here in this office, that's what makes me think of it. Through the pandemic lockdown, really, there were three companies all out of Florida, two of them out here out of Jacksonville, right around this, this entertainment complex. Uh, and it was WWE, of course, UFC and AEW were the three shows that

really kept going through Florida. And that's how Dana and I got close in the first place. That's how I became friends with Dana White and Hunter Campbell and the people at UFC. And Dana has been so cool to me. And you know, that it's a great compliment to me when you say it reminds you of Dana, cause I just have so much respect for the business he's built. And again, somebody who's been really, really nice to me. Them I don't see as a competitor at all. And except that it doesn't make sense for us to put on our shows against them

because UFC is the 800 pound gorilla and Dana is my friend. And why would I want to do that? It's like, it wouldn't, it's dumb business to begin with. Yeah. I think you moved one show, right? There was a pay-per-view and then you moved it because it was on the same night as a UFC pay-per-view. I have avoided, I've, I moved some of the shows to Sundays. Yeah. To avoid the risk, but also there's no risk of intersecting with football in the first three quarters for us. And it's really not until we get into Q4 around full gear or any other

opportunities on a, on a Saturday, you know, Saturday is where we run this pay-per-view full gear, November 19th, not to compete with the NFL. And then I also, when I do do, when I do run Saturdays, I try to not go head to head with the UFC. Cause that would be really dumb. Do you think we'll ever see a world where you go head to head with WWE, where you go to head to head with raw or SmackDown? You know, that's not really my choice. Like I don't decide when the show is on the original business model of this company, to be honest with you, it's now that we're on Wednesday.

This is a good promotion for when Dynamite on October 18th, not tonight on TBS on Wednesday, tonight. But we do a Tuesday show October 18th because of a playoff game. And so it'll be kind of like the old days head to head. And, you know, my original idea. Right. Yeah. But my original idea for AEW and part of the business plan, to be honest with you, was Tuesday was opening up in October of 2019. And my original idea was to launch a day sooner than we did because there had been a lot of people had become conditioned to watching wrestling then.

And there were Tuesday or Wednesday were the only days I was going to do it. And it was like, if you want me to put my life into it, I'm going to start a wrestling company. I'm going to do the TV one of these days. And if you want to carry it, it's going to be one of these two days. And because I couldn't do any other day. And Friday, I could also do, but I didn't think it made sense unless it was where Rampage is. But I also didn't think that should be the first show we did rather than the second show. I thought that made a lot of sense for the second show for the time slot that we launched after we'd already launched a successful standalone show. But my original idea was to launch on Tuesday, a day sooner, because there were millions of people conditioned to watching then. And we would jump in.

But Wednesday was more open for Turner because of the basketball conflicts. Because I know about Thursday basketball I had already thought about, and I would never go head-to-head with the Thursday night football games, such as Jaguars versus Jets on December 22nd. Oh, wow. So I don't want to... Where do you live? I live just outside of New York. Yeah, well, if you want to come to the game here,

we'd love to have you. Oh, yeah. What, is it in New York? Yeah, yeah, it's at MetLife Stadium on December 22nd. I appreciate it. We'd love to have you. I get the full royal treatment, like on the field, shake hands with Trevor.

I'm a Bills fan, by the way. I didn't like the win last year. You guys beat us. It was a shocking loss. I would argue the worst loss of the season if I'm being honest is that I don't know if that's disrespectful to the Jaguars but it was just a really low moment for the team our expectations were a little higher but you guys are doing pretty well now two and two it's a nice you know it's a nice little start right Doug Peterson's so awesome yeah Doug and Mike Caldwell the new staff and I wasn't a big Doug Marone guy if I'm

being honest really oh I because you're a Buffalo fan yeah it wasn't well you also I mean Doug did win a playoff game he did but he kind of left us high and dry yeah but I mean he also won a playoff game for us against Buffalo yes I remember the uh Tyra Taylor that was in a high moment for our our franchise yes yes yes uh on yes. He was the Bills quarterback. No, Nathan Peterman. No, no. Well, he got injured towards, but I think Taylor played the beginning of that game.

Peterman, yeah. We tried to erase Peterman from our memories. As we sit here today, I think one of the biggest stories, if not the biggest story, as far as wrestling is concerned in 2022 was Cody Rhodes coming over to WWE. Did you try hard to keep him? I still can't almost believe that he, he, I mean, he was part

of the foundation of the company. Did you try hard to keep him? I can't, I, again, we're in a realm of stuff I can't talk about, but I have a ton of respect for Cody and, uh, really liked Cody a lot and, uh, wish him the best in everything he's doing. Was it surreal for you to see him over there after, you know, being sort of in the trenches with him for three years? I can't talk about it. I definitely. Why can't you talk about that? I don't want to because I don't think it'll serve me well.

And but I do think he's a he's great and have a ton of respect for him. And it says a lot about him that, you know, in a year where Vince McMahon, well, I mean, from a wrestling standpoint, no,

I'm not saying it's not. I think Cody moving is a huge story for the wrestling business. And I think it says a lot that in a year where Vince McMahon comes back. And I was about to say before that Steve Austin came back and wrestled this year. So, and it says a lot that, uh, Cody jumping is right there as one of the biggest stories in pro wrestling. And, uh, I have a lot of respect for Cody and like him a lot. How would you describe Tony, the, um, the, the, the mood in the locker room right now? Like, how would you describe that? You know, when I did my MMA hour show

the week after everything happened, and I said, you know, maybe in retrospect, and this is me, you know, being 100% transparent. I said, maybe, you know, the inmates were running the asylum and Tony needed to like, you know, reel things back in and be, you know, the boss. Now it feels like things are good,

but do you feel like there's any truth to that? Like where the wrestlers were kind of being the bosses and that could sometimes lead to issues. Would you say that the mood has changed? Well, like I said, I'm not Bill Watts. I'm not enforcing things that way. I think the world has changed a lot. And I have a lot of really good relationships with the people here. And I think it's come across in the way we've been able to put a great company together so quickly, build this great roster. And now we have this great track record of success.

And I don't necessarily think that was the case. But I do think right now we're in a really good place as a roster, as a company. In retrospect, though, do you wish you had made different moves when you started? No, no, I think I did, you know, everything. And I also don't like looking backward. You can't really do that unless you're going to look at how you're going to look forward off of it. I don't think it serves well.

And also, like you said, I'm pretty busy. I don't necessarily have the time to do that. So it's pretty important to me to make sure that we're surrounded by really great people. And most importantly, I want to make sure that everybody comes to work and feels like it's a good place to work. And I want to make sure that everybody gets opportunities. But really, at the end of the day, everybody who's come to AEW knows coming in, there's a sense of security here that they haven't had necessarily at other wrestling promotions. A lot of the people I've brought in were part of layoffs and cost cutting and not like desperate cost cutting times or tight cost cutting.

It's like record profits cost cutting times or tight cost cutting. It's like record profits, cost cutting. And if I was making record profits, I probably wouldn't be laying off dozens of people. So that's some of what I'm talking about when I talk about compassion and being a good boss. And frankly, when I talk about, you know, I'm not necessarily the same guy as some person who shares my surname. Why? Why? Why do you have to say it like that?

Why can't you just say his name? By who? Who's that? Nick Khan. Nick Khan. You've talked to him on the phone. You probably talked to him more recently than I have. I don't know about that.

Yeah. But I do know that tonight is the three year anniversary of AEW Dynamite. That's right. I'm very excited about it and I gotta tell you uh this has been a great first appearance uh on your show I really appreciate you having me on and you know I feel like you're wrapping me up here so I'm not I'm not no it's okay no it's not I'm saying that uh I appreciate it I think this was good I think we've done a lot we've done a lot we've said it all we've done it all as howard stern likes to say i stretched you stretched you went longer than your your your you know your pr told me 45 and i respected that i always try to respect people's time i actually asked repeatedly

if you had a hard out because i want to be respectful of your time i guess i did and i screwed up and i didn't realize i had something right behind this but then that's i'd like to think you were enjoying this so much that you just, and we were making up for lost time because I don't know if I've ever worked harder to get someone on the program than you. I was getting stiff armed left and right. I see you on a million different shows and I was starting to get a little sensitive about it all.

And I feel like we did a lot of good work here. Do you watch the Larry Sanders show? Yes, of course. That's my favorite show other than maybe The Sopranos and Succession. Those are some of my favorite shows. And I think they're all HBO, which is why it was so great to work with HBO this year. And Larry Sanders, I love the duality where they show the onscreen product and the backstage product.

So the dynamic you're describing is like very, a very Larry Sanders dynamic, right? And this is like Tom Sh very larry sanders of course dynamic right and uh this is like tom shales and larry in reverse and uh it was a big story i heard everyone was mad at me i was like i don't even know what you guys are talking about i sent a text we went back and forth and that was it i love when tom shales is like very critical of larry and then larry starts firing back at a critic on it you're using his monologue to fire back at a critic. And then he is going to fax him a fax. The fax that starts, you know, starts out insulting him in the very first line. And Hank gets the fax and receives it because Larry doesn't know how to use a fax machine.

OK, now you've lost me on the analogy. I don't know. OK, the analogy is there. The analogy is there. Do you see that like there was a perceived beef? Oh, got it. And there's like somebody gets in the middle of it. And then it's like, well, you know, now there's like a feud that's not even real.

No, there's no feud in my mind. Yeah, well, you said you thought I didn't like you. I know in my mind, I said there was no feud. That's why I was trying to clear the air. Well, no, there's nothing. Now we know. I like you. All right. Thank's why I was trying to clear the air. Well, no, there's nothing. Now we know. I like you. All right.

Thank you. I appreciate that, Tony. Congratulations on three years. Continued success to you and the whole AEW team. Continued success to the Jaguars, other than when you played the Bills. Also, Fulham, heartbreaking loss for us. I'm a Nottingham Forest guy, so you beat us at City Ground. We were up, and then you guys came back and beat us.

You're a Not Forest supporter? That's my guy. Yeah, that's my team. Well, we've had a very good, since I took over the transfer, we've done very well at Not Forest, if you look. Yeah, thanks a lot. Appreciate that. We're still trying to figure things out here. We just got promoted. I don't know if you know this. Well, it's not my first year either.

I'm not just talking about one. 22 signings was like a record. We were trying to get back on track. Believe me, nobody can relate to what you're talking about more than me. I understand. I understand. Thank you for the time. Continued success.

And hopefully down the line, we can do this again. Yeah, this was great. Thanks for having me on, man. I've heard nothing but great stuff. And I've really always enjoyed your show. And I appreciate you having me on. Thanks, man. All right. So there you have it. That was interesting, right? Interesting stuff from Tony. I wish he would have opened up about some other stuff, but that's the way the cookie

crumbles. Sometimes he was very gracious with his time. I appreciate him very much. I appreciate him answering all our questions and going almost double the amount of time that they told me that they were going to give us. So that's very cool of him. And I wish AEW nothing but success and continued success. They've been doing great things. Three years strong. I've said that I enjoy the product very much. I like what they're doing. I like the jockeying of position right now in the world of wrestling. Sometimes they're on top, sometimes WWE's on top and they're down. It goes up and down, up and down, and that's why it's always great to have competition. Rising tide lifts all boats. If there's just one dominant company, whether it's

in pro wrestling, in MMA, in boxing, it doesn't matter when there's one dominant company. It's bad for the fans. It's bad for the wrestlers. There's no leverage. There's no place to go. There's no free agency, nothing like that, but it's also bad for the wrestlers. There's no leverage. There's no, you know, there's no place to go. There's no free agency, nothing like that. But it's also bad for the fans because I think the product is always better, whether it's an MMA or pro wrestling or boxing or anything else when there is some competition. AEW has brought that back. We didn't have that since 2001 when WCW was purchased by WWE and, you know, essentially killed off.

And so it's good to have that competition. I'm curious to see how this jockeying position plays out over the years. Now, if you want to watch that interview, go to youtube.com slash Ariel Helwani. That's where you can check it out. That's where you can check out all my stuff, all the interviews from this feed. We've had a ton of great ones over the past year and we'll continue to do them. Have no fear. But for now, we're out of time. Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. Thanks for subscribing, downloading, reviewing, commenting, all the stuff that you guys do. I appreciate it more than you know.

Have a great weekend. I'll talk to you soon. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh