AEW CEO and President Tony Khan recently spoke with Sports Illustrated.
Some of the highlights included the following:
Khan had been dreaming of Keith Lee’s “incredible” AEW debut for months. Khan also said much to his amazement, when Lee got released that was the moment he dreamed about.
The huge surprise on last Wednesday’s Dynamite, had endless speculation over the identity of who the mystery debut would be, which included some even going as far as thinking it was possibly Shane McMahon. Shane was said to have had much heat backstage at last month’s Royal Rumble event over the booking of himself in the Rumble Match, and then going forward at WrestleMania. There is no doubt Shane McMahon in AEW would create a huge buzz within the wrestling industry.
If Shane McMahon ever reached out, Khan said he would “certainly take the call”, and further stated that “he’d be an interesting person to talk to about wrestling.” Khan also went on to say that he isn’t sure if Shane “would be a fit.” Khan said he hasn’t heard from Shane, but in the wrestling business, “you never know.”
One star that did cross the “Forbidden Door” on Dynamite was NJPW star and Bullet Club leader Jay White.
White aligned himself in AEW with Adam Cole and the Young Bucks, who are all former members of the Bullet Club. on last week’s Dynamite, he gave giving a backstage beatdown to Roppongi Vice’s Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero, and then showed up on Friday’s episode of Rampage, attacking Beretta again.
Khan noted that fans should “expect to see more Jay White in AEW.” He noted that the deal with White didn’t transpire until last Sunday. Khan said with White, he “wanted to have that ‘Forbidden Door’ element” with Dynamite”, and that “it was intentional to have that moment backstage, reuniting members of the Bullet Club against their old rivals from Chaos in Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta.”
Finally, on last week’s Dynamite, also saw the debut of former WWE NXT Superstar Zayda Ramier, who made her debut as AQA against Jade Cargill. She lost her match, but Khan still officially signed her to an AEW contract.
Last Wednesday’s Dynamite drew 1.129 million viewers, the largest overall audience for the show since Sept. 29, and was No.1 for the night on cable in the key 18-49 demographic, beating out the Winter Olympics.
Now for a few questions and thoughts. Is AEW become the new WCW by signing all the former WWE talent they have? AEW has their flagship show, Dynamite 2 hours each week live on TBS, Rampage, 1 hour on Friday night’s, and their Dark and Dark Elevation shows once a week on their YouTube Channel.
With pay-per-view events only once a quarter, and four one specials per year on TNT, is there enough television time to go around for a stacked roster of talent who all may want their spot on Dynamite, Rampage and a PPV. Tony Khan already has said that he will not be renewing some contracts of talent, such as Marko Stunt. Will Tony Khan run out of money and be forced to choose between those he signed from the start vs. former WWE talent he has brought it recently.
Will original signed AEW talent start to feel left out creatively when former WWE talent is pushed much higher than they are?
I would expect to see more former WWE talent signed to AEW in the months to come. It would certainly be a lot of fun and very interesting to see Shane McMahon in AEW, and would create a lot of attention on AEW, but I don’t expect to see it happen.
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