H Jenkins on September 1, 2021
AEW knows how to hustle and they made a lot of noise since opening their doors. The company also helped kick open the “forbidden door” and now has a partnership with several other organizations. Those collaborative efforts are not going to stop, and Tony Khan believes that all of these partnerships prove AEW’s strength.
Tuesday Wrestling Tuesday with Jonathan Hood recently spoke with Khan about AEW’s efforts to work with other companies. He proclaimed that the fact that they are cooperating with other companies shows how AEW is the best pro wrestling company.
Khan modeled himself after Vince McMahon in some ways; calling him “Vince Jr” obviously implies that he looks up to the younger version of Mr. McMahon over the current business-oriented incarnation. He compared AEW’s collaborations to how Vince Jr. booked Andre the Giant out to other companies. For Khan, he is doing something similar by loaning out Kenny Omega and Christian Cage.
“Vince Sr was really cooperative. He booked Andre (The Giant) out all over the country. He would work for AWA and would go to Mid South and work in Houston. Wrestling was much more collaborative before the mid-80s and it was actually one person that made the business less collaborative. I’m trying to bring some of that spirit back. When Vince Sr was running the New York territory, it was a much more collaborative thing.”
“IMPACT, AAA, and certainly New Japan, I’ve done a lot of stuff with. It has to make sense for AEW and we’ve seen wrestlers from AEW go and capture championships in different promotions around the world. A lot of AEW wrestlers still hold championships in various promotions around the world and it’s good for those promotions to have such strong recognizable champions who have a great TV platform to wear their titles and it’s good for us because it shows that we’re the top company in wrestling, frankly, and a lot of companies out there have had our wrestlers come in and do really well. I’m very open to it and it shows good bonds between the companies and allows us access to good wrestlers. We have one of the best rosters, but it’s always good to have fresh and different talent. It’s why I like working with other companies. Also, New Japan has had big shows and have great talent specifically. I’ve done a lot of things with them. The main focus is on AEW and our shows. We have such a big roster and so much bandwidth that it allows us to expand, partner, and help other wrestling companies.”
AEW All Out is this week and fans are certain to see a historic pay-per-view on September 5th. Only time will tell if CM Punk is loaned out to anther company, but he didn’t outright reject the prospect of participating in the G1 Climax tournament if Tony Khan wants him to.
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September 1, 2021 1:20 pm
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