Tony Khan again jumped on a phone call Thursday afternoon to share his thoughts on this Saturday’s WrestleDream show in St. Louis, MO.
As it stands, here’s the current show card:
- Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley in an “I Quit” match
- “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Samoa Joe – AEW Men’s World Championship
- Kris Statlander (c) vs. “Timeless” Toni Storm – AEW Women’s World Championship
- Jurassic Express vs. the Young Bucks for $500,000
- Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Mark Briscoe for the AEW TNT Championship
- Brodido (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita for the AEW Men’s World Tag Team Titles
- Jamie Hayter vs. Thekla
- FTR vs. JetSpeed
- Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron vs. Divine Vanity
- Eddie Kingston and HOOK vs. TBA
- Roderick Strong and The Conglomeration vs. Death Riders in an 8-man tag match
- The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Demand
Tony Khan starts the call by shouting out AEW’s PR team, which has a number of connections to the city of St. Louis.
Attention is first brought to Andrade’s stance with the company. Khan puts him over, saying nothing too specific in this regard.
Jamie Hayter and Thekla have a singles match with no title on the line and – so far – no stipulations added. Just an old-fashioned fight. Khan is excited about the possibility of adding more matches like this. Khan really likes where the women’s division is in AEW right now, gathering momentum all through 2025.
He also brings attention the the Women’s World Championship match – a first-time match between Toni Storm and Kris Statlander – and the mixed tag-team matches AEW has experimented with recently. Khan is glad that AEW has Jamie Hayter back.
Tony Khan draws attention to the Tailgate Brawl, a rousing success in its debut at All Out last month in Toronto, and he is as excited as can be for what Saturday’s Tailgate Brawl has in store.
WrestleDream was created to honor Antonio Inoki and Khan is excited for AEW fans to see how that tradition gets carried this Saturday. Takeshita recently defeated Zach Sabre, Jr. for the IWGP title and will be in the building for a tag-team match Saturday with Kazuchika Okada against champions Brodido. Lou Thesz’s family will be in the building as well, further honoring St. Louis wrestling history.
A Women’s Continental Classic is not outside the realm of possibility but Khan doesn’t confirm that it will happen directly. Again, there is a ton of momentum in the AEW Women’s Division in 2025.
Jon Moxley and Darby Allin’s histories in AEW are intertwined. A lot of their history has them on the same side, even tagging together. This match has been in the works since Allin returned from Mt. Everest. Khan says Moxley and Allin share similarities in their heart and their love of professional wrestling. The tipping point was WrestleDream 2024, where Moxley betrayed Bryan Danielson.
The history of Moxley and Allin’s feud got a bit richer this past week at New York Comic-Con, where Allin attacked Moxley during a panel. Khan is excited about the collaboration with DC Comics and having such a good relationship with Warner Brothers allows this.
It recently came out that there were scrapped plans for an AEW developmental / training facility. Khan still has interest in doing this and puts over FTR and Adam Copeland as three men who would take huge roles in that project. Them and Christian Cage would be fantastic mentors for anyone looking to train. The facility would be in FTR’s hometown, Asheville, NC.
FTR’s match with JetSpeed this Saturday will mark the latest chapter in a feud that’s been building all year.
Khan says Samoa Joe has recently contemplated retirement – but not before he wrestles “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW Men’s World Championship this Saturday. His wrestling resume is unlike any other and Khan says Joe’s career and leadership in the locker room are remarkable to see. Working with Samoa Joe is a dream come true for him. If AEW ever started a Hall of Fame, Joe would be in it, no questions asked. This is also a first-time one-on-one match in AEW.
Kota Ibushi’s leg injury on Collision caused the promotion to have to pivot as there were a number of ideas. He puts over the 300th Dynamite episode with Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada main eventing, two wrestlers that embody what AEW is all about. Ibushi was slated to have a match at WrestleDream and was also in line for a big push. Swerve Strickland was also at New York Comic-Con and is slated to be back long before Ibushi.
In recent news, Tony Khan spoke about the AEW contract status of the absent Chris Jericho.
