Since the last time Tony Khan participated a media conference call, AEW solidified a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery and the streaming service Max, so naturally Wednesday’s call had as much about that news as it did the WrestleDream pay-per-view, happening on Saturday, October 12, in Tacoma, Washington, at the Tacoma Dome.
But it also had a charitable aspect. Khan mentioned both the current hurricane hitting Florida and the recent Hurricane Helene, which decimated parts of North Carolina and elsewhere. Last night’s rare Tuesday night edition of Dynamite had a phone number to call and donate to help those in need.
While he lamented being in the office until 4 a.m. reworking booking plans recently (“not that unusual for me”) — in part because of Dr. Britt Baker getting sick — there are “people with way worse problems.”
“It’s really a blessing to come to work and work in wrestling,” noted Khan, reaffirming it at the end of the call, thanking the media and reminding participants that they too are fortunate to cover pro wrestling.
Khan’s own efforts to help hurricane-hit areas was recently spotlighted on social media by Adam Copeland, and, when asked about it, Khan said that at Dynamite the other night, he talked to Copeland, who was helping FEMA with clean-up, including finding dead bodies.
It puts everything in perspective.
The two real topics of the media call were WrestleDream — “Saturday is going to be a great, great, great day” — and the TV rights deal.
There are “a lot of things happening in AEW,” he summed up, including the “monumental TV deal.”
During negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery, Khan said that he “got even more confident” with the media rights as he went along.
“The avidity of our fans” was noted, meaning that they are willing to spend money on pay-per-views (at which point he celebrated all the PPVs already this year). “One of the real strengths of AEW” is the PPV business, he said.
As for the contract itself, Khan said that it is “a deal that both sides are happy with, which is hard to do.”
He did not clarify the business arrangement, whether Warner Bros. Discovery owns a stake in AEW, other than to say, “I have 100% of the voting stock in this company, and have from the beginning. ”
Khan noted a couple of times that it is truly unique that the Max streaming service — which is only available in the US — will not only host AEW archival content, but will also stream Dynamite and Collision at the same time as it airs on TNT and TBS respectively.
Asked about the discounted pay-per-view pricing promised for Max subscribers, Khan seemed to really not know how it all work.
“Some of these aspects are yet to be rolled out,” he admitted. Part of it, he reminded, is that Max does not yet have the pay-per-view capabilities.
The idea is that the price for an AEW PPV has to make sense to existing Max subscribers, and to make non-subscribers want to sign up since it’ll be worth it.
The whole PPV business of AEW is in flux, as the BleacherReport era is over, as the company is ending its PPV business. Khan reminded “creatures of habit” to find another way to order Saturday’s show.
Khan was also asked about a roster split, which he confessed he has thought about; the trade from Tuesday night’s Dynamite: hadn’t seen trades in wrestling in “many, many, many years” but sees it all the time in soccer and football; the lack of a new TV deal for Ring of Honor; the women’s division; and Daniel Garcia re-signing: “I really like Daniel Garcia” and understands why he took time to decide.
Bryan Danielson versus Jon Moxley is the main event at WrestleDream, and Khan mentioned that Moxley had a hand in Danielson coming to AEW.
“Bryan has been so instrumental across our shows,” he said, adding that “The American Dragon” “is at the height of his powers” despite saying his career is almost finished.
Danielson is “phenomenal” in the ring, backstage, with the crowd, and as a human being, and it’s “a monitor sellout any time Bryan goes out there to wrestle.”
“I want Bryan to stay with us forever,” he said.
The current WrestleDream card:
- ROH World Television Championship: Atlantis Jr. (c) vs. Brian Cage
- ROH World Championship: Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Chris Jericho (with Big Bill and Bryan Keith)
- Darby Allin vs. Brody King
- AEW TNT Championship: Jack Perry (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
- Three-way match for the AEW International Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Ricochet vs. Konosuke Takeshita
- AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson) (c) vs. Private Party (Zay and Quen)
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Mariah May (c) vs. Willow Nightingale
“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Jay White - MxM Collection (Mansoor and Mason Madden) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster)
- Two out of three falls match: Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos
- AEW World Championship: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Jon Moxley (with Marina Shafir)
TOP PHOTO: Tony Khan at AEW Collision on October 4, 2024 in Toledo, Ohio. Photo by Brad McFarlin.
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