Tony Khan has explained his decision to put more AEW World Title matches on free TV.
In 2026, AEW has held more World Championship matches on its TV shows than ever before. So far, the promotion’s top title has been defended on TV 13 times, thanks in large part to Darby Allin putting it on the line every week during his reign.
In a new interview with Case Lowe on Q101 radio, Khan was asked why World Title defences had become so frequent, with Lowe saying it only happened 11 times in the whole of 2024 and 2025.
Khan responded that he wants to deliver at the highest level, and that includes having “huge matches” on TV as well as pay-per-view.
“Well, I think we’re delivering at the highest level and it’s great having these championship fights. When AEW’s at our very best, I think you can tune in and expect to see the top stars fighting each other in huge matches and big rivalries. To me this has been some of the best AEW TV ever. It’s certainly some of the most World Championship defences and major main events that we’ve ever had in a calendar year and we’re only halfway into the year.
“I do think that having all these great championship fights on Dynamite, on Collision, on the major events, and having the very best pay-per-views, our fans are having their cake and eating it, too.”
Another key reason the AEW President wants to hold more big matches on free TV is that he is well aware not all fans can afford to purchase pay-per-views, and he wants to ensure they don’t miss out on great wrestling.
“You get the very best on TV and a great wrestling product for the fans who can’t necessarily afford the pay-per-views that you can certainly expect to get such a high standard watching AEW on weekly TV, Wednesdays on TBS, Saturdays on TNT, or streaming everything on HBO Max. I think there are some fans that necessarily maybe can’t buy every pay-per-view and they still are getting great wrestling every week.”
That’s not to say the ppvs are missable, as Khan was quick to point out, he does his best to put on an “incredible” event every time, as he doesn’t want to take fans for granted when they do spend their money on AEW.
“The cool thing about the AEW pay-per-views, is they’re worth it. I try to put out an incredible pay-per-view every time because I never want to take for granted the people spending the money on the tickets or on the pay-per-view and delivering at an even higher standard than the incredibly high standard that we try to hold ourselves to week to week in terms of delivering great matches and great episodes of wrestling television.”
Tony Khan Addresses WWE Holding Shows On The Same Day As AEW All In
One of the events Tony Khan will put a lot of effort into will be All In London, which will see AEW return to Wembley Stadium for the first time in two years. With only two months to go before the event, though, WWE made the surprise announcement that it would be holding both an AAA and an NXT show back-to-back on the same day, and likely at the same time.
At the post-Forbidden Door press conference, Khan decided to take the move as a compliment, even joking that it was “double the compliment Jimmy Crockett got.” Khan went on to say that he would simply continue to plan and prepare for a very good show in London.
