Tony Khan has discussed the biggest obstacle he had to overcome when launching AEW.
The arrival of AEW was announced during an episode of Being the Elite when Cody Rhodes, Adam Page, and The Young Bucks unveiled the logo for the promotion’s inaugural event, Double or Nothing.
Over the following weeks, more signings were revealed, with the likes of Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and MJF becoming ‘All Elite.’ However, while Tony Khan had locked down an impressive roster and announced the first events for the fledgling promotion, he had not been able to secure a TV deal at launch.
During an interview with Wide World of Sports, Khan said that was the “biggest hurdle” in the early days of the company, and he spent over a year working on the deal.
“The biggest hurdle was to make the TV deal – I reached a point in early-2019 where I had signed the wrestlers, but didn’t have a deal, I had been working on the TV portion of it for nearly a year, but I had got into April and still didn’t have a deal. Reaching a point where it became a reality was very challenging. It’s hard to launch … but things have grown so quickly.”
In May 2019, Khan was able to announce that AEW Dynamite would air weekly on TNT starting that October. In the seven years since then, Khan has not only expanded AEW’s TV output with the addition of Collision on Saturday nights, but signed a new, lucrative deal with Warner Bros Discovery to continue to air both shows on cable while also simulcasting them on the HBO Max streaming platform.
Tony Khan Plans Expansion Of MyAEW Streaming Platform
In March 2026, AEW launched its own streaming platform, MyAEW. Currently, it is primarily aimed at the promotion’s international fanbase, airing Dynamite, Collision, and pay-per-views outside the US. However, Tony Khan has plans to extend the content on offer. Soon after launch, QT Marshall-owned 1FW appeared on the service, and Khan has said he intends to add more wrestling promotions as time goes on.
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.
