Tony Khan has opened up about a conversation he had with WWE Co-CEO Nick Khan following a memorable promo posted on AEW social media channels on May 28, 2021, in which Khan took shots at WWE’s reported talks with NJPW.
Khan stated that there is only room for one Khan in the wrestling business, and that’s him and not “some con man from Connecticut.”
Ahead of tonight’s Live #AEWDynamite at 10pm ET/9pm CT, and #AEWDoN on ppv Sunday, AEW Owner/President @TonyKhan, aka the Forbidden Door, addressed rumors of a relationship between @WWE & @njpwglobal, + what this means to @AEW! Watch Dynamite tonight LIVE coming up on @TNTdrama! pic.twitter.com/atFTSrvyqZ
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 29, 2021
In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Khan was asked about the promo.
“Now think about that. Let’s add the context to that. When did I do that, and why did I do that? If I may, why did I do that? Well, I read online and every wrestling news site at the same time reported that New Japan was going to start working with WWE.
“I had active plans with New Japan. I had literally just reunited Roppongi Vice on Dark: Elevation, and then I had plans for Yuji Nagata to come in and challenge for the IWGP US Championship, and Mox, one of my biggest stars, is their US Champion. So there’s some intersections, and we’re starting to, the ice is thawed.”
He noticed that there was an opportunity to get some publicity for AEW:
“I said, well, it’s getting a lot of press, and today’s Wednesday, so I’m thinking I should probably do a promo to get some buzz because also Dynamite had been, that night there was a time shift.
“It was during the playoffs, so it was on at a different time, so I was looking for something anyway to get a little bit of buzz. So we did that before we went live, and it definitely got people talking because it’s been a year and a half, and you’re talking about it. But it was also true.”
Khan added that he has since spoken to Nick Khan about the incident.
“I don’t wanna get into it, if I may. I haven’t met him, but I have talked to him. I did tell him, that’s what it was.”
Quotes courtesy of Fightful.
