During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Tony Khan commented on Eddie Kingston’s success in AEW, what excites him about the Full Gear card, AEW’s COVID-19 policy, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On what excites him most about Full Gear’s card: “It’s the best card we’ve presented, top to bottom. Every match is really strong, and every match has potential to steal the show.”
On their COVID-19 policy: “I’m proud of the COVID testing policy we implemented. We shut down the company entirely in the beginning of April and took that next month to develop a robust COVID testing protocol. That has served us very well. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve maintained an amazing percentage of negatives, and I’m really proud of how hard our people have worked and put in the effort to distance and isolate in between shows to make this possible. Robust testing has allowed the Dynamite franchise and pay-per-view franchise to remain strong, and we’re doing it safely.”
On if talent will still be able to work indie shows due to COVID risk: “I implemented a policy where people were only supposed to work indie shows when certain conditions were met. There have been times when people did not take that seriously, so I have tightened up the restrictions. I’ll still allow it under certain conditions, but people need to look me in the eye and say that the conditions are being met. Our talent and their opponent need to be tested before the show, and there also needs to be a good reason why the match is important. This is important for everyone’s safety, as well as important for our show. I’ve been flexible in the past because I thought it was good for the talent to have the opportunity to earn, as well as great for the fans and the indies as a whole. We also don’t run every night of the week, so it allows for talent to get extra reps, too. So we have a policy, and I’ll be enforcing it strictly … I am not going to end it, but we are taking a closer look at it. More so now than ever, people need to come to me directly about this. I am going to be strict about what people can and can’t do, but I won’t say you won’t see people make special appearances on independent shows because I think there is a lot of merit to that.”
On if the company will adopt stricter guidelines on dangerous spots after Matt Hardy’s injury: “I’ve talked to everybody about what risks are unacceptable to take in a match, and everyone heard me loud and clear. We’ve added to our protocol since that show to make sure that we’re always prepared for anything that can happen in the course of a match. We also added another independent neurologist to the staff.”
On how AEW has avoided layoffs during the pandemic: “I’m really pleased that we haven’t done that. We negotiated a great television contract that will keep us going, and that made it possible for us to hang on in a time when there wasn’t a revenue stream of ticket sales. Now the ticket sales revenue stream is very different. We were the No. 1 touring wrestling company per event, but that’s not a major revenue stream right now. The television revenue is such an important part of the business model. Frankly, I wasn’t concerned about making the biggest profit in 2020. We could have slashed and made some good money, but it’s been a very challenging year. Every company can approach it the way they want, but as the president and CEO of this company, it was important for me to keep people working and getting paid.”
On the possibility of working with NJPW following the change in that company’s leadership: “Nothing is impossible. I’m open to working with companies. You’ve seen us work with AAA and the NWA, among others, so certainly I don’t think it’s impossible that we could do something there. I’ve had good conversations with them in the past, so you never know.”
On Eddie Kingston’s rise in AEW: “For me, it was a no-brainer for him to come in. The two names I was really excited about when we did the TNT championship open challenge were Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston. Eddie came in, effectively, in a try-out match. He hit a home run, and we wanted him back. FTR and the Young Bucks, who are finally going to have a match this Saturday we’ve been waiting so long to see, they teamed together at Fyter Fest against Butcher and the Blade and the Lucha Brothers. Pac was unavailable for a long period of time because of the border being shut down between the U.S. and the U.K., and I thought it would be great to have Eddie step in and create this new super stable. I was actually the agent on the Casino Battle Royale [at All Out], and I feel really strongly about the ending with Eddie in the ring with Lance Archer. I know those are two heels, but I knew it would be a hot finish. Our crowd is really into Eddie, and he’s built a real following for himself. He’s stepped up and become an integral part of the show, making his presence felt, and he’s such a strong wrestling mind for us, too.”
