During a recent interview with Business Insider, AEW President Tony Khan commented on his father, Shad Khan, deciding to fund the initial launch of AEW.
Khan revealed that while it took a lot of convincing, his father eventually said yes since he’d be inheriting the money anyways. He said,
“My dad expected it to fail but I convinced him to take a leap. He gave me the money because he said I’d inherit it anyway so I might as well ‘blow it now.’
One of the reasons AEW is really popular is that it’s a great blend of stars who have gotten experience from wrestling in other places and stars who have grown organically. It has to be a good blend of young stars and established stars.
When we started, we were a challenger brand and an alternative. Now we’re just a large wrestling company. But fans don’t have to make a choice.”