All Elite Wrestling is in the midst of its biggest backstage turmoil in the company’s short history. Following the AEW All Out press conference, which featured then-AEW World Champion CM Punk going on an explicit tirade that targeted numerous people of power in AEW, a fight between Punk and AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks broke out in the locker room. This unscripted brawl combined with Punk’s legitimate triceps injury forced AEW President Tony Khan to vacate both Punk’s World Title and Omega and the Bucks’s Trios Titles. Since that chaotic weekend, tensions within AEW have seemingly simmered, and all things related to the backstage fight have been supposedly centralized to a third-party investigation.
While Khan is still unable to comment on the matter, he did offer some insight as to what he’s learned from this situation.
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“Don’t forget that you have great people around you,” Khan told Busted Open Radio (h/t Fightful). “No matter who you are, there are people around you. Everyone has different situations, family, friends, people at work, people at school, but don’t forget there are people who care about you and want to see you succeed. We had a lot of stuff happening, but there are a lot of great people at AEW that want to make the company go and no matter what the problem is, those are people who want to be here and make the company work.”
AEW has plenty of flag-bearers on its roster, but three particular men have emerged as big locker room leaders in recent weeks: Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and Bryan Danielson. These three men were reportedly responsible for calling a talent meeting ahead of the September 8th edition of AEW Dynamite and were said to all bring varying methods of inspiration.
“Before the Tournament of Champions, a lot of people in the tournament stepped up and said, ‘I don’t care what’s happening, I love this place, I love you and I want to make it great. I’m here for whatever you need,’” Khan continued. “To hear those words of reassurance from people like Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and Bryan Danielson means a lot.”
AEW’s locker room leadership goes beyond those three aforementioned industry veterans as well. Khan pointed to journeymen like Samoa Joe and top young prospects like MJF as difference makers backstage.
“Having a lot of people return, no matter what you think of them, having people who were away, their returns mean a lot. Samoa Joe, who is one of the biggest stars of all time and is a great presence in the locker room, it’s great to have him back,” Khan said. “Even MJF, who has made a big difference on TV, I don’t agree with everything he says, but I do think the wrestling fans love to see MJF on shows and it makes a big difference for AEW and Dynamite when he’s there.”
Khan also added that AEW’s current troubles are put in perspective by some of the bigger and more pressing obstacles that they have faced.
“It’s really been about the fans rallying around AEW and the wrestlers and staff rallying. We’ve seen people do it time after time, whether it was the pandemic lockdown, some of the challenges we faced, the absolute low point of this company when Mr. Brodie Lee was sick, on the verge of passing, and when he passed, rallying around him and his family,” Khan said. “That is the most serious example we’ve ever faced and really, compared to that, it’s all kind of…I don’t know what to compare being as serious as that. That’s as big as it gets and puts in perspective everything else that we do.
“If we all came together and were a family then, we can get through just about anything. For me, I’ve learned a lot, but the most important thing is, whatever position you’re in, if your back is against the wall, just remember that there are people there that you can turn to.”
AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam airs tonight at 8 PM ET.
