Tony Khan was a guest on this week’s Talk is Jericho podcast, and the All Elite Wrestling president gave Chris Jericho the scoop on how the new company came to be.
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Khan said it was something he was always looking to do, and the current media landscape combined with the talent available made it seem like the perfect time.
“I just became more sure of it,” Khan said. “For a long time it just started to make more sense to me, as I looked to the market, looked at the availability of performers in different windows, and saw, ‘Wow, in 2019 there’s gonna be a real opportunity here.’ It was public knowledge. That stuff had been written in the Observer. That stuff had been put online about whose deals were coming up and who was or who wasn’t working with a deal. It was pretty public knowledge that you were out working other places and also my knowledge of the TV market and media rights told me that there was gonna be a really good climate for us to get involved with this. Really, all the details came together at the right time and there wasn’t one moment where I was 100% sure I was doing it.”
Khan said 2019 was the ideal time for AEW to make waves in the professional wrestling business.
“I think there’s a lot of really passionate fans around this group of wrestlers, the talent, yourself, The Elite, and a number of the competitors that are coming into this; Dr. Britt Baker, Kylie Rae, and Brandi (Rhodes). All the surprises we have planned for Double or Nothing. We’ve got a really really great engagement among the fans and, to me, that makes it the right time to strike.
“When you have all these great talents with their contracts coming up, and we’re in a market where there’s TV money to be had, and we’re in the right time to try and make a deal with a major network for a wrestling TV show,” he added. “I think it’s the right climate for a number of reasons. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and all of a sudden, it felt like the right time to strike.”
Tickets for AEW’s first event, Double or Nothing, sold out in four minutes on Wednesday. The event will take place on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
H/T WrestleZone
