Tony Khan decided to take a shot at WWE’s Saudi Arabia deal and its upcoming Crown Jewel event while promoting AEW Grand Slam this week. Khan was speaking with News 12 ahead of Wednesday’s event at Arthur Ashe Stadium and claimed, “We’re running a lot of great shows around the Northeast — It’s so many great wrestling markets in one geographic region. I’ll say it, the crown jewel of wrestling markets — the real crown jewel of wrestling markets, not some BS overseas in Saudi Arabia.
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“New York City is where you want to be. And I love, love, love New York. And as a wrestling fan, I’ve had a special connection to the city. Some of my first memories of watching sporting sports in New York are watching the Bulls and the Knicks and watching the Bears and the Giants. … But, really, for me, wrestling has been my first love, so as a sports fan you can’t be a wrestling fan without loving New York City [and] without having this great connection to the fans up here,” he continued.
Khan confirmed in a tweet that this year’s Grand Slam is the highest-grossing TV event AEW has done since launching in 2019. WWE announced its main event for this year’s Crown Jewel will see Roman Reigns taking on YouTube Logan Paul with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line. Meanwhile here’s what Grand Slam’s card looks like for the live episode of Dynamite and the Rampage taping:
Dynamite (Sept. 21)
- AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson
- AEW World Tag Team Championships: Swerve In Our Glory vs. The Acclaimed
- Interim AEW World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb vs. Athena vs. Dr. Britt Baker
- AEW All-Atlantic Championship: PAC vs. Orange Cassidy
- ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Jericho
Rampage (Sept. 23)
- Hook & Action Bronson vs. Jericho Appreciation Society
- Sting & Darby Allin vs. House of Black (No Disqualification Match)
- TBS Championship: Jade Cargill vs. Diamante
- Eddie Kingston vs. Sammy Guevara
- Golden Ticket Battle Royale (AEW World Championship Match)
- Rey Feni vs. Jungle Boy
- Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks
- Wardlow & Samoa Joe vs. Tony Nese & Josh Woods