AEW President Tony Khan held a media call today with the pro-wrestling press to promote this Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 pay-per-view. Khan discusses a number of different topics including having Kenny Omega and CM Punk on this year’s card, booking Bryan Danielson against Kazuchika Okada, working with STARDOM and much more. Check out highlights below.
-Tony begins the call by saying he’s very excited for Forbidden Door 2 and is looking forward to performing for the wonderful fans of Toronto.
-Tony is asked about having CM Punk and The Elite (Kenny Omega & Young Bucks) on the Forbidden Door 2 pay-per-view card. Khan says it really feels like an All-Star show on Sunday with all of the outside talent they are bringing in, and that having Punk back is great. He then touts the success of the premiere episode of AEW Collision. He adds that he’s happy to have The Elite on the show, including the highly anticipated Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay IWGP U.S. Title match.
-Second question is about CM Punk being back and what the backstage mentality is with him there. Tony says that it’s been really great having him back, which included a surprise appearance on Dynamite this past Wednesday. He says that everyone at Collision was in a really good head space before promoting the eight-man tag featuring Punk and Bullet Club Gold on this week’s Collision.
-Next question was about booking Jungle Boy Jack Perry to face IWGP World Champion SANADA at Forbidden Door 2. Tony says that Perry was his first choice and considers him a top star on the AEW roster, especially when NJPW agreed to having SANADA on the card. Tony adds that he thinks the matchup will be great and is excited to see Perry continue to develop in AEW.
-Tony is asked about booking Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada for Forbidden Door 2 and where that ranks on his booking history. He says that it is clearly near the top because of the “dream” aura surrounding it and how it has never happened before. He calls it one of the most anticipated matchups ever and is really excited to see how it plays out on Sunday.
-Next question is regarding the Owen Hart Memorial and how there is a lack of Canadian talent on the roster. Tony says that he was trying to pick the best eight wrestlers from the men’s side and the women’s side that were available for those dates. He does hope to continue holding this tournament in Canada as that was Hart’s home country. He then promotes the tournament and reminds fans that it kicks off tomorrow on AEW Rampage, adding that CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima will be a great opening round match for the tournament.
-Tony is asked about the CM Punk and KENTA beef and what happened to that being a potential match. Tony says that Punk vs. Kojima was the match he wanted to see and thinks that the Forbidden Door 2 card is the most stars he’s ever had on an AEW show. He then praises Kojima for being one of the most decorated wrestlers in the history of Japan and thinks it is fitting that it is taking place in the Owen Hart tournament.
-Next question is about STARDOM having a presence on Forbidden Door 2. Tony says that he would have loved to work with STARDOM but that they have an event booked for the same day and a lot of their stars were unavailable. He knows how hard it is when he sends talent to Japan and comments on how challenging cross-promotional booking can be at times. He ends his rant by saying that he would love to work with STARDOM in the future.
-Tony is next asked about booking this year’s Forbidden Door 2 event from last year’s inaugural event. He says that he has grown much closer to Rocky Romero and Gedo since last year, adding that he has a great amount of respect for Gedo. Tony then discusses his relationship with NJPW President Takami Ohbari and how much their relationship has improved. He says that “knock on wood” he will hopefully not have as many injuries as they did last year, reminding fans that CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega, and were forced to miss last year’s show. He still believes that despite their limitations that last year’s Forbidden Door was one of the best pro wrestling shows ever.
-Next question is about Tony Khan’s interest in Bellator. Tony says that he was surprised to see that report because it was not true, nor does he even know who is running Bellator at the moment. He talks about AEW’s history of using MMA fighters and how great the MMA and pro wrestling business is currently doing.
-Tony is asked about the Blackpool Combat Club battling The Elite, Eddie Kingston, and Tomohiro Ishii at Forbidden Door 2. He talks about how exciting it is to have Ishii involved in this year’s show as he was one of the names from the NJPW side that was unable to compete last year. Tony adds that the Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston dynamic is one of the more emotionally driven aspects to the match.
-Next question is about the women’s division and whether he has some female perspective backstage in terms of booking the women’s matches. Tony says that Sarah Stock and Madison Rayne have been instrumental in adding perspective to the division, but that he also gets input from the female wrestlers themselves. He says he has a great team that gives him insight all the time.
-Tony is next asked about opening the Forbidden Door to other wrestling companies. Tony says that he has great relationships with other companies, but none as strong as the one AEW has with NJPW. He does think AEW can afford to work more with other companies, especially top lucha-libre promotions around the world. He discusses his love of lucha-libre, and the rich history that luchadores have. He then says that he really likes Konnan despite their disagreements on certain things.
-Dave Meltzer asks about CM Punk’s “One Bill Phil” line from AEW Collision and whether there was “smoke to the fire” or if Punk was just using a figure of speech. Tony says that he thought it was cool when WCW used to reference Ted Turner on television and refers to the current CEO David Zaslav as the Turner of today. He adds that Zaslav was the one who helped AEW Collision happen and that AEW is growing and trying to make their mark in the media landscape.
-Tony is asked why Adam Cole wasn’t in the Owen Hart Memorial for the second-year in a row as he was the winner of last year’s tournament. Tony says that Cole is currently in the Blind Eliminator tag team tournament, as well as the world title picture, so thought that him being in the Owen Hart Memorial would be one too many things for him. He does plan on releasing more names in the company’s upcoming tournaments next week.
-Next question is about Tony bringing in Goldberg to AEW. Tony says he has had many great conversations with Goldberg, calling him a legend and one of the biggest names in the sport.
-Tony is asked about whether CM Punk owns a portion of AEW. Tony says no, and that he is the full owner of the company and that Punk’s “This is a Business” line from the media scrum being a colloquialism.
-Tony is next asked about AEW Collision and whether the premiere was considered a success to WB. Tony says that Collision did do better than what the initial projections were and feels like it’s off to a great start. He adds that the longevity of the show is still to be determined.