AEW President Tony Khan spoke with the pro wrestling media earlier today to hype up this Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view, discuss upcoming major events like Forbidden Door 2 and All In London, and touch on other industry related topics. Part one of the media call can be found here. Highlights for part two can be found below.
-First question is about Taya Valkyrie joining the AEW roster. Khan says that Valkryie is a great wrestler and has been a great pickup for them. He then says that Valkyrie has posed the biggest threat to TBS Champion Jade Cargill during her undefeated streak and believes that the rematch will be great.
-Second question is about AEW competing with the NFL in the upcoming year as the NFL run games on Saturday’s and AEW now has Collision on Saturday. Khan says it is something they are looking at but knows that in the 18-week NFL season AEW is running largely unopposed for the duration of the season. He admits that he’s not looking forward to having to run head-to-head but adds that top NFL executives have been keeping their eye on AEW.
-Next question is about All In London from Wembley Stadium and how the show will be offered to fans. Khan says he’s very excited about the show and how it will be the largest lives audience AEW has ever had. He reveals that he’s still figuring out how the show will be presented, whether that will be on pay-per-view or as a television special.
-Next question is about AEW women’s champion Jamie Hayter and her potential injury. Khan confirms the injury, stating that AEW has been referencing the injury for the last few weeks of television. Khan adds that they didn’t try to hide Hayter’s injury and that she is a tough fighting champion.
-Next question is about Sabu’s cameo in AEW and his appearance at AEW Double or Nothing. Khan says that fans were excited to see Sabu but that he will not be a regular character and that this is most likely a one-off appearance. However, he doesn’t close the door on a future guest appearance from Sabu in the future.
-Next question is about the Pillars 4-Way Main event of AEW Double or Nothing and how the match came together. Khan says that every man in the match (MJF, Jungle Boy, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara) are truly homegrown stars and that each of them were in the plans for the company since they started. He also says that when looking for a great challenger for MJF he decided to give the champ three great challengers.
-Next question is about delegating work to other members of the creative team. Khan says that he will remain head booker but that he’s building a bigger team of voices in the room, especially as AEW continues to expand its programming. He says it helps a lot to have a great room of thinkers and creatives to help make AEW a better product, which includes him leaning on Bryan Danielson for creative ideas. Khan reiterates that having more ideas makes his life easier and that he will be able to explore more ideas now that AEW Collision is set to debut.
-Next question is about STARDOM having a presence at Forbidden Door 2, especially after Willow Nightingale won the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship. Khan says that STARDOM has some of the best wrestlers in the world and that he’s been talking with Rocky Romero and Gedo about using talent for the event, but that it’s not 100% in his hands. He thinks there’s a lot of international stars that can help make Forbidden Door 2 a special event and reiterates how much he loved working with NJPW.
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