Tony Khan took part in his usual pre-show media conference call for the AEW Forbidden Door 2026 pay-per-view this weekend.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the call from F4WOnline.com:
* Asked about if the World Cup is affecting AEW, he said he’s watching it very closely both for the sport itself and the dates in terms of putting his matches in the best possible position. He said last night’s Dynamite was a great night to put Mistico and Bandido in prominent positions before the Mexico WC game started. He mentioned there are opportunities to work with FIFA and venues, mentioning Claudio Castagnoli going to do FD media when Switzerland played in the Bay Area recently (pictured above).
* He confirmed Redemption will be the tenth PPV on the calendar this year, meaning the July addition won’t eliminate a future month.
* He said the ROH Tag Team titles weren’t factored into the booking of the Young Bucks vs. Sky Team vs. Unbound Co. three-way for Forbidden Door and that it was “presumptive” to assume any result for Friday’s CMLL show that would result in that happening.
* There were several questions about the MyAEW streaming service, one being whether NJPW, Stardom and CMLL could be more strategic content partners. Khan says those conversations have taken place with CMLL, but pointed out that NJPW has New Japan World.
* In another, he was asked if there was interest in library acquisition like Lucha Underground and PWG. Khan said he is interested in promoting companies and their wrestlers, but buying a library depends on the situation and that the only one he’s ever done is ROH.
* Khan said “absolutely yes” to a question of whether he has interest in MyAEW being a broadcaster for a week of indie wrestling action ahead of a big event like next year’s Revolution might be shaping up to be. He said there’s a lot of interest from promoters to do something around an AEW event, specifically pointing to August’s All In as a possibility of that happening.
* He was asked about the status of Toni Storm, Keith Lee, Britt Baker and Jay White. He said all of them are in different positions and some are closer to coming back than others. He didn’t give any further info.
* Khan said Sareee came to AEW ready to wrestle against Skye Blue and was armed with clearance from her doctor, but AEW medical personnel didn’t clear her as they didn’t feel it was safe for her to wrestle that night in the Owen Hart tournament. He hopes to have her debut at some point in the future.
* Asked about the potential for major surprises and debuts at Forbidden Door given the free agents linked to AEW, Khan pointed out that many of the names that have been linked are still under contract with another promotion.
* Asked if he’s interested in more dual contracts, Khan said it’s worked out quite well with CMLL and while there are opportunities to do that as well with NJPW and/or Stardom, “it takes two to tango” and hasn’t been a focus as of now.
* Asked about his interest if TNA Wrestling was up for sale as was rumored this week. Khan asked at what price and was told $40 million. Khan said, “No” and laughed. He followed up by noting that TNA has value, but any acquisition would have to be at the right price. He said it’s not a top priority as an acquisition right now and also nothing he’s had serious conversations about. He closed by saying it could be interesting if the purchase price was right, but noted that was also the way with a lot of things in life.
* Khan stated that visa issues have been a “massive challenge for this event.” He revealed that, in addition to Beast Mortos and Komander, AEW is dealing with visa issues for Mark Davis, Gabe Kidd and Hechicero as well.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com this weekend for live AEW Forbidden Door Results coverage.
