AEW President Tony Khan recently spoke with PWTorch and revealed that while most of the AEW roster has received the COVID-19 vaccine, there are potential issues with international touring as some wrestlers are not vaccinated.
“I have got that most of the roster in AEW is vaccinated. For example, there have been some places we went where everybody had to be vaccinated and I think when the companies start doing international travel, we will see that for Canada and England, places like that, it will be very difficult for wrestlers to travel without it,” Khan said. “So, it certainly will present a challenge as we tour and I know California in the future is a place that has very strict mandates. Most of the roster is vaccinated and as we continue touring it’s something that I think may come up, so understand why for some people, especially with the return to international touring looming, why that would be an issue.”
Khan revealed that he does not require AEW talents to be vaccinated.
“It has come up several times. I have not required it, same with the NFL and same with, I think other wrestling leagues. But it will be a big challenge if you’re not for a lot of circumstances a great example was the Jericho Cruise where all the wrestlers on the Jericho Cruise had to be vaccinated,” Khan said. “So it’s definitely as touring becomes stronger and we start to get out of the U.S. and look to international touring, it’s going to be an issue for people.”
Khan also revealed his own COVID-19 vaccination status, noting that he has been vaccinated for some time, mainly due to his work in the NFL.
“Yeah. That’s the first time anybody’s ever asked me that on the record, but yeah. I mean, I am in the NFL, and our access is very different if you’re not,” he said. “It’s different for plays and ownership, yes, but all of us are under the same mandates and there’s mass mandates in the locker room and it’s a very different set of rules for the unvaccinated people in the NFL. So, that’s definitely one of the major factors in the NFL as far as game day travel and how the team prepares for the games and who can sit with each other. So, yeah, the NFL was at the forefront of that in terms of spreading awareness.”
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