Tony Khan knows how important Jon Moxley has been to building AEW’s roster, opening the door for other major names joining homegrown talent in the company.
Tony Khan recently spoke with the Associated Press and talked about All Elite Wrestling’s progress heading into their “Grand Slam” event in New York. Khan praised the company’s ability to put on a solid show with a deep roster, and said that these are some of the intangibles that are showing why AEW is the hottest wrestling company in the world right now.
“I’m a big wrestling fan and I would say, objectively, AEW is the hottest wrestling company right now. So many people who watch wrestling know that AEW’s gaining ground, AEW is hitting all-time highs. It’s helping us build new fans, it’s helping people want to take the leap and check the shows out. I’m sure other wrestling companies are paying attention to that. We have great relationships with a lot of wrestling companies that know what’s going on with AEW. I think if you work in the wrestling business, you’re following what we’re doing and the success we’re having. We’re catching a lot of eyeballs outside of the world of wrestling and mainstream attention, so you better believe in the world of wrestling people are paying very close attention to it.”
Khan also spoke about the roster depth, including how they’ve been able to mix big free agent signings like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan along with some homegrown talent like Britt Baker and Powerhouse Hobbs.
“I think that’s a good problem for any organization to have when you have a deep bench. We have a very deep bench right now. I try to rotate who wrestles on television and give TV time to different wrestlers so we have a lot of people with momentum and can switch out the matches and keep things fresh. I think that serves you well in sports, too, when you can rotate and rest people and give experience to young talent and develop people and also rest your veterans so they don’t have to go out and do it every single week.”
Asked if he’s been surprised by the level of talent made available to AEW in recent months, Khan said AEW started with a lot of talent familiar with hardcore fans, but Jon Moxley was one of the first mainstream names to come over and do wonders for them.
“I had a lot of wrestlers that were very well-regarded in terms of the hardcore fans. But in terms of the very mainstream audience, not as many recognizable names, and I knew I’d have to really build that recognition. I didn’t expect somebody with so much recognition and as much experience wrestling on TV as Jon Moxley would become available so quickly. He has been such a great blessing for this company. He was a great champion through the pandemic. He’s still one of our most important stars today. I didn’t expect that at the time. Since then, absolutely. By making this a great home for wrestling and a place where wrestlers want to work, we’ve had so many people that want to come here, and have defected. It is more than I ever could have dreamed.”
