Archive.fm

Fightful Wrestling Podcast with Sean Ross Sapp

Tony Khan Talks AEW-WBD Deal, Women's Gauntlet, Sting | AEW All Out Media Call

Duration:
1h 6m
Broadcast on:
05 Sep 2024
Audio Format:
mp3

Tony Khan speaks to media ahead of AEW All Out on September 7 from Chicago!



Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fightful-pro-wrestling-and-mma-podcast/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Passions, Drive, and Patience, the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay guaranteed fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you'll need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. All eligible items only, exclusions apply. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? It's hard to make time for the things that keep you healthy. But being consistent with self-care is like working a muscle. And when life gets crazy, that muscle keeps you strong. Therapy is the ultimate self-care, and BetterHelp makes it easy to get started with affordable online sessions you can do from anywhere. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelpHELP.com today to get 10% off your first month. When you need meal time inspiration, it's worth shopping king's supers for thousands of appetizing ingredients that inspire countless mouth-watering meals. And no matter what tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our everyday low prices, plus extra ways to save, like digital coupons worth over $600 each week and up to $1 off per gallon at the pump with points, so you can get big flavors and big savings, king supers, fresh for everyone, fuel restrictions apply. When you need meal time inspiration, it's worth shopping king's supers for thousands of appetizing ingredients that inspire countless mouth-watering meals. And no matter what tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our everyday low prices, plus extra ways to save, like digital coupons worth over $600 each week and up to $1 off per gallon at the pump with points. So you can get big flavors and big savings, king supers, fresh for everyone, fuel restrictions apply. Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us today for the opportunity to speak with Tony Khan, who is here to discuss the AW All Out pay-per-view coming this Saturday night at Nourita in Chicago. We have a great turnout today, no surprise, so let's briefly revisit the ground rules before we begin, no two-party questions, please. And we appreciate you saying on topic, which is AW All Out. So let's get rolling by turning it over to Tony for some opening thoughts, and I'm going to open your lines for questions, Tony. Thank you, Jim. Hey, everybody. It's great to speak with you. I'm excited to be back with you for the All Out media call. It should be a great show. I'm really looking forward to the event. It's going to be so great to have this show here around Chicago. It's a great tradition. I'm so excited about the card, top to bottom, and I'm excited to get your questions. So with that, we can jump into it, although I will say it's been quite a long night trying to keep Hangman out of jail to be there for this big match. I think it's going to be out of this world, and it's definitely something that the fans want to see. Hangman versus Swerve, we had prepared for a steel cage match. We're not going to be able to sanction that. It's going to be a like out steel cage match, and I think the fans are going to be really excited to see it if we can keep Hangman out of prison for what he did last night. And with that, Jim, we can take the questions right now. Okay, Tony. Well, we trust you'll be able to get that done. And with that, we're going to start with Andrew Bidala from Final Bell Media, and on deck will be Jason Powell from pro wrestling.net. Andrew, you're leading us up with the positivity around the date and the build time for this year is all out. And the recent news, the Grand Slam will be a standalone pay-per-view show and not an episode of Dynamite. Will you consider moving the all-out pay-per-view to later in September to allow more time and build up now that Grand Slam is in a few short weeks after this pay-per-view? Thank you. Well, we really, Grand Slam, Australia is a different event. I think, first of all, I appreciate how you let into it. Thank you, Drew. And I do think there's a lot of positivity around the all-out. It's going to be a great crowd around Chicago. I expect an awesome night on Saturday. Just should be great wrestling, a great action, a great fight. And as far as Grand Slam, we're really excited to go back to Arthur Ashe Stadium. We're doing Grand Slam Australia as a special event next year, but we've had great success in New York. And I think as we get closer to Grand Slam, coming out of all-out, we'll see a huge pick up there as well. And I think it's early to say what the future of Grand Slam is or the delivery of Grand Slam in Australia. I think that's a huge event and really looking forward to that. And we'll have to really think carefully about the domestic distribution here in America for an event taking place in Australia. I'm really excited about Grand Slam Australia, but we have something great going with Arthur Ashe Stadium. So, you know, we have a lot of excitement about going there for Grand Slam, following all-out this year, and could certainly continue with Grand Slam New York as well as Grand Slam Australia. Thanks, Drew. Thank you, Andrew. Jason Powell from prowrestling.net is next to be followed by Bill Bodkin from the pop break. Jason. How many can you hear me? Now Larry, hey. All right. So, I just wanted to know, was Sting's return at all in a one-off or has he re-upped with the company, perhaps in a non-wrestling role? Well, Sting is with AEW, and he's retired from wrestling. He's not going to have any more matches after the great send-off of revolution. Sting has retired, undefeated in AEW as a world champion. And I think Sting had this incredible send-off from wrestling, but he's still very much a huge part of the AEW family. Sting and Darby Allen have formed a friendship that extends to real life, and Sting is a close friend of mine as well. And I'm very blessed to have Sting as part of the AEW family. He brings so much positivity. And really, for all of us around the locker room to have Sting as part of this company around the offices, the locker room, the backstage. I just think everybody was very blessed to have worked with Sting and have him in this company, and we all want to see him any time. It's possible. Before all in, we didn't want to ruin those surprises, but Sting actually came and visited us in Dallas when we were doing the Path to All in Summer series. And it was great to see him backstage, visiting, being there with his friends and family. And we love to see Sting anytime backstage, but it was a really great treat for the fans in London at Wembley Stadium to have Sting arrive and be there to make sure that Darby Allen didn't get torched, and make sure Darby Allen was able to weave England in one piece. And I think Sting is one of our greatest legends ever, and I hope Sting will always be a part of the AW, and certainly for the foreseeable future in the long term, Sting is with us, still, in AW. Thank you. Thank you, Jason. Bill Botkin from the Pop Break is next. Kevin Kellam from Sportskeeda will follow Bill. Bill, you're up. Hey, Tony, can you hear me? Yeah. Hey, Tony. Thanks so much. My favorite matches in AW that you guys do is something we saw at All In, and we saw at the Forum this year is the Casino Gauntlet Match. It's so much fun to watch. Given we're at All Out and we have a history of women's casino battle royals, will we potentially see a women's casino gauntlet match at All Out this weekend or sometime in the near future? I think it would be something great to advertise and build up in the future, and the Casino Gauntlet Match is something that I invented this year and has really taken off, and all three of them have been incredibly well received. They've also all been in hometowns of mine with the great casino gauntlets we've done in obviously Los Angeles. This one was in Jacksonville, then Los Angeles, then Wembley Stadium in London. I would absolutely love to bring Casino Gauntlet to Chicago at some time, and I do think a women's casino gauntlet match can be a tremendous match too at some point, so it is something that I have thought about and would like to do. In the future, I would not commit to doing it necessarily tomorrow or the next day, but it is something that would be a great match, and I think will be a great match for us in the future, the Casino Gauntlet Match, and particularly the future doing a women's casino gauntlet match in E.W. with our great roster. Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Kevin Kellum from Sports Kita is next. Dominic D'Angelo from AdFree Shows will follow Kevin. Kevin, you're up. Hi, Tony. I know you spoke a few weeks ago with my friend at Q101 case low about the future of AEW, and obviously people are excited about that in terms of the media distribution. For fans, what is the feedback you've been getting about them that you apply to this new possible agreement that fans are hotly anticipating whether it be premium live events and a streaming platform, whether it be how they receive the weekly TV shows of Dynamite Collision and all the content that AEW does, and what is the status of that current agreement moving forward? Well, it's a series of great questions and very well articulated. Thank you for those. Well, to start with your great questions, I think that it's a really exciting time for AEW. We are having great conversations. I think there have been a lot of reports, and a lot of them have been pretty accurate about the status of the media deal between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery being something that has been a very productive, ongoing conversation that we're still working on, and is there a lot of details? You asked some great questions. You mentioned the future of the TV deal, which is something we all want, AEW on TBS and TNT. It's great to be wanted by TBS and TNT. I feel very fortunate after being here for five years that there's still this great appetite and desire to keep AEW at TBS and TNT, and it's a mutual thing because we love Warner Bros. Discovery. And David Zagloff, Bruce Campbell, and the whole team have been really good to AEW and me personally, and it's great to have a media partner like TBS and TNT. First of all, that's maybe the best media partner you can have, I think, honestly, when you start talking about pro wrestling to say that you're linked up with TBS and TNT, that's instant credibility for me because I grew up watching wrestling on TBS and TNT for many, many years. And I think a lot of Americans and people around the world recognize TBS and TNT as a great home to the sport with a tradition of wrestling in particular on TBS that goes back over 50 years into the early 1970s. And to be here doing these shows, it's a dream come true. We're still working through the details of the agreement, which is a very long, tenuous process, but it's a good process to do, and especially, you know, it can be long to figure out a contract for one person, one player, one athlete, between the team, that can be a long process sometimes. So imagine for an entire league to do an agreement for all of our events, for, you know, all these exciting things we're working on. It's really a big deal, and there are some really exciting things to come without revealing anything that would jeopardize our company or the great status of everything we've been working on. I can say that there's a lot of excitement on each side on Warner Brothers' Discovery and AEW, and it's really good to have that kind of a great mutual collaboration. The things you asked about, they were insightful questions. Without getting into the future of streaming, which I think I would acknowledge, there's been a lot of really good conversations between AEW and Warner Brothers' Discovery about the streaming platforms and the future. Obviously, Warner Brothers' Discovery owns and operates quite possibly the best streaming platform in the world, and MAX, which is just a fantastic app with a massive user base and it's growing worldwide. It's got a great domestic name and base and it's starting to grow really more as an international brand also, and it's a great place to be with so much of the best content in the history of television and movies. That is obviously something everybody has interest in as well. There are a lot of things to be worked out, but it's a great time for AEW, and I can tell you that this is going to work out really well for AEW and our fans, so it's a positive update without giving away all the information. Hopefully, that was about the both worlds. Thanks for the great questions. Thank you, Kevin. Dominic D'Angelo from Ad Free Shows is next. Chris Mueller from the Bleacher Report will follow Dominic who is up now. Tony, you able to hear me all right? Hey, I hear you great. Hey, awesome. Cool. It's going to be a really fun ending, a wild ending to the show last night, it sets up all out very, very well. It's very intriguing, the aspect that we're coming up on five years of AEW Dynamite here within the month coming up, and I just kind of want to get your perspective as, you know, obviously this being your first wrestling promotion, and only one of the kind of get your thoughts on what you kind of learned about yourself over the course of five years, and is there something big that you want to work on moving forward as the president and CEO of All Elite Wrestling? It's a really great time for AEW. I wake up right now very happy every day. It's great to have this great roster in particular. I cherish every day that AEW has Brian Danielson as the AEW world champion. I think that's something so amazing for a wrestling company to be able to say. And we've had great champions and now coming up tomorrow for the first time ever, all the champions will collide in this huge match of champions. It's the first time we've ever had eight champions battling, and to have Brian Danielson teaming with the World Trio champions, Claudio and Wheeler Yuda, and Pac teaming up against this great group of champions, whether I've always seen eye to eye with them in the wrestling business, they are all great wrestlers, and to have the Young Bucks World Tag Team Champions, the TNT Champion, Jack Perry, and the Continental Champion who had another fantastic match last night, one of the world's great wrestlers, Kazuchko Kata. That's a huge match for us, and we've got a great group of champions right now, along with Will Ospreay, that effectively encompasses all the champions of the company. So we've got all these great people competing in that men's division, and then so many great things happening in our women's division right now too, to have this great group of champions, and in particular right now, Mariah Mae culminating that really, that betrayal, and the journey she's taken since betraying Timeless Tony Storm with a World Championship win at Wembley Stadium in her hometown, what a moment, and something really interesting to follow what's next from my Mae and Timeless Tony Storm, but also really excited about having Mercedes Monet, the TBS Champion, one of the best wrestlers on the planet, also a great champion in New Japan pro wrestling coming off of, I think one of the best matches she's had since she came back, and one of my favorite Mercedes Monet matches was just a week ago on Friday in New Japan pro wrestling, and I think she can have just as great or better of a match coming up this weekend, and really Mercedes has been going so hard defending her championships all over the planet, and to be a traveling world champion like that, it takes a toll, and Caro Chida is one of AEW's greatest of all time, has been a three-time world champion and could potentially be a great face of AEW. I know she said she's the ace of AEW's women, but she could potentially be the face of the whole company on TBS very soon as well, so really excited about that, it's a really great time. I love the company, it's constantly changing, but like I said, probably the thing that puts the biggest smile on my face when I wake up in the morning is that AEW has Brian Danielson as the world champion, and that's an amazing thing for any wrestling company to have, and we're all really proud of him, that he had that big moment at Wembley Stadium, I think it was my personal favorite moment ever in wrestling, and for some of you there in person or watching on video then to be able to sit there with Brian and Bertie celebrating that championship win and them going into the media scrum, that was a great moment too, all part of this one great night, and I'll never forget what Brian said, because I felt it myself when he said he just wished it wouldn't end, he just wished the night would just keep going on and on, and that's the best feeling, and I think that's all we all felt after all in, and last year we came to Chicago and all out, people thought it was one of the best AEW pay-per-views ever, and people have questioned how can you follow what you did at Wembley, well this year I think we had an even better show at Wembley, I thought the Wembley show all in was possibly our best show ever, and it's just been probably I think our best year ever on pay-per-view honestly, I really believe that, and revolution and all in are my two favorite shows we've ever done, absolutely my two favorite endings of all time, I think top to bottom are two best shows, and they were both in the same year within six months of each other, that's amazing, and it's just a great time, so thank you for asking, because it's just kind of fun to talk about all these awesome things going on, I know I already talked about the meteorite deal, but that's a really important thing we're working on too, it's going very well, it's been great having so many things clicking on Dynamite, it was great to get John Moxley back on AEW recently, and that's something that's been very interesting, and it's been absolutely awesome having, you know, like I said Brian Danielson is a world champion, and can't wait for this huge weekend of wrestling, you know, on top of all the great things that we talked about, that match of champions and these great champions we have, Will Osprey's wrestling pack on Saturday in Chicago, they only wrestled once before, and I was there in London, and it was such an epic match, and to be able to bring that to pay per view and show it to the world, I'm so excited, and as I said at the top of the call, probably the thing I'm the most excited about is we've been able so far to keep hangman out of jail, and we're able to have that steel cage match, and that I won't be liable for what happened, so lots of great things happening in AEW, and I really appreciate you asking me, thank you. Thank you, Dominic, Chris Mueller from the Bleacher Report is next, and we'll follow that with a right-end question from Tommy Maladro from Slam Wrestling.net, for now it's Chris, Chris, you're up. Hey Tony, there was a report recently that Will Hobbs was backstage, and I was wondering if you could give us an update on how his recovery is going, and if there is a timetable for his return yet? That's a great question. Will Hobbs has been visiting the doctors. He was injured, wrestling against John Moxley, and an IWGP will title match in Jacksonville in April, and it's been several months of Will Hobbs being out, we're hoping to get him back soon, but I think there's still some time he needs for the recovery. Powerhouse Hobbs is a huge part of AEW, has been a great champion here in AEW, is absolutely one of the most popular stars, and we really look forward to getting Will Hobbs back. I can't say the exact date, but he's definitely somebody in our plan, so we want to get going in AEW again soon, and it's been really nice to see Powerhouse Hobbs backstage a couple of times lately visiting us. This wasn't the first time we've seen him, which is a good thing that he keeps coming in for checkups and is making good progress. Thanks for asking. Thanks Chris. I've got a right-hand question here from Tommy Milagro from Slam Wrestling Net, which I'll read in a minute. "Amy Nelly from Wrestling Joy" will be next. Tony, Tommy has the following question, "Which match do you believe has the potential to be the sleeper or steel to show match at all out this weekend?" It's a great question. Every match looks great. I think it's a loaded question, because I don't know if there's one match that I think Heng Man Swerve, the steel cage lights out, is not a sleeper match in any way, but it's a match you have to talk about, and especially after what happened last night. I don't think there's a sleeper match on the show. I think all these matches sound absolutely awesome. I'm really excited, and there's a lot of buildup to them. Hopefully, people won't aggregate just the beginning of that quote and talk about the matches, because for anybody who says that the matches aren't coming with a lot of story and buildup behind them, that's simply untrue. There's a lot of buildup into this show, into many of the major matches, and not every story is the same. Every match evolved the same way, necessarily, but there's a lot of building story behind the top matches across this show, and there's a lot of top matches and big things and big stories happening in AEW, so I'm really excited about everything we've announced, and I think it looks like a great, great card. It could be one of AEW's best pay per views ever, in the year where I think we're doing our best pay per views ever. A lot of years' dynasty would have been the best pay per views of the year, and dynasty had so many great moments on it, and it was a great, great show, top to bottom, and one of our best shows, I think, ever, and it would be hard for dynasty now, competing with the best show of the year, because there's so many other great shows, Forbidden Door was a great show, and it's just been an awesome year, top to bottom. Forbidden Door was one of our best shows, I think, and really, like I said, I think revolution all in, I would probably put at the top of maybe the two best we've ever done, so just all year, we've been absolutely crushing it on pay per view, and I think all out, top to bottom, has what it takes to be the very best, and it also has one of those great things that has made some of the best AEW pay per views. It's going to have the Chicago wrestling fans, one of the world's great natural resources, and whenever we bring AEW back here to Chicago, I know we can count on some of the best wrestling fans on the planet, and I think people all over the world enjoy tuning into the shows, because the Chicago fans have a great reputation, and have been supporting AEW since, even before we launched, and I think it'll be a great show, top to bottom, so like I said, I don't really think there is a sleeper match on the show, I mean, when you're talking about all these great matches, like, you know, obviously, the lights out, steel cage match, with Hangman versus Swerve Strickland, and you've got the world champion, Brian Danielson versus the TNT champion, Jack Perry, I'm very, very excited for Mercedes Monet versus Accaro Shida, I'm very excited for MJF versus Daniel Garcia, I think Young Bucks versus Claudio, and Yuda will be a great match up, and really excited to see Young Bucks defending against a top team, Claudio and Yuda, who have been one of our best teams ever, and already are the World Trios champions with PAC, and to see PAC versus Will Osprey, I know I talked a bit about that match, but it's something I'm really excited about, and it's something I've seen before, and I think can be even better now, just like we saw Hakara Shida has had a shot at the championship before, well, now she's going to get a fair chance without Camille there for any outside interference, just so many great things on the card top to bottom, but I don't think there's one sleeper match, I think they're all really standout matches, and that's really what makes this like an all-star show that people have really bought into, gotten excited about, I think the Chicago Street fight with Willa Nightingale and Chris Dattlander is something that I look forward to, and I think they've had great matches individually, and they've had great matches against each other, but also some of the best pay-per-view matches against other opponents, and to put them together in a Chicago Street fight, that should be awesome. Top to bottom, I just feel really, really strong about the show, and I think everything should be great. All right, thank you, Tommy, and Amy and Emily from Russell Joy to be next, followed by Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer, Amy, you're up. Hi, Tony, can you hear me? Hey, yep. Hi, so I would like to dive in on Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland. One year ago, tomorrow, Swerve Strickland told Hangman Page, a former teacher who had just donated $50,000 to the Chicago Public Education Fund, to find that spark inside, to find that fire, or step aside. Last night, Hangman Page burned down Swerve Strickland's childhood home. Can you talk about how we got here, how we got to this point, and can you talk about the process of burning down Swerve's house on national television? Thank you. Well, it was quite a moment in wrestling history. I'm glad you asked, and it was something that, from a production standpoint, is a very challenging thing to do, but I think Hangman and the team, he brought there with him to film that did a great job on it. And I have so much respect for Swerve, Strickland, and Hangman Page, both. I think they've both been excellent as the world champion of this company. And each of them is, to me, it's like being more than, I think each of them has been a face, an ambassador, a leader in this company, and they've also become iconic rivals. And I think, when I think of Hangman, I'll think of Swerve, and when I think of Swerve, I'll think of Hangman forever now. And that's one of those great things to be in wrestling, to have that counterpoint to yourself. And the things they've done to each other are so violent, the horror that they've inflicted upon each other is so indelible that this rivalry will surely live on forever in the memories of AEW's fans, and I think we'll be at the forefront of what we've done here in AEW. I think we're all really proud of the Swerve versus Hangman rivalry, but at the same time, it makes sense to have, this is an un-sanctioned match, I think, for AEW after all the things that have happened, because as a company we can't be responsible for what happens on Saturday in this match, it is going to be insane. You've seen what Swerve and Hangman are capable of, and putting them in a steel cage environment, and not sanctioning it as a wrestling match, really, as a fight, it's going to be just absolutely phenomenal, and I can't wait for all that on a pay-per-view this Saturday. I'm so excited that it's just 48 hours away, and burning down from the house, I think, will be one of the signature AEW moments, and I thought it was a great wrestling moment as a fan and someone who loves wrestling, I thought it was incredible now as a promoter and somebody who's responsible for the things that happened, it's absolutely crazy, and if we were in banking or accounting or consulting, this would not stand, and you could not have something like this play out in your office, but in the world of professional wrestling, that's what makes this sport the greatest of them all, and it's why I love wrestling so much, because when something like this happens, I think we all know this should be settled in the ring, and in this case, it needs to be settled in this steel cage without any rules, and without any liabilities, without any sanctioning bodies trying to interfere, I think you need to have a fight on pay-per-view, and what's great is there are people all over the world that are really excited, and what happened last night lit a fire in the hearts of wrestling fans all over the planet, to see hangman page versus Swerve Strickland in the unsanctioned lights out steel cage match to Saturday on pay-per-view at AWL out, I can't wait, and I know there's people all over the world that can't wait for this show. Thank you for asking. Hey Dave. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. Ebay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle, and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more, whether you're into speed, power, or style, Ebay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. Combined with Ebay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back, because with Ebay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Thanks for watching. When you need meal time inspiration, it's worth shopping King Supers for thousands of appetizing ingredients that inspire countless mouth-watering meals. And no matter what tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our everyday low prices, plus extra ways to save, like digital coupons worth over $600 each week, and up to $1 off per gallon at the pump with points. So you can get big flavors and big savings, King Supers, fresh for everyone, fuel restrictions apply. Tell me, can you hear me? Yeah, I do. Hey, Dave. Hey, how you doing, Tony? So I'm not too long ago, MJF did an interview talking about, you know, it's pretty much defending the company and where it stands, and made a statement that AW is fixing, you know, and theory based on the new TV deal, I suppose, or new meteorite steel, to be the second most profitable wrestling company in history. And for 2025, is that viable, or do you think that it may take longer, or, you know, what would you say as far as the veracity of that statement that you're about to become the second most profitable company in history? Is that, you know, is that reasonable, or is that not reasonable, I suppose? I think it is reasonable. Now, as to whether those cash flows happen overnight when the new deal kicks in, I can't say those things for sure yet, and there's still a lot to be figured out, but I do think the diet is cast that AW is going to be the second most profitable wrestling company at this point of all time, which is very impressive for a promotion that is just over five years old, and has been on television for less than five years, and it's amazing how quickly we've expanded, and the expansion of the television product going from two hours a week to five hours a week, and being very excited about what the future holds in our media deal. It's a really great time for the company, so I think Max was right on with what he was saying now as to getting into some of the semantics of it and the mechanics of the accounting and how we're counting all the dollars, and I'm not sure exactly how much money WCW made in 1998, nor am I honestly sure how much money Jim Crockett was making, you know, 1986. But I think over the duration of this deal, I expect over this multi-year period that we're about to enter into that we will be the second most profitable wrestling company in the history of the wrestling business, and it's going to be a really exciting thing. But it's also only the beginning. It's the beginning of a really long journey. Like I said, you know, to be not even five years on television, it's not the first step, it's not the second step, it's been a long journey, but it's still early in a long journey. So you know, for the golfers out there, I still feel like, you know, we've played some holes, but I still think we're on the front nine here, and really building for the future. So I'm very excited about it, and then to go back to my football metaphors, you know, the deal is very much in the red zone, and I've said it's right there to be pushed in, you know, and that's where we're going to put the ball in the end zone, and it's going to be a huge touchdown for AW, and I agree with what Max said. I think, you know, he made some great points in whether or not people agree with MJF and the way he carries himself around the wrestling ring. He's a very intelligent person about the wrestling business. For such a young man in his 20s, one of the most astute historians that I've met for his age really, and that reminds me a lot of myself in my teens and 20s as a fan of a lot of the older wrestling and the history of it and grew up reading your stuff, Dave. And I think that you, Max, we've had a very good point there. Thanks for asking. Thank you, Dave. Liam Crowley from ComicBook.com is next to be followed by Bill Prichard from Russell Zone. Liam. I'll be speaking with you again. Something that's really piquing my interest on AEW programming right now is the return of John Moxley and all his cryptic words about the company no longer, possibly belonging to you seemed like he was talking to Tony Shavani in a way to direct words towards you. Something that I also noticed was that GCW is running a blood support event also in New Jersey, the weekend of AEW Foggier, that Sunday Foggier taking place the day before. I'm just what your current relationship is like with GCW and Josh Barnett specifically. I like Josh a lot. You know, Josh is a really good guy. We brought Josh in to AEW. I don't know the GCW people as well, but Josh and the blood support, you know, I think we treat a little differently. I think we've had some people here that do stuff in GCW. I know Billy Starks and some of the young wrestlers have been there a good amount, but the blood support, it's interesting. Josh is a guy I respect and like very much, and Josh has a lot of friends in the company that I really, really, really like in respect and have, you know, I would go out of my way to try to help those guys out out of respect because that's how we do so, if that makes sense. But is that Lima, that kind of what you're looking for? Do you have any follow-up to that? I don't know if we can do that. Hang out. Yeah, I just have to undo him again. Hold on one moment. Hi, Tony, back. Yeah. No, well, thank you for the answer. I guess a follow-up on that would just be your reaction to when Moxley said those were words on Dynamite, I believe, last week when he said that this is not your company anymore. What do those cryptic words kind of mean to you? Well, it's definitely something to watch on AEW TV every week. Something to keep an eye on on all of our shows and having Jon Moxley back in AEW, however this plays out, I think, is good for the fans and good for the future of the show. And it was a big thing for Jon Moxley to go become the IWGP World Champion and make history. It's something nobody has ever done. And for all we know, maybe nobody will ever do it again, but it is historic to be the first ever person to hold the AEW World title, the WEW World title, and the IWGP World title. And he's been a great champion for all of those companies and so much more than a champion. We're very fortunate to have Jon Moxley in AEW and whatever he's referring to and whatever he's doing, I think AEW is a better place with Jon Moxley here, and Jon Moxley coming to AEW is one of the reasons we've been successful as a promotion and, however, whatever he's referring to when he speaks to Tony Siobani, whatever he's been doing, however this plays out, I am eternally grateful to Jon Moxley. He is a founding father of AEW and a trailblazer and professional wrestling and a great author. Thank you. Thank you, Liam. We have 15 minutes to go. We've got a full line up here, Tony. So let's go with Bill Pitcher from Russell Zone Next to be followed by Lyric Swinton from Blavony. Bill? What? How are you doing, Tony? Hey, Bill. I'm fantastic. Thanks, man. So I wanted to go back to the Hangman swerve segment from last night. I just kind of wanted to get your feedback about how the whole thing played out, not just on the show, but throughout the day, you started with the clip on social media of swerve and Nana showing like, hey, I bought my childhood home and people were like, there's this feel-good moment and then kind of quickly put it together, like, hey, what if this is an angle? What if Hangman's involved somehow? And it's like one of those, I guess, obvious conclusions. I don't know if it was completely obvious, but just wanted to get your thoughts on like how people initially reacted to it, maybe speculated on where it was going and then seeing the final angle, just the reaction to people kind of getting to the obvious conclusion and still being surprised at what they actually saw once the show went off the air. Well, it's a great question and great point. I think the response to the conclusion of AEW Dynamite with Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland to set up their lights out, steel cage match this Saturday, just 48 hours from now at AW All Out has been overwhelmingly positive. I think we've had just a fantastic response from the fans who thought this was a great ending to the show. If we were in another line of work, people would be shocked by this, but in wrestling, I think people saw it coming in some way and still were blown away by it, truly. And it was something that made a lot of sense and it was one of those great wrestling ideas and one of those great wrestling moments. And I think that it's helped build even more interest in a pay-per-view that has been really coming together. Fantastic. Since we got back from Wembley Stadium and even building there at Wembley Stadium and really with Hangman and Swerve, I think it's great. I've watched really first hand as a wrestling fan over the last 30-plus years as wrestling fans and the overall audience profile has changed and the way they consume wrestling has changed and the percentage of the wrestling fans that are watching stories develop online that are following the news in wrestling that are reading the sheets that are keeping track of news outside of the ring and behind the scenes in the production of the shows, it's a massive percentage in the audience now that follows these things compared to when I was a kid and it was frankly more of a niche interest. There was huge mainstream interest in wrestling that would go up and down cyclically based on what was happening in the business. But I think in terms of what we have now, as far as the first of all, it's a boom time in wrestling. This is a golden age for the sport in so many ways. This is a great time to be in wrestling and AEW is a huge part of the wrestling conversation happening today in September 2024. It's an awesome thing and when you look at that, historically, I think the ability of wrestling fans is that they're all time high. I've gotten some statistics that I am really impressed by. As I've gotten into this meteorite deal, I've learned things about AEW that even I didn't know that are so impressive insights that really rocked me. To watch wrestling fandom change and see how big AEW is a part of it, here's a statistic that will blow your mind. We're talking about the ability of wrestling fans. This started with a great question about Swerve Strickland versus Hangman page. This rivalry is a big part of AEW. This is a wrestling story and a wrestling rivalry that should be settled. Yes, in a wrestling ring, but not in a traditional wrestling match. First of all, it's your cage and it may be the perfect place to contain this and hopefully keep the fans safe, but also now that AEW can't sanction this, but I will promote it on pay-per-view and that's one of the great things about being in wrestling. If it was in another sport, they wouldn't want the liability and would have to not allow something like this to be battled out after what happened last night. But I've learned so much about the validity of wrestling fans and so to have an audience of wrestling fans that even if they are following ahead to see what happens, if they're looking for spoilers, if they're looking for inside news about the future and what's to come, I think that's great and however people can serve their validity and service their fandom, I think it's really important to take care of the fans that take care of us. We've got the greatest fans in the world, AEW. It's even more powerful than I knew. Here's an insane stack about all the sporting leagues. Did you know that of all of the world's sports leagues that the league whose fans spend the most money per month on streaming video of every sports league out there, the league whose fan spends on average the most per month on streaming video, it's AEW. It's ahead of every other sporting league in the world. I've never said AEW is the biggest sporting league in the world, but we are a big sports league now and we have a lot of fans and we also have the greatest evidity of fans of any league in the world and it continues to show itself up. It shows up in the metrics and it shows up in intangible ways too. I didn't actually check the decibel meter every five seconds at Wembley Stadium because we were having such a great show and we were in the moment and producing the show and trying to enjoy it as it was happening, but to have a crowd like that of over 50,000 pay, have these people going crazy like they were a small crowd in a small intimate place as if we were in the e-sports stadium in Dallas or the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. There were over 50,000 people going crazy, singing the final countdown, singing the FTR theme, you know, doing there for all these great, beautiful moments and there for Will Osprey and booing Mariah Mae and, you know, just in all these epic parts of the show and I think right now when you see that the fans are following along and you have fans that want to know what's coming next and they'll even look online, they'll check social media, they'll Google it, they'll, you know, look to news sources to find out what's going to happen next in AEW and in wrestling, that's a good thing. So I look at our fan of it and it is a really positive point for AEW. Thank you. Thank you very much, Bill. Larry Swinton from Blavity is next to be followed by Samantha Shipman from the Daily DDT. Larry? It's actually about all of AEW's pay-per-views and so there's been a lot of special shows this year from, you know, Forbidden Door, obviously all in stadium show, even Revolution earlier this year with Stings' retirement. So with the success of All In and the inclusion of future stadium shows, are you interested in there being one specific tent poll pay-per-view for AEW, akin to like a WrestleMania or are you looking to make every pay-per-view special in its own right? Are you, so are you looking to make All In potentially that tent poll event if you are looking to have one single tent poll event? I think we have all these great events and All In has been the biggest event in many ways yet we have all these great events that have had moments that are indelible and unique and for many fans, the greatest moment in the ever in AEW happens all out and it's when Kenny Omega retained the title against Christian Cage as the events unfolded that resulted in Adam Cole and Brian's company three years ago this week and to celebrate the three-year anniversary of two great stars arriving now three years later, Brian Danielson has finally become the AEW World Champion. Brian Danielson here as AEW's leader, our locker room leader and the face of the company is the AEW World Champion, but I know that when Brian is ready to retire from entering wrestling here, you'll always have a home in AEW will always be happy to have him, but right now as Brian is firing on all cylinders, every time he goes out there I try to enjoy it because I realize that every moment could potentially be our last and it's something I'm going to really be cognizant of during this Saturday's pay-per-view because to have Brian Danielson versus Jack Perry the AEW versus TNT champions, that's pretty cool and pretty special to begin with and when you have Brian and Jack and when you look at when Brian arrived in AEW three years ago, he was standing side by side with Jack, he came out to defend Jack and to defend AEW and looking where we are three years later the people he came out to defend Jack from are the very people Jack's fallen in with and looking at where AEW gone and how we've grown and the things we've done since Brian came in and the journey he's had here and we've all had together, it's been a really, really special thing so I think when you say that some of the biggest moments have happened all out, of course all in has been our biggest show for attendance but there's been memories at other events and I think in addition to that great moment at all out that will celebrate three years of Danielson and Cole and what happened there, I thought this year's revolution was maybe the best show we've ever done, I think Sting's retirement could be the best thing we've ever done, I think Sting's three years in AEW from his arrival, his first match was also at Revolution in 2021 and when you look at Sting's three year journey here also how special that's been and so again you know whether it's revolution or all out or all in or the original AEW pay purview, double or nothing where maybe the biggest moments happened where we had Chris Jericho versus Kenny Omega and John Moxley arrived and those were the first three champions in the history of the company and you had future world champions, Hangman Page and MJF clashing earlier in the shows, so many great moments and I think there's been so many great AEW shows and events so I think they each stand out and are special in their own ways and some of my favorite things that have ever happened in AEW have happened at full gear and I think some of our best shows have been at full gear, one of my favorite shows of the pandemic era and I think maybe the best show anybody did in the pandemic era was full gear 2020, it was the first time any of us had heard those kind of pops in a really long time and it felt so good, you know when FTR won the belts, excuse me, when the young bucks beat FTR, when the young bucks beat FTR for the belt, what a moment, what a pop when Darby Allen won the TNT Championship from Cody, what a pop, what a moment and we in 2020, you know, it feels like a long time ago because it was almost four years ago but those were great moments and that's been a signature show for us and we've added new big events where there's been huge moments, like I said dynasty top to bottom could be the best show of the year and because there's so much competition it probably hasn't gotten a hype raise, it deserves is one of our best events we've ever done at dynasty and we've introduced new pay per view so I think the idea is these pay per views have an important identity, they are tentpole events, they're like the playoff games in sports, it's a little different the way that they come as far as the cadence and the scheduling of them but that's the idea and these are premium top events and wrestling and as I said before, our fan-avidity has made this model a huge success for us, we have a great pay per view business because we have the best fans in the world and those numbers prove it. I think it's a great great thing to have so many great signature events with great traditions that the fans can look forward to, you're in, you're out and I'm really excited about all out and of course all out this is now our sixth all out and it's kind of crazy and to have our sixth all out across five years all in Chicago minus the one year we were in Jacksonville I think it's been a great run and I think each event has an important significance in AEW as far as those major pay per view shows, thanks for asking. Thank you, Larry, Tony, we're at time but you have a minute for Samantha Shipman, we announced her and you have a minute for her question? Yes, sure. Okay, Samantha, we're going to complete today's conference with you, are you ready? Hi, Tony. At King Super's Pharmacy, Care is making it easy to get vaccinated. Care is helping you stay protected from flu, COVID and RSV. Seasonal vaccines are available seven days a week with evening hours. Care is giving you a shot at staying healthy this season. Walk in whenever is best and get multiple vaccines in one visit at your local King Super's Pharmacy so come and get the protection you need while protecting those around you. King Super's a world of care is in store, visit king supers.com/vaccines for more restrictions and exclusions apply seaside for details. I have a question. When we first saw Kyle Fletcher come into AEW he was with Aussie Open who I would say in the last couple of years has been one of the top five tag teams in the world. Obviously, we've seen Kyle's ascent, especially in the last couple of months of him just becoming a rising star. Mark Davis was injured nearly a year ago at WrestleDream. Is there an update on Mark Davis and also with Mark Davis if he is returning anytime soon? Will we see Aussie Open competing as a tag team or is Kyle just on this path as a star that you just kind of have to let that play out? Well, those are great questions. Mark Davis has been injured now for quite a while and we get regular updates and he's had surgery. He's in recovery and we can't wait to have Mark Davis back in AEW. I think Aussie Open has been a great team but you're absolutely right. What you said Kyle Fletcher has taken a great journey here in this company and in particular lately has been on this amazing run of some of these fantastic matches in AEW and really all over the world where he's competed in ROH and been a great TV champion in ROH and I think opened some eyes there to what a great single star Kyle Fletcher is and what he's capable of. What a great survival of the fittest match Kyle had earlier this year and we've seen him then take that title, Wrestle Top matches. I thought Kyle Fletcher and Lee Johnson had a great rivalry on ROH that was some of the best matches we've had on the TV show and then to have Kyle Fletcher go to CMLL compete at the highest level there at our partner at CMLL promotion we have such a great relationship with and such a great working partnership that's been established. Kyle Fletcher has been a big part of it and he's continued to impress and impress and impress so I think it's been unfortunate to have Mark Davis out. We really miss him and I look forward to Mark Davis returning to AEW and I have to say that while Mark Davis has been out Kyle Fletcher has absolutely stepped up to the occasion. His star is rising and we love having Kyle Fletcher in AEW and as for the future of them individually or collectively I think that remains to be seen but it's really great questions and I think you've definitely captured what's happening that Kyle is on the rise for sure. Okay thank you Samantha. Kyle we can get to everyone we have quite a line up here a great interest obviously today Tony any closing thoughts? Well thanks Jim it's a great time for AEW there's been a lot of great questions today I'm really excited to have all out here in Chicago it's always great to bring AEW here to Chicago and it's a home to me personally and a home to wrestling and this is going to be a great event I really enjoyed taking all your questions today hopefully if I didn't get anybody's question I hope that you'll get a chance to come to all out and I'll try to answer as many as I possibly can. Really excited about this show I just think it has a really special feeling I'm always excited for all out this year in particular it just feels really big that AEW's got so many cool things happening and it feels like the company has some really exciting momentum to build on and I think the show is just going to be great it's coming up very soon obviously and I'm just really very grateful to all of you that you took the time to cover AEW and spend your time on this thank you for covering us a lot of you have been covering us for many years and I really appreciate you guys giving us a fair coverage and an opportunity to grow the business and give all these wrestlers and the big staff we have here and all the jobs we create in wrestling the opportunity to do this thank you for covering us and thanks for coming to the media call today and like I said I hope to see you all at the scrum I hope you all enjoy all out and I look forward to reading all of your coverage and thank you all for taking the time to visit us today Jim and Robin thank you for being such great moderators and hosts of this it's a great tradition and I look forward to these pre-paper view calls especially for a pay-per-view with a great tradition like all out in a great city like Chicago with such a great lineup like this that could be the best lineup we've ever put out the bottom on pay-per-view I think it's going to be awesome and I'm excited to see you all this weekend on Saturday in Chicago and then I'll red-eye down for the start of NFL season right after that but first things first before I head to Miami to kick off the NFL we have some very very very very important business to do in AW and very excited about all out Saturday night before the NFL kicks off hope to see you all Saturday and also it's a special three hour block of collision tomorrow and for the collision it's going to be something really different for us to go on Friday night and do this but I think to have all out on Saturday and to still be able to deliver the great action we've been providing on collision it'll be a little different doing three hours on Friday different than anything we've done but I think it's a great way to go and it ensures the fans are going to get a great all out on Saturday that we will not be competing with the NFL which is not in anybody's interest in anybody outside the NFL ever to compete with the NFL which is the greatest media sports marketing machine in the history of the world and I do think it'll be an exciting three hour block tomorrow also and I'm looking forward to that and I think there's some really great stuff so hopefully we'll see some of you there too and just really thank you and looking forward to seeing you either at collision or at the pay per view particularly at the scrum after thanks for doing this and I hope you all have a great weekend thank you Jim thank you Tony thanks everyone it's always a fast hour with Tony and today was no exception so with that we're going to be distributing the audio recording of today's session with Tony to all attendees shortly so again on behalf of Tony everyone of the AW wish you a safe and happy travels to Chicago this weekend for AW All Out if you can't make it we thank you for joining us on Saturday night with a pay per view no matter what your plans are this weekend always know that AW appreciate you and we appreciate what you do so with that thank you again and hope to see you this weekend in Chicago peace this is an ad by BetterHelp what are your self-care non-negotiables it's hard to make time for the things that keep you healthy but being consistent with self-care is like working a muscle and when life gets crazy that muscle keeps you strong therapy is the ultimate self-care and BetterHelp makes it easy to get started with affordable online sessions you can do from anywhere never skip therapy day with BetterHelp visit betterhelphclp.com today to get 10% off your first month a king supers pharmacy care is making it easy to get vaccinated care is helping you stay protected from flu covid and rsv seasonal vaccines are available seven days a week with evening hours care is giving you a shot at staying healthy this season walk in whenever is best and get multiple vaccines in one visit at your local king supers pharmacy so come and get the protection you need while protecting those around you king supers a world of care is in store visit king supers dot com slash vaccines for more restrictions and exclusions apply seaside for details when you need meal time inspiration it's worth shopping king supers for thousands of appetizing ingredients that inspire countless mouthwatering meals and no matter what tasty choice you make you'll enjoy our every day low prices plus extra ways to save like digital coupons worth over six hundred dollars each week and up to one dollar off per gallon at the pump with points so you can get big flavors and big savings king supers fresh for everyone fuel restrictions apply at king supers pharmacy care is making it easy to get vaccinated care is helping you stay protected from flu covid and rsv seasonal vaccines are available seven days a week with evening hours care is giving you a shot at staying healthy this season walk in whenever is best and get multiple vaccines in one visit at your local king supers pharmacy so come and get the protection you need while protecting those around you king supers a world of care is in store visit king supers dot com slash vaccines for more restrictions and exclusions apply seaside for details