Tony Khan Talks ‘All In’ & Teases ‘Most Important Announcements’ in AEW History

All Elite Wrestling is gearing up for an eventful second half of 2024. The promotion’s top stars are soon venturing to London for All In. It’s where they’ll perform for the second year in front of its biggest crowd at Wembley Stadium. At the same time, AEW’s television home beyond the end of the year may become clear sooner rather than later 

That’s if you read into the hints thrown out there by Tony Khan. The boss met in Paris during the Olympics with David Zaslav, president and executive officer of Warner Bros. Discovery. He spoke positively on X about the trip linking up with the top exec of their media rights partner. This was about a week ago. A few days later Khan generated more speculation when he added that “the most important announcements in AEW history” were looming large. 

One thing for sure is the owner likes to get people talking. So, it’s only fair that ahead of Dynamite and All In we get Khan talking about what’s to come. 

You have teased on social media the most important announcements in AEW are coming. Are we going to be getting these on Dynamite, All In? Are you able to say what it might be related to or when these might drop?

Tony Khan: It is a very exciting time in AEW for many reasons…We’re days away from AEW All In on August 25. This is the most important and exciting time in AEW’s history. In addition to what is happening in the ring, there are so many exciting things happening behind the scenes at AEW right now. We’re on the verge of the most important announcements in the history of AEW. There are multiple aspects. The arrival of these announcements is imminent. We’ll have big news that could come at any time. Isn’t that the best kind of wrestling surprise when you know something is coming and you want it and it’s exciting, but you’re not sure when it’s going to happen? You have that feeling it’s going to happen. In this case, I have more than a feeling to paraphrase Boston. I have been working on this for a long time. We have a great team here. The future of AEW is very bright. 

Bryan Danielson/AEW

One of the things coming up on Dynamite is your retrospective with Bryan Danielson featuring the music of Green Day. He has the big career versus title match coming up at All In. What has he meant to AEW and where do you see his future with the company beyond the pay-per-view? 

We’re weeks away from Bryan celebrating three years in AEW. It has been such a pleasure and privilege working with Bryan. At All In he has his career on the line against the dominant AEW Champion Swerve Strickland. Swerve Strickland is on one of the greatest runs in AEW history right now. Over the last year, he has beaten some of the biggest names in AEW and done so many amazing things…I think fans all around the world are going to want to see this match knowing that it’s potentially the end of Bryan Danielson’s career and at such a pivotal time. 

I think it’s going to be very compelling. Fans will enjoy the Bryan Danielson “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” retrospective on tonight’s show. In the ring, I think Bryan Danielson is one of the greatest legends ever. Over the past three years, he has been involved in some of our greatest matches. He has done so many things in the world of pro wrestling. In AEW, he has chased a top prize on more than one occasion. We’ve never seen him as AEW World Champion I think he is very capable of being AEW World Champion, as well as having the best match and moment on any wrestling show. He is also one of the best people in wrestling. Having him backstage working with our talent, being involved with the company on a daily basis behind the scenes to try to make AEW truly where the best wrestle. He is so valuable to us. I hope that Bryan will be with AEW forever. I wish he could wrestle with us forever. I know that is not possible, but I hope for as long as he is able to continue backstage and pretty much the rest of his life, I would hope Bryan would stay involved in AEW. We love having him here. He is the captain of the team. 

The Young Bucks are also defending against The Acclaimed. There is talk about how frequently or infrequently we see them on television. Do you see them as more of a special attraction these days?

The Young Bucks are one of the greatest tag teams of all time. They are also very influential in AEW in the ring and behind the scenes. They’ve been instrumental since day one in the creation of this company. We’ve watched them change a lot over the past five years. One thing that has been a constant has been their wrestling skill. They are one of the best tag teams I’ve ever seen. They are great athletes and make for a deadly combination. 

We haven’t had them necessarily wrestling every week on the show. I think for them to be competing tonight and defending the AEW Tag Team Championship is a big deal, particularly in such a big match. The Acclaimed are the former champions. At the peak of their popularity, I think they have been as beloved to the fans as anyone in AEW. We’ve seen each team pick up a win over the other. This year that rivalry has heated up. The Acclaimed are AEW’s originals who would stand up for the company and me personally. I love this matchup. It will be great. It is important any time you have The Young Bucks wrestling on television. 

What’s your perspective these days when it comes to deciding to take what’s going on in real life and use it on television as part of a storyline? What goes on in your mind when making that decision creatively? 

There are a lot of great things happening on AEW TV each week. We’ve been on an exciting run of shows….I’m very excited for this week’s Dynamite. As we approach All In tensions are high, and I think we can take a lot of that excitement we all feel, onscreen or behind the scenes about what’s happening. The imminent announcements in AEW and immediacy of AEW All In. That tension is palpable. If it heats up in the ring or behind the scenes or anywhere, at this time of year, we want to use it to keep fueling that fire because it’s a very important time for us to keep the fire burning. 

The Casino Gauntlet Match at All In always makes you wonder if we’re going to see any new faces pop up. What can you say to that? 

It wouldn’t be a surprise if I said it, but I love the Casino Gauntlet Match as it’s a match we invented. It started in Jacksonville at Daily’s Place fittingly enough. It has caught on and become one of the most anticipated stipulated matches in wrestling. It should be really fun. We’re bringing it to London, my other hometown after bringing it to Jacksonville and Los Angeles. So it has become my hometown match. I love it. 

Tony Khan Guy Fieri/X

We’re seeing more Saturday pay-per-view shows coming up after All In. Talk about the decision to go that route. 

I tend to do Sunday pay-per-views outside of the NFL season. Then as we get into NFL season more of the events are on Saturdays where it’s less of a crowded football schedule. We’ve done a lot of pay-per-views on Sundays this year. Then Q3 and Q4 you’ll see more primarily on Saturdays as more attention is tuned into NFL football. And rightfully so because it is the greatest product and media enterprise in the world. 

Are you looking to do more residencies based on what you’ve seen in Arlington, Texas for Collision shows this summer? 

I think we found something very special around Arlington’s Esports Stadium in Texas. There is magic in the building and magic in those fans. I would love to keep doing more shows there and having major events there. And if there are other great wrestling markets, legendary wrestling markets that could sustain that kind of excitement week after week, I would love that. We found something very special there in Texas. 

You look to have some fun in Paris. You even posted a photo with Guy Fieri. Give us the context behind that. Was Paris inspiring you to be there at the same time as the Olympics? 

It was inspirational any time you’re in the vicinity of Flavortown. You get inspired and fired up. Guy Fieri is a great person. Guy is a great guy. I sat with him 11 years ago at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. We had a lot of time to catch up and chat in Paris. We also had some time to visit in the Superdome, not just during the Super Bowl game, but also because there was a blackout that night. He was with us. We sat together and enjoyed talking to him. I saw him 11 years later in the hospitality lounge in the Warner Brothers Discovery experience of a lifetime where they treated some of their top executives and content creators like Guy Fieri and myself. 

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It was nice to see him again. We spent a lot of time together. I was on a bus with him going to Olympic events. We were sitting at different sports together in stadiums and hanging out at the hotel. I would love to see him in AEW sometime. I would love for some of the top stars in AEW to pay a visit to Flavortown and work with him. I loved that we had so much fun but also being with our bosses. The people that are trusting us to put on shows every week. To be there with David Zaslav, Bruce Campbell, and Kathleen Finch and their families, it was awesome. There is a great team at Warner Bros. Discovery. They have a great leadership group and team. They are great people. We were all staying in one hotel together. They really put a first-class experience together. It was a great Olympics. 

I’d be remiss not to mention another meeting you had not long ago with Shane McMahon. Do you see Shane attending an AEW show? What is his overall opinion of the product? 

That was the first time I’d ever met Shane. We both were in Dallas and have mutual close friends. They said, “You’re both in Dallas. You should get together.” We did. I really enjoyed talking to him. He is quite an insightful, intelligent person. He seems like a nice guy and very smart. I enjoyed talking to him about wrestling. I’m not sure what could come of it, but he was a very down-to-earth and impressive nice guy. 

AEW Dynamite, Wednesdays, 8/7c, TBS

AEW Rampage, Fridays, 10/9c, TNT

AEW Collision, Saturdays, 8/7c, TNT

AEW All In, August 25, 1/12c, Pay-Per-View