Tony Khan on AEW’s Biggest Challenge, Michael Mansury Hiring, Talent Using OnlyFans Type Sites, ROH

TV Insider held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts on what he currently considers to be the most proudest of in AEW.

“That we’ve grown year-over-year. As of right now, [Dynamite] is up nine percent in total audience, four percent in the 18-49 demo, and 25 percent in viewers 18-34. It’s tremendous to see those gains in today’s day and age. These are really good signs for our company.”

Khan also gave his thoughts on what he considers to have been the biggest challenge for AEW so far.

“I’m very proud of the AEW staff and wrestlers that we were able to have a strong year in a challenging environment. A number of things throughout the year came up that could have impeded us at different times. Time after time, we always came out stronger. Recently, we’ve been doing some of the best shows we’ve done. It’s emblematic of the strong performance of AEW this year.”

Khan also gave his thoughts on AEW being hit badly by the injury bug this year and how AEW’s younger talent stepped up to help the company rebound back.

“We had a point in the summer over a matter of weeks we had Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, and CM Punk injured. MJF left, and Jeff Hardy had an incident and was unavailable along with other people who were out. The company really rallied over the summer. We had some great events. Simultaneously, it was a very important time for AEW because we had stars step up and a lot of the younger wrestlers step up. We were able to rebound. I think getting Bryan Danielson back was huge for us for the 150th episode of Dynamite’s “House of the Dragon.” It was an eventful year. We crossed the million-dollar threshold for the first time and hit that multiple times. We did it five times this year. Four times consecutively on pay-per-view, as well as “Grand Slam.” We rebounded well.”

On the topic of AEW’s recent hiring of former WWE Vice President of Global Television Production Michael Mansury, Khan stated:

“Mike just started with us and is a huge acquisition for AEW. He has so much knowledge in TV production. To have him join us as a co-executive producer and senior production executive is really great for us. It’s so important to have someone with his experience. Right now he is evaluating things in terms of presentation. I’m excited about what he will add to AEW.”

On the topic of AEW’s stance when it comes to their talent using social media and generating outside income with OnlyFans and other similar sites.

“I try to be flexible with the wrestlers and staff utilizing their personal social media. I certainly recognize they are leading their own lives the other five days of the week when they’re not wrestling. They are representing the company as great wrestlers of AEW, but they are also all independent people with separate lives. I try to give people that piece of mind. That I’m not trying to be “Big Brother” trying to change everything they do in their life. It’s a balance. We just want people to promote AEW when they can and do their best to help us grow our wrestling business.”

Khan also gave his thoughts on those who think he is stretching himself too thin with his work with AEW, ROH, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Fullham FC.

“I love all these businesses. I feel very fortunate I’m able to work in these industries. I love the people I work with. Every day is different. I try to find balance. It depends on the time of year, and where we are at. Where we are on our calendars. Wrestling never takes a day off. You don’t have downtime in wrestling. Then there is the NFL Draft or English Premier League transfer window that is always looming in the off-season. For me, I love moonlighting between these great loves.”

Khan also gave his thoughts on the relaunch of Ring of Honor’s HonorClub streaming service.

“As I understand it the numbers we already reached in a very short time are strong in membership and customer base. More than ever before. It’s a great value to join HonorClub right now. We’re going to be following up soon to talk about when the weekly Ring of Honor TV will launch and stream on HonorClub for sure. There are a lot of interesting partnerships and possibilities with great wrestling companies. Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling had a great working relationship we are rekindling. We are looking to rekindle that long relationship. Ring of Honor may be in the strongest position they’ve ever been in its 20 years. It’s the perfect time to take the training wheels off.”

On the topic of ROH entering a new era, Khan stated:

“We’ve created a lot of familiarity with the brand. It’s also beneficial to both brands. For example, I had earmarked Claudio [Castagnoli] to be a top star for Ring of Honor, but when we had this mess of injuries back in June before Forbidden Door, he came to AEW. It really helped us and came in to debut with Ring of Honor. He ended up coming out a month earlier and cutting his vacation short. An example having the two companies benefited us.”