AEW: Tony Khan on Becky Lynch Being Great Star & Not Wanting to Cause Contract Tampering, Chris Jericho on Recent Heel Turn & Learning Tree Character, More News

Tony Khan Comments on Becky Lynch Being a “Great Star” & Expiring WWE Contract

A recent episode of The Rich Eisen Show featured AEW CEO Tony Khan as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts about signing new free agent talents to AEW and specifically those from WWE.

“I don’t want to try to tamper and do those things. I try to keep it classy and I really have a reputation for honesty and I really want to be a fair businessman. The wrestling business is a really cutthroat business.”

In response to co-host Rich Eisen asking if he would be interested in potentially signing Becky Lynch and brought up her expiring contract in WWE, Khan stated:

“You invoked the tampering word.”

In response to co-host TJ calling Lynch a big star who brings a fanbase with her, Khan stated:

“Absolutely. Great star.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Chris Jericho Comments on His Recent Heel Turn & The Learning Tree Character in AEW

KCAL News held a recent interview with Chris Jericho. One of the topics discussed included Jericho’s thoughts about his recent heel turn and current The Learning Tree character in AEW.

“The one thing about wrestling that’s very important is you have to understand the concepts of being a good guy, and when that starts getting stale, of being a bad guy.

People say (wrestling’s) like a soap opera. In that way, it is a soap opera. You know, he’s a good guy and then suddenly something happens and you don’t like him for a while. And you have to be able to read the room on that.”

In response to a question from the host about if he was too “lovely” to be hated, Jericho stated:

“Well, I’m a very charming guy. I mean, it’s hard to believe that people don’t like me but sometimes they don’t. And that’s okay, that’s the beauty of wrestling, you just lean into it and I take great pride in, kind of, making people angry with things because that’s what you want to do, you’re playing a character, you know what I mean? When Chris Jericho comes on screen in AEW, it’s different from the Chris Jericho that we’re talking to right now. And that’s the way it should be. A larger-than-life character is kind of what wrestling is all about and I embrace that wholly.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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AEW News & Notes

This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Inglewood, California featured a #1 Contender Forbidden Door Casino Gauntlet match for the AEW World Championship. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW CEO Tony Khan was the person who produced the match outline and was assisted by QT Marshall, Colt Cabana, and Serpentico. AEW officials reportedly have been very happy with how the match has been received so far.

This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show also featured Lio Rush making a surprise return appearance. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW officials had plans in place for Rush’s appearance on the show as far back as a week ago.

AEW held two dark matches prior to the start of this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Inglewood. These were Brandon Cutler defeating Evil Uno in a singles match and Zak Knight defeating Colt Cabana in a singles match.

AEW recently released a new AEW Timelines video focusing on MJF.

A recent episode of TNT’s Inside The NBA show featured the Young Bucks sending gifts of custom AEW World Championships replicas and shoe belts the Inside crew of Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, Draymond Green, and Charles Barkley.

Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert reported that a new trademark for “The Brood” was recently filed by No Laughing Matter, LLC to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Lambert reported that this filing as assisted by Michael Dockins, who is known for helping with many trademarks filed in the wrestling industry.

As noted before, The Motor City Machine Guns’ Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin’s contracts with TNA Wrestling expired at the end of this past March and are currently believed to be in the process of finalizing a deal with AEW. In a recent interview with the Saturday Night’s Main Event podcast, Shelley gave his thoughts about the recent reports of the MCMG’s heading to AEW and if he has talked to AEW. Shelley stated “No, I wouldn’t share any of that. Loose lips sink ships.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent episode of the What Happened When with Tony Schiavone podcast, co-host Tony Schiavone gave his thoughts about Jeff Jarrett’s lengthy career versatility. Schiavone stated “I guess I shouldn’t have been but I was kind of blown away [by] how versatile Jeff Jarrett is. That fucker can do it all. I mean, he literally can do it all. I sent him a note. I said, ‘Dude, for an old fucker, you can certainly do everything.’ I was just blown away by it. Maybe I shouldn’t have been. I thought his work on the pregame show — Of course, to me, I love RJ City. Some people do, some people don’t. I just think he’s a very talented very positive guy and works pretty hard behind the scenes as well.” Schiavone also praised Renee Paquette for being the “single most talented person” he’s ever worked with in terms of on-camera broadcasting. Schiavone stated “Renee [Paquette] has to be the single most talented person I think I’ve ever worked with as far as on-camera work. Everything is so natural to her and she’s so good at what she does,” Tony added. “When they threw Jeff Jarrett in and Jeff was just — I just thought he did a masterful job. I even let him know that. I said, ‘For an old fucker, you can just about do anything in wrestling.’ Wrestle, talk, like you said, everything. Hell, he could probably run a camera, too, if need be.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Dax Harwood recently reflected on Instagram about his past four years with AEW. Harwood stated “I’d be remiss if I didn’t speak on our 4 year Anniversary here at AEW. Sometimes, online, I get a lot of flack for either defending AEW too often, or being soft when it comes to the criticisms of the company. Mostly by ex-wrestling personalities who now have an outlet to speak and use AEW for clicks & likes, which is completely ironic because they all hope for the very worst for the company that they monetize the most from. ANYWAY…I get a lot of flack, and sometimes, that does suck. However, without this company, I doubt I’d still be in wrestling. All I ever wanted was to do something GOOD for pro wrestling. That was never going to happen without AEW. I was watching my career and my hopes of a legacy in the industry that I’ve loved for over 30 years, fade away. Then AEW came along. Now, I’ve had the greatest matches of my career; some even say the best tag matches of all time. I’ve become a 10 WORLD Tag Team Champion. I’ve won numerous awards from internationally reputable organizations. Above all, I’ve made a living that takes care of my family (yes I know I say it all the time) incredibly well, all because of AEW. So yeah, maybe I do defend the company too much. Maybe I do defend my boss too much. But it’s all done from a place of absolute love and passion for this profession. A LOVE that we all, as fans, have! And if that makes me wrong, then I can deal with that. Thank you AEW for 4 years. I’m looking forward to 40 more. Top Guys, out.“