Ring of Honor owner Tony Khan held a media scrum on Thursday to promote this Friday’s Death Before Dishonor 2024 event at the Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas.
Some of the notable highlights included:
- On the topic of the controversial unprotected chair shot by Mark Briscoe to Jack Perry’s head during the Blood & Guts match on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Blood & Guts 2024 show, Khan stated that he did not want to get into the art of wrestling but brought up AEW roster’s lack of injuries following matches like Blood & Guts. Khan stated that how sports are executed during matches are different now than they were decades ago.
- On the topic of AEW’s current media rights talks with Warner Bros Discovery potentially including ROH, Khan stated “Yes. I have had good conversations with Warner Brothers Discovery and Ring of Honor has come up in these conversations, which is exciting. It’s a great time in the wrestling business and AEW and ROH, also, with AEW negotiating a major media rights package and having these in-depth and exciting conversations that we’re having right now with Warner Brothers Discovery. It’s tremendous for ROH to be involved in this. It’s something we have discussed. It’s a great brand. We produce great content weekly and the pay-per-view shows, as well as a great library of historical content and trademarks and IP opporutnities. It’s an active conversation now and Ring of Honor is part of the bigger AEW discussions that we’re having.“
- On the topic of issues with the build for Death Before Dishonor 2024’s card, Khan stated that Jay White, Dalton Castle, and Skye Blue being sidelined due to their recent injuries caused a domino effect on the Death Before Dishonor card. Khan stated that he feels that he gets more criticism for booking 5-6 match cards than if other companies did the same and getting more criticism in general over his booking.
- On the topic of champions being injured, Khan stated that the severity and type of injury determines if they will strip a champion of their title. Khan gave the example of Wheeler Yuta’s recent concussion injury as an example of this situation.
- On the topic of the status of AEW’s current talks with Warner Bros Discovery for a new media rights deal, Khan stated that they are still in the exclusive negotiating period with WBD.
- On the topic of next year’s co-promoted Wrestle Dynasty event with NJPW, CMLL, and Stardom, Khan stated that he believes he will be sending a lot of great wrestlers and champions from AEW and ROH for the event.
- On the topic of the recent rumors of AEW having a television rights agreement in place with WBD, Khan stated that is premature and he has heard from a prominent media person that WWE PR has been spreading lies and telling others that a new deal is in place for the same amount of money as their current deal. Khan stated “I don’t usually do this, but since Brandon brought it up and asked. I had a major member of the wrestling media mention to me yesterday, WWE is telling people that, and I don’t know why WWE is telling people about our media rights deal. I don’t know whether it’s any of their business. I don’t really understand why WWE PR calls people and talks about my business. WWE PR is telling people that the deal is done and that the deal is done at the same level that it was going to be our previous deal. That’s not the case. I don’t know why WWE PR and why major wrestling media members, who are very credible and never lied to me, I don’t know why they are telling people that. It’s none of their business. I think WWE PR really gets involved in a lot of things they shouldn’t get involved in. I can tell you that is very untrue. When we make a deal for AEW, it’s going to be a great deal with a big increase over what we’ve been doing. We’re in a really good position and have been doing great business here despite what they’re trying to do to us. Thanks.“
ROH Death Before Dishonor 2024 media scrum full audio: Fightful.com
Sources: PostWrestling.com, Fightful.com 1 & 2
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