AEW Full Gear 2024 Media Scrum: Australia Debut Event, AEW PPVs Debut on MAX Status Update, WWE ID & Potential Effect on AEW, Running Smaller Venues for AEW Shows, Costco Guys, Toni Storm’s “Retirement”, Mina Shirakawa

AEW CEO Tony Khan held a media scrum on Thursday to promote this Saturday’s Full Gear 2024 event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Some of the notable highlights included:

• On the topic of AEW’s Grand Slam 2025 event in Australia, Khan stated that they have currently sold “thousands” of tickets for their debut event in Australia. Khan also gave a non-answer when asked how fans will be able to watch and if it would be a pay-per-view event due to the time zone differences between Brisbane and the United States.
• On the topic of a potential debut date for AEW PPV events on MAX, Khan stated “It’s too soon for me to be able to give a update on that. A lot of that is in the hands of our amazing media partners, to whom we are very grateful, at Warner Brothers Discovery,” he said. “We have a great relationship there. I know the simulcast of Dynamite and Collision will be something fans can look forward to to kick off 2025. The pay-per-view delivery on Max will require a lot of upgrades and technical work on the back end. I don’t want to put a date out there that I’m not really sure on and I know there is so much work to be done by the Max engineering team to provide that capability on pay-per-views. Really looking forward to when Max gets that delivery system up and running, and when it is up and running, we do have a plan for the delivery, including how that will work for Max subscribers. It’s just a matter of time before we can roll it out, but it’s something that will be headed to the fans at some point in 2025. For the Max pay-per-view delivery system, it could be several months at least.“
• On the topic of WWE’s new WWE ID program and how it will affect AEW’s recruitment of talent on the indies, Khan stated that he was unsure due to him currently not being clear about all of the parameters of WWE’s new program. Khan also stated that he did hear something about WWE having the right to match offers for contracts. Khan also stated that it will be interesting to see how it goes the first time they have a WWE ID talent they want to bring in and until then he will reserve his thoughts until he “tests such a mechanism.” Khan stated that WWE’s new program has not been a conflict yet but he is interested to see how that goes when it does happen.
• On the topic of AEW planning to run shows at smaller venues in 2025, Khan stated that he hopes to recapture some of the atmosphere of some of the early AEW shows. Khan put over venues in Cedar Park and Austin, Texas that he loves running shows in.
• On the topic of AEW running AEW Dynamite and Collision tapings on the same night, Khan stated “It’s a low percentage and it’s not supposed to be a common thing at all, and it’s not going to be a regular occurrence. Rarely are we taping the shows on the same night. The only time you really see it happen more than once consecutively is around the Australia event, which is a little bit of a different cadence for us because we have to film content and then fly the crew internationally. It’s not going to be common and very rarely would be tape those shows on the same night. Typically, it’s around an international trip or a special occurrence. The cadence of tapings is far from final for next year. There are still great media opportunities out there for AEW and we’re still having a lot of active negotiations about AEW and Ring of Honor.“
• On the topic of Big Boom AJ’s (Costco Guy AJ) involvement for Full Gear 2024, Khan stated “It’s been tremendous. It’s been absolutely tremendous. It’s been something I’ve enjoyed. I’ve learned a lot about marketing and entrepreneurship from AJ and Justice, they are tremendous. I really enjoy talking to them. Tomorrow, I’m going to be on Fox Business Network talking about this collaboration with Big Boom AJ. They’ve built a great brand and they are a nice family. It’s nice to see a father and son working together. I think that’s part of the appeal. Clearly America and people all over the world want to see this father and son. They’re having a good time and look spending time together and they like watching Justice and the Rizzler grow up. It’s really a nice thing. Personally, I’ve had my eyes opened to what they’ve been able to do. It was so cool to hear their name on the Tonight Show and to be featured on the Tonight Show and have AEW discussed on such a prestigious platform was really cool. That’s just one example of the kind of high-profile media Big Boom AJ and Big Justice have been bringing to AEW. We’re very excited to have the Rizzler at AEW, it’s awesome. It’s a great collaboration and indicative of the kind of great collaborations we want to have with our marketing partners.“
• On the topic of AEW’s current talks for additional new media rights deals, Khan stated that AEW has been in active negotiations about Ring of Honor and other AEW programming.
• On the topic of “Timeless” Toni Storm’s recent announcement of her “retirement” from her wrestling career, Khan stated “Timeless Toni Storm has been a great world champion for AEW. I think reports of her demise have been greatly exaggerated. I still expect Toni Storm will have a great wrestling career, but she’s really struggling, clearly, with what’s happened. She lost the world title, she lost her protege. I think she feels like she lost everything and now she’s lost. I hope Toni Storm can find herself and come back to us in AEW because Timeless Toni Storm is a great part of AEW.“
• On the topic of Kenny Omega’s recovery from diverticulitis, Khan stated that he would like to get Omega back soon and it “would help them a lot and would be a great thing for AEW.”
• On the topic of Stardom talent Mina Shirakawa sticking around longer in AEW for her current stay, Khan stated “I am optimistic to keep Mina with us a lot. Mina Shirakawa fits in very well in AEW and she has been a great part of the show. We’d like to have her here as much as possible. Coming up after Full Gear, I’m optimistic that Mina Shirakawa can join us more frequently and we’ll see what that can be as far as her schedule with AEW and STARDOM simultaneously. We have a great relationship with STARDOM now and I love working with STARDOM, Mr. Okada, and the great Bushiroad executives. Mina Shirakawa is a great star for STARDOM and also, now, a great star for AEW in America and all over the world. I feel Mina Shirakawa adds a lot to AEW and I would like her to stay indefinitely, more regularly, and be with us more frequently. Thankfully, STARDOM is open to that and they’ve been very kind about opening her schedule up to us. I expect to see Mina Shirakawa a lot in AEW going forward.“

Full AEW Full Gear 2024 media scrum audio: F4WOnline.com

Source: F4WOnline.com, Fightful.com 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5