AEW Media Call: Lack of Women’s Blood & Guts Match, All In Airing Status, Banned Moves, Danielson Injury, ROH DBD 2023 Issues

AEW CEO Tony Khan held a media call on Tuesday to promote tonight’s AEW Dynamite show featuring this year’s Blood & Guts match and this Friday’s Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor 2023 event.

Some of the notable highlights included:

• On the topic of the lack of a Women’s Blood & Guts match this year, Khan stated “It would have been an interesting idea, it could have been a great match. I definitely think Jamie Hayter’s injury, is probably a five-on-five there given some of the depth issues, and especially given Willow Nightingale just got back and putting her in that kind of match after she had a major head injury in Japan, probably wouldn’t be very smart. We’ve had some other major injuries there, and when there was some fan momentum for that idea, I think the Outcasts vs. Jamie, Britt, and some others, was really running red hot and Jamie Hayter was a part of that. Some of the momentum for that, when Jamie Hayter was running hot as champion, was there, and I’m not sure at this moment, given some of the injuries we had, that was feasible. Also, with so many of the women competing this week in the Owen Hart Cup tournament, it is a very hard-hitting match and there is a lot of attrition for it. Santana still hasn’t been back from last year. The women’s division is pretty beat up, they’ve been beating the hell out of each other. Probably was not a feasible idea for them this year.“
• On the topic of the broadcast status for next month’s AEW All In event, Khan stated “I will confirm in due time and soon the details about AEW All In. Everyone will be able to watch it live. It will be taking place in the evening UK time, which means in the afternoon on the east coast and the late morning slot on the west coast. As far as the availability of it, we’ll talk more about that with our partner, but we have a great relationship with Warner Brothers Discovery and typically our PPV events have run through Bleacher Report. As for international carriers and replays, there will be more to come. We’ll tell you more about it very soon.“
• On the topic of AEW’s new health and safety protocols and “banned moves” list, Khan stated that this new policy is meant to be more of a reference guide for AEW’s referees and talents. Khan also stated that the banned items are more of a case-by-case basis with someone like a Kenny Omega would have more leeway into getting approved to doing a banned move than a younger talent.
• On the topic of AEW potentially expanding their pay-per-view events schedule, Khan stated “I think it’s evolving. I believe no wrestling company that has ever expanded its pay-per-view calendar due to demand and economics has ever regretted that decision. In general, there have been factors that have helped wrestling companies rise and fall over the years, but I do think expanding your pay-per-view calendar has often been something that has been seen as revenue positive and an overall positive for companies. Certainly, when there was competition in the past, more pay-per-views was the standard. For us, we launched with a very methodical plan. We built a really solid calendar of major events. Now, we’re talking about six major events that are pay-per-view worthy. As for expanding the calendar even further, it’s something we’ve talked to Warner Brothers Discovery about and it’s something everyone believes could be revenue positive. It’s something to certainly consider, but I’m very happy with what we’ve built.“
• On the topic of a potential third hour for AEW Dynamite in the future, Khan stated that future AEW Battle of the Belts specials will air on Fridays. While he did not give any specific answer about the topic, Khan stated that it was an interesting question asked.
• On the topic of Bryan Danielson’s fractured right forearm injury, Khan stated that Danielson’s injury that he suffered at this past June’s Forbidden Door II event was a bit worse than they had initially assumed. Khan also stated that there is currently not timetable for Danielson’s return nor has he been coming to shows and creative meetings since his injury. Khan stated that he has been in contact with Danielson frequently on creative ideas and thoughts for AEW shows.
• On the topic of the challenges with the build for this year’s ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023 event, Khan stated that this upcoming event has been one of his most challenging shows to put together.
• Khan continued stating that one of the major changes was Eddie Kingston was originally planned to challenge for the ROH World Championship but those plans were changed due to issues with Kingston’s G1 Climax 2023 tournament commitments with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Khan stated “I was hoping maybe even some possibility that Eddie could fly back to participate in Death Before Dishonor and then go back to Japan, and I certainly would have accommodated the travel if that was possible. It wasn’t possible. Mark Briscoe, I had slotted for something different on the card. It turned out that also was not viable for another reason. There have been so many things that came up and it can be like a domino effect. It’s very challenging. With Mark Briscoe’s injury, it was very challenging because Mark had been dealing with injuries for a while and I think some of us almost took it for granted because Mark is such a fighter and amazing person with an amazing spirit. People sympathize with Mark for many reasons, and he’s such a compelling wrestling character and always has been. I felt Mark could be an emotional hook for this pay-per-view in a lot of ways and it was a pivot. With Eddie going to Japan, I thought it would be cool with Eddie having a big moment winning the STRONG Championship and he passed on some wisdom to Mark Briscoe. I knew he was dealing with some injuries, but honestly, he had been dealing with them for a long time, and I think the pain had become too much to manage and it had become very challenging for him. To be honest, he hadn’t told many people about that, including our doctors. The people who knew really well knew he was hurting. I think Mark was no selling it. I know he was no selling the doctors on how much pain he was in. That’s why they were surprised that this had become a lifestyle challenge for him. When he came to me and said, ‘It’s worse than I was letting on. I’m not sure I can do this.’ That meant changing everything. If Mark comes to me and says he needs something, I’m going to do it, no matter what it is. If he needs time to heal up and needs me to pivot the pay-per-view, I’m going to do that for him, without questions. I’ll do it for pretty much anybody, but I’ll do it with a smile for Mark Briscoe. It meant changing pretty much everything again.“
• Khan continued stating that another issue involved them not being able to properly build up the ROH Women’s World Championship match for the event due to needing to hold off the announcement of Willow Nightingale vs. Athena because of the Women’s Owen Hart Cup tournament.

Full media call audio: F4WOnline.com

Source: PWInsider.com, Fightful.com 1, 2, 3, & 4