AEW: Tony Khan on Potential of More AEW Weekly Programming, Gangrel on Double or Nothing 2024 Appearance, More on MJF’s Return at Double or Nothing

May 30, 2024

Tony Khan Comments on Being Interested in Adding More AEW Weekly Programming

CBS Sports held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts about the possibility of AEW Dynamite expanding to a three hour show in the future and his interest in the idea of more AEW weekly programming.

“”I love being able to do more follow-up with things that happened earlier in the night with more time. Being able to cover more wrestlers and tell more stories, utilize more of the roster. I think it gives more opportunities when we have that three-hour block.
You want to keep Dynamite as strong as possible. You look at the history of what happened with the two-hour wrestling show when that show was expanded to three hours. It’s interesting right now per hour the most we get per hour for any of our TV shows is Dynamite. Either way, five-hour weekly programming is the absolute minimum. So in some ways, you would say, ‘That would be a very lucrative opportunity.’ I think it’s a very interesting conversation to have about how many nights a week you allocate to programming. Is five hours the best? Should we do six? I want to do at least five now. I’ve tasted blood and want more so I could easily be sold on doing more than five hours of programming…”

Gangrel Comments on His Surprise Appearance at AEW Double or Nothing 2024

As noted before, former WWE and current indies wrestler Gangrel made a surprise appearance at this past Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing 2024 event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A recent episode of the Busted Open Radio podcast featured Gangrel as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Gangrel’s thoughts on the process that led to his surprise appearance at AEW’s event this past Sunday.

“Adam is hard-headed. Once he has a story or something in his mind, he’s going to get it done one way or another. Eventually, it went over to AEW and he got it done. I’m appreciative for it. I’m 55 years old. I didn’t know if I could crawl up through the bottom of the ring being under there for a while. My biggest fear was, ‘Can I get up and move?’ My adrenaline kicked in. I was just blessed to be part of that moment.
When I saw him do the interview, I already knew I was coming in. He just wanted to keep it quiet. When he did that interview, I was like, ‘He’s planting the seeds. He’s going to make sure they do remember.’ Smart man. They kept it hush-hush. I didn’t tell anybody. They had me come in last minute. I stayed in his locker room the whole time. When I went to the ring, (Chris) Jericho was like, ‘What are you doing here?’ They were able to keep it quiet as best they could and I was surprised by that. It’s really hard to do in wrestling nowadays. I didn’t get wheelchaired in and covered up or anything like that. Just came in early, went to the locker room and sat there all day. Right before the match, threw a black hoodie on, went out there with the ring crew, climbed under the deal, and that was that.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

More on MJF’s Return at AEW Double or Nothing 2024 & AEW’s Current Plans for Him

As noted before, this past Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing 2024 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada featured MJF making his surprise return from a shoulder injury to AEW.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW officials went all out on keeping their plans for MJF’s return under the radar despite many on the roster had expected it to happen at their Double or Nothing event. It was reported that the reason why MJF flew to Phoenix instead of traveling directly to Las Vegas was to prevent his return from becoming public before the show. It was reported that Hiroshi Tanahashi’s surprise appearance at this past Saturday’s AEW Collision show was spoiled early due to fans spotting him Las Vegas prior to the show.

AEW officials reportedly brought MJF into the arena and backstage area covered up in a wheelchair so that no one backstage would see him.

In regards to MJF’s contract status, it was reported that MJF had agreed to a new contract at some point after Double or Nothing 2022 but the length of his deal nor when he had exactly signed it is currently not known. It was also reported that it is currently not known if MJF’s current deal is an extension of his original deal or an entirely new deal that replaced the time remaining on his original deal. It was also reported that MJF’s new deal is a multi-million dollar per year deal and made him one of AEW’s highest paid talents.

In regards to AEW’s current plans for MJF, it was reported that AEW officials still have plans for MJF and Adam Cole to eventually feud leading to a match between the two. It was reported that MJF and Cole’s segment at Double or Nothing 2024 was meant to be AEW officials way to blow off the feud for the time being until Cole is able to make his in-ring return. Those spoken to within AEW reportedly stated that the the current creative plans for Cole are “out of left field” and will likely end up working out quite well.