AEW held their traditional post-PPV press conference after Worlds End. Here are some notes.
AEW World Champion Samoa Joe
– This is the best version of Samoa Joe you’ve ever seen
– He talked about misconceptions about his career being done in WWE, he was healing from concussion
– How he’s able to hang with the young talent
– His focus on this championship reign, what he has left to prove
– “I’ll whip Hangman Adam Page’s ass any day of the week, Swerve can get it”
– “Everyone’s starting fights around here but nobody starting fights with me, come fight me”
– MJF’s AEW Title is going in the garbage, new design coming
– Joe said there’s a new era starting up
– AEW and WB Games teaming up for Suicide Squad game
AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm
– 2024 is going to be crazy
-Toni let Tony Khan wear her hat
– Toni said there are so many things she will accomplish in 2024 and she will not give out surprises but it will be wonderful.
– Tony Khan (jokingly) said that you can catch Toni Storm’s movies on Max
– On who she would like to wrestle on the free agent market, Toni said “Wendy Richter, I’m gonna f*ck you up”
– On who is on Toni’s level that can keep up, Toni said Kristen Statlander: “I would love to get in the ring with her and get nice and sweaty. Phenomenal athlete, I would love to touch her.”
– On possibly wrestling Thunder Rosa, “Who?” She added, “If that is her name, that would be a fantastic idea for a tag team (Thunder Storm).”
– Toni’s favorite starring role: “Being the AEW Women’s World Champion”
– Toni on possibly teaming with someone: “My butler was sent away, I hope they didn’t put him down.” She then thanked Mariah May for being an “absolute doll” and taking care of her.
– Tony Khan said he and Toni Storm believe in Mariah May and he believes she has everything it takes to be a champion.
TBS Champion Julia Hart
– On a title vs. title match with Toni Storm, she would love to do it
– On a match with Britt Baker, she recalls losing to Britt before and she would love to have a rematch that is longer than 2 minutes
– On leading her own faction, “I don’t think I could ever leave House of Black, I’m focused on being champion”
– On goals for 2024, “I think one of my big goals is maybe to wrestle at Wembley…”
– On adding women’s tag team titles, Tony Khan thinks that would be great and it would be tremendous and he’s open to it.
– On going toe to toe with more experienced wrestlers, Julia says she studies their matches to know what they do.
– Julia talked about the internet fans thinking they know everything and she knows that if she believes she did a good job and Tony thinks so then that’s all that she cares about.
Toni Khan was asked about sexual harassment and wrestler safety. Tony says it applies to women and men and there’s a policy in place and they make sure to prevent things like that from happening. He feels AEW has the most safe environment and if any wrestlers have a concern, they always have an open line to talk to him. Tony said if anything was brought to him then he would take it to the disciplinary committee.
Swerve Strickland
– On Keith Lee: “I’m not waiting on anybody”
– Swerve was asked what he thinks about when he wakes up. He said he’s thinking about 10-15 things and he’s always looking to improve and looking to see how he can make a change
– Swerve said that in 2024 is when things get direct and “no subliminal sh*t”
– Tony Khan said that Keith Lee’s injury resulted in changes and it was obvious that fans wanted to see Swerve wrestle. Tony said Keith wanted to wrestle but he was examined by a doctor. Keith got hurt at Final Battle and then wrestled Brian Cage on Collision. Tony said that when he saw the doctor today, the injury got worse and the doctor was not comfortable clearing him.
– Tony said that Keith Lee’s injury is what kept him off TV at times.
– Swerve said that sometimes things are not delivered in a fulfilling way but he fulfills everything
– On Dustin Rhodes status with AEW, Tony says Dustin is a great part of AEW both in the office and he’s a great coach to the women and men
– Swerve’s New Years Resolution: To be the “First African American AEW World Champion”
– Swerve on what match he would want for Wembley: “I still want my win back from Bryan Danielson”
Daniel Garcia
– On his contract being up at the end of next year, he says he wants to prove that he can be an asset and he thinks he’s been doing that over the last month or so
– No dance classes in the near future, he thinks people have been able to see what he can do over the past month
– On being able to show the fans the real version of himself in a recent promo, “I was sick of pretending, that’s kind of our job as performers, I was sick of putting up a front.” He said that he’s most successful when he can show real emotions and he’s not a tough guy all the time and he’s an imperfect person. “I’m sick of putting up a front.”
– Tony expects to see more post-match promos like the emotional one Daniel Garcia did.
– Tony was asked about Fight Forever plans in 2024, Tony said there will be more downloadable packs. He said, “We will be supporting Fight Forever for a long time, I expect in the future we will come back with a console game.” For now, they are focused on keeping the current Fight Forever updated
– On mental health advice and getting out of a dark place, Garcia says be open and honest with yourself and be vulnerable and honest with yourself.
– On getting a big win on a PPV, Garcia says he did Forbidden Door and now Worlds End and he wants to prove that he can be built around. “I am somebody who can do the highest job in the company.”
Tony Khan business notes
– Khan said the PPV has been a huge success
– Great week for AEW business-wise across the board
– Collision finished ahead of the NBA and top football competition, third straight week seeing ratings increase. He credits the women’s division and Continental Classic.
– Khan said Dynamite posted the biggest rating since Grand Slam in September and it was a strong week for AEW.
– Tonight’s show was a sell out, and it’s tracking in line with the buys for Full Gear. He says it will be way over 100,000 buys and it’s their biggest year on PPV.
– Khan says QT Marshall’s contract is up and he respects him and the door is open for him to return in any capacity. He knows that QT wants to focus on his wrestling career. He praised his work in AEW as a coach and he said that any wrestling company would be lucky to have him.
– Khan says you’ll see contract cycles at the end of the year. He said he respects Andrade El Idolo and his deal expires at the end of the year. He said he’s been a huge performer in the Continental Classic. He wanted to keep him involved at the top and if they had been able to reach a new deal, he would have been in a prominent position. He says that if this is the way he’s leaving AEW, he’s leaving on a high note.
– Khan also commented on Rafael Morffi’s exit. He said Rafael left on the highest of high notes with a sell out for Worlds End. He talked about being lucky to work beside him and now he will be taking a job outside of wrestling.
Tony Khan Q&A
– On the booking being a committee situation in the future, Khan says there have always been different people in the room to discuss ideas with and it’s been a pretty consistent process. He talked about AEW being on a hot run with strong PPV and TV business. Going into 2024, he feels that things have been on a good run and they put on the best sports-based product with the Continental Classic.
– Khan said he will be very active in free agency in 2024. He talked about the women’s division having the best run, the success of the PPV and TV product and while the people have changed, the creative process is constantly evolving.
– On Chris Jericho, he was asked if he was ever under investigation for sexual misconduct. Khan said he can’t speak to “unsourced rumors” and they have the best track record for safety and anyone with a complaint can go to him.
– On how 14-year-old Tony Khan feels right now, he says “so good” and “it’s really important for the locker room to see what we’re doing is working.”
– Khan talked about the emphasis on Lucha Libre on Collision
– Khan said he likes to learn from the best things he’s done and the “least best” things. He talked about focusing on hard-hitting matches that the fans believe in. He said that in his heart, AEW is still a challenger brand and he feels great about the identity of the company going into 2024.
– The gate for tonight was a “big gate” with around 10,000 fans in attendance.
– Khan was asked again about Jericho. Khan said he can’t speak to that and he repeated what he said earlier about their harassment policy.
– He praised the ROH roster.
– On free agents Kamille, Mercedes Mone and Deonna Purrazzo, he is looking at the free agent market in 2024.
– On expanding the PPV calendar, he said expanding to 8 PPVs worked “incredibly well” and there will be an increased focused on Sting’s last match at Revolution.
– On MJF’s contract status, he says he can’t comment on that right now but he praised what he’s done in AEW.
– Khan also took time to thank Dana Massie.
