AEW President Tony Khan has made a stunning revelation regarding the origins of the company’s flagship show, Dynamite, claiming that the inaugural episode was originally slated to take place at the world-famous Madison Square Garden. The comments surfaced in a viral video taken during the recent Dynamite on 34th Street tapings at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
While addressing the live crowd, Khan teased the idea of bringing a pay-per-view event to New York. When fans began chanting “MSG,” referencing the historic home of WWE, Khan decided to open up about the complicated history between AEW and “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” According to Khan, MSG management initially courted him to host the Dynamite premiere over six years ago, only to abruptly withdraw the offer.
“That’s an interesting idea. You know, for a long time, I’ll be honest. They didn’t want me there, you know that? Because the first episode of Dynamite was originally going to be there,” Khan told the audience. “And they called me and offered me the date. They said, ‘Would you like to do the first episode of Dynamite here?’ The people who called me don’t work there anymore; it was over six years ago.”
Khan elaborated on the situation, alleging that external pressure—heavily implied to be from WWE—forced the venue to back out of the agreement.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I really would. It would be great.’ And they called me a couple of months later, and they said, ‘We don’t want you anymore. We don’t want you to do the first Dynamite here.’ Because it would really upset somebody,” Khan claimed.
The revelation drew a reaction from the New York faithful, who responded with a wave of boos and chants of “f**k the feds,” a shot at WWE. Khan went on to state that he expressed to MSG management his uncertainty about ever bringing his promotion to the venue again after the snub. Ultimately, the first episode of Dynamite aired from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., launching the brand on October 2, 2019.
AEW is currently preparing for its final pay-per-view of the year, Worlds End, which will take place on Saturday, December 27, at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida. The event will feature the finals of the Continental Classic tournament and a massive AEW World Championship match involving MJF, Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, and “Hangman” Adam Page.
Tony khan said that the first episode of Dynamite was suppose to be held in MSG #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/e6wJcvUCNS
— SMOKEY (@Smokeybear45_) December 21, 2025
