Tony Khan has publicly commented for the first time regarding the reported list that AEW has created regarding moves that are banned or need to be cleared by officials.
As previously reported, AEW recently sent out a document outlining some of the planned changes. They need clearance to do certain things, including moves and actions.
The AEW medical team, coaches, and referees came up with the protocols to help protect talent, staff, crew, and fans. You can check out the list here.
While speaking on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, the AEW President was asked about trying to build a safer brand.
“Yes, I want to have a great pro wrestling company, a hard-hitting pro wrestling company. Those aren’t really crazy changes. It’s nothing that’s going to change the show. It’s really more guidelines for the referees than anything else, and it’s good stuff for the wrestlers to know.”
Khan was also asked about the percentage of dream matches that he hasn’t been able to book because of various reasons.
“Maybe 20% of them have been postponed or changed, but we’ve had so many great classic matches in AEW over the years, and right now, going into this Wembley Stadium show, I think we’re clicking in a way that we never have. In 2021, some of the biggest free agents in wrestling came in. The company got red hot, and a lot of times in wrestling, when you got something really good going, it can take people time to catch on, catch up with it. Right now, there’s so much cool stuff happening in AEW. We recently launched another show, Saturday Night Collision on TNT, and that’s going very, very well. That coincided with the return of CM Punk to AEW, which I think you alluded to before. That’s been very, very successful for us. And all of it’s coming together now for our biggest super show, this Wembley Stadium show in August, and the biggest episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite all year is this week, this Wednesday on TBS. So many of the big dream matches we planned have come off, but yeah, injuries really happen, especially with this hard-hitting, intense style of pro wrestling that we have in AEW. It has jammed up some of our big plans, but in pro wrestling, that’s the beauty of it. We have such a great roster. There’s so many great people here, and right now, I feel things have come together in addition to the Blood and Guts.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit with The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
