FULL RECAP – Tony Khan Media Call Pre-AEW Full Gear 2022

AEW

AEW President and CEO Tony Khan is speaking to the media ahead of AEW Full Gear 2022, and we’ve got all the updates right here.

Full Gear on November 19 will be headlined by MJF challenging Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks returning for a Trios Championship match against Death Triangle, the in-ring return of Saraya against Britt Baker, and more.

Keep refreshing this page and follow along with live updates below to find out what Tony Khan has to say:

The call is set to commence at 1pm ET

Tony Khan opens the call to say that he thinks Full Gear will be a great pay-per-view show on Saturday night.

Jon Alba of AdFreeShows asks Tony about the announcement of The Elite returning to face Death Triangle at Full Gear and how the investigation went down to bring us to The Elite coming back.

Tony Khan says that he can’t talk about the investigation, but he says The Elite were the first Trios Champions.

However, they were stripped and Death Triangle won the titles. He breaks down the long history between The Elite and Death Triangle noting their previous trios match on January 1, 2020, the Omega/PAC rivalry and Young Bucks/Lucha Bros feud.

Khan goes on to note about the Trios Titles being an important part of their weekly TV and praises the Death Triangle vs Top Flight & AR Fox match from last night.

Next question – what was the thought process behind putting a PPV in New Jersey which is typically 

Tony Khan brings up the success of Grand Slam and notes that Full Gear in Newark looks to be a successful event as well already. Khan believes Full Gear will be the fourth $1 million dollar gate for the company this year.

Kenny McIntosh of Inside The Ropes asks Tony about the injuries and having so many tournaments in 2022 due to that. Does he foresee more tournaments in 2023 or will they be toned down moving forward?

Tony Khan talks about Ricky Starks’ injury affecting the Eliminator Tournament. He mentioned that Starks was actually injured and he didn’t want to just have Lance Archer move on, so that is why the match was delayed.

Tony Khan says the winner of Archer vs. Starks will face Brian Cage on the Zero Hour pre-show. The winner of that match will face Ethan Page in the Eliminator Tournament Finals on next Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite in Chicago.

Will Washington of Graspody asks about the AEW Interim Women’s World Championship status with Thunder Rosa being out to 2023 the earliest. Washington asks if there was a thought to crown a lineal champion at Full Gear.

Tony Khan mentions that Thunder Rosa is a great champion and he is trying to be patient with the injury she has. Khan does note that at some point, they do need to crown a lineal champion moving forward.

Next question – what is his thoughts on Saraya making her comeback against Britt Baker at Full Gear?

Tony Khan talks about Saraya’s journey to get back in the ring and arriving in AEW. He also notes that one of the themes of the PPV card is homegrown stars vs. international superstars. 

Khan believes the story between Baker and Saraya is very compelling. He notes that Britt has always been willing to go the extra mile and fight with injury. “She is a savage!” 

Khan says that Saraya is one of the most recognizable faces and one of the most known stories coming into this match. He is really excited to see the collision course with Dr. Britt Baker DMD.

Next question – now that AR Fox has signed, does Tony for him backstage as a coach?

Tony Khan talks about finding talent at Daily’s Place during Dark tapings and praises Fox’s strong performances, including most recently against Rey Fenix. 

Khan notes that the partnership with Top Flight made sense to him, so that is why he paired them. Fox has plenty of experience and Khan thinks its a good thought to have him in a coaching role.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer asks about having another Owen Hart Cup Tournament next year.

Tony Khan answers “yes!”. He plans on growing the relationship with the Hart family and notes that he looks forward to collaborating with Dr. Martha Hart once again for the tournament.

Khan also thanks Chris Jericho for bringing the partnership together and notes several people who was on Zoom calls with Dr. Martha Hart and himself, including Cody Rhodes.

Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics asks Tony Khan if CM Punk is done with All Elite Wrestling.

Khan answers that he can’t comment on that, but he has nothing but positive things to say about what CM Punk has contributed to the company. 

WrestleInn asks how does Tony creatively go through these video packages and promos to promote PPVs ahead of the show.

Khan talks about wanting to keep things around the ring, but credits how Nitro changed with more backstage segments. He felt that this was the week as the go-home show to do more video packages to hype matches ahead of the PPV.

Khan believes that this week’s Dynamite was focused on pushing people towards Full Gear and notes that there are 10 matches on the pay-per-view. He says they will end at a reasonable time, but on the same scale of previous major events.

TK also says that the wrestling will not start at the top of the Zero Hour. He notes that Double Or Nothing was a calculated risk and felt the crowd was strongest at the end of the show there.

TK doesn’t think he would do something like that here and also brings up the Full Gear Countdown show for those who enjoy 

Amy asks about the Nyla Rose vs. Jade Cargill feud, wondering how the story came about there.

TK says that Tony Schiavone is the one behind bringing the idea for the feud to mind. He believes that this rivalry has been a good way to bring out Nyla’s personality.

Khan mentions the two women usually being the bigger one in their matches makes this an interesting showdown. He once again praises Tony Schiavone for bringing this feud to his mind.

Tony notes that there are three women’s matches on the card that each have a unique story to them. He is looking forward to them all.

BJ asks Tony about FTR not being on the Full Gear card and not on the Grand Slam card previously. He asks if it is because they are being saved for the ROH Final Battle show.

Khan notes that he has so much talent on his roster right now. FTR is one of the best tag teams in the world, but they came up short in the #1 contenders match to Swerve In Our Glory a few weeks ago.

TK praises Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee for being two of the best free agents signed by the promotion this year. He also praises FTR for their success since coming to AEW.

Khan notes that FTR were victorious in the opener to Dynamite last week. He praises the whole tag team picture and also FTR holding gold all over the world of wrestling.

TK believes FTR is a great representative for AEW, ROH and NJPW, so he wants to use them as much as possible.

Next question – With ROH getting running and AEW growing, are you still in charge of all the booking for both companies?

Tony Khan says yes, he is still in charge of all the booking. He does use other people’s ideas like Tony Schiavone coming up with the idea for Nyla Rose to steal the TBS Title.

Khan credits the teamwork feel in AEW for taking others’ ideas and putting it all together.

TK talks about the success of AEW this year being year-over-year up in the TV ratings. He also notes the success on PPV and the $1 million gates throughout 2022, including Grand Slam.

Tony brings up the Warner Bros. Discovery President being very happy with their performance this year. TK believes in the strategy for their partner and want to be apart of it. 

Khan notes about the great stories they have told including the Hangman Page arc to the AEW World Championship and Kenny Omega’s title run.

TK provides a brief update on Hangman Page saying that he is doing well and can’t wait for him to come back.

Emily from Women’s Wrestle Talk asks what Tony’s hopes are for the AEW women’s division or any talent he plans on bringing in.

TK says that he believes Full Gear offers the most compelling matches they have ever offered for the women’s division. He notes Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter, Nyla Rose vs. Jade Cargill and Saraya vs. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.

Khan also mentions that he thought Anna Jay worked well last night. He also brings up The Bunny and Penelope Ford despite them both being out injured.

TK praises The Bunny & Penelope Ford vs. Anna Jay & Tay Conti last year as one of his favorite matches from the past year.

Khan also brings up Riho and Hikaru Shida as former world champions that he wants to use more. He thinks there are also a bunch of talent out there that they will scout and recruit in the future.

Tony Miller asks about AEW teaming up with Regal Cinemas to broadcast their pay-per-views.

Khan says that it is something they would like to see continue moving forward. He notes some of the bigger theater events in 2022 like Black Panther and The Batman. TK wants to continue the partnership for sure.

Joey Haden asks TK about Winter Is Coming. “Does AEW bringing this event to Texas point to a pay-per-view coming there soon?”

TK talks about Winter Is Coming being such a huge event for the company. He also brings up how that week will be a big one with Final Battle also being that weekend in Garland, Texas.

TK believes Winter Is Coming is one of the most significant events of the year for AEW. He thinks an AEW pay-per-view in Dallas would be great for the company.

TK notes that he would want to hold a major event in a bigger building than where they do TV. Khan wants to continue Winter Is Coming in the Dallas area every year.

David Bixenspan asks about the criticism towards ROH bogging down the AEW television with the ROH World Title on the line for the first time on an AEW PPV.

Khan believes that the matches for the ROH World Title have been great and he is looking forward to the four-way match at Full Gear.

TK says he wants to bring Ring of Honor television to the airwaves and it’s something he is pursuing with Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Tony talks about how having ROH pay-per-views have helped with such a big roster as AEW has. He notes FTR wrestling on both ROH PPVs and Forbidden Door. Khan also says because of ROH, he was able to put FTR in the main event, which is something he has wanted to do for a while.

TK also brings up Mercedes Martinez just being cleared from injury at last night’s AEW Dark Elevation tapings. He praises a number of the talent featured in Ring of Honor like Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Samoa Joe and FTR.

Sean Ross Sapp asks what was the original plans for Saraya if she wasn’t cleared for an in-ring return?

TK says that Saraya is one of the most recognizable talents in the world, so he wanted to work with her regardless. Before signing, Saraya made it clear that she was working towards getting cleared, so he was confident she would return.

Nick Hausman asks Tony if he had any idea what Punk was going to say and why didn’t he do anything/

TK says no, he did not know. He also notes that he had important things to say Keith and Swerve as well as Toni Storm after that. So Tony says he was thinking of what he was going to do next for why he didn’t do anything.

The call has now concluded.

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• Media Call
• Full Gear
• tony khan
• AEW

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