Tony Khan Discusses Relationship Between AEW & NWA

Tony Khan has discussed the relationship between AEW and the NWA with NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa competing at All Out on Saturday.

Rosa will challenge AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida for the title. She made her debut on this week’s Dynamite with a win over Serena Deeb.

In a media call ahead of All Out, Khan said:

“The working relationship between us is the extent of the good personal relationship between Billy Corgan and me. I’ve had a good relationship with Billy for years, long before I got into the wrestling business. Frankly, I’m good friends with Chris Nowinski – I really believe in Chris’ work, and I think, you know, the Concussion Legacy Foundation does great work. Chris has come in at my request and spoken to all of the AEW talent and we have a good relationship with the Concussion Legacy Foundation, and Chris is my good friend, and he introduced me to Billy years ago and I went to one of Billy’s concerts, he’s a very nice guy and I have a lot of respect for Billy as a musician. The NWA’s got great history, they aren’t really operating right now. I think we’re very very different companies in a very different place, and I think the NWA sounds like they’re gonna get back to running and I wish Billy the best with the stuff he’s doing, and I thought this would be a good opportunity for them and for us. Because Thunder Rosa’s great and I thought she would be a great challenger for Shida so it’s one of those situations where I thought it would make sense for both sides, which is why I proposed it, and she agreed and that’s why we’re doing it. I’ve asked Billy about this, I’m not sure what the future would hold for it but obviously if Thunder Rosa wins the title there could be a lot more. And Thunder Rosa and Shida’s gonna be one of the great matches on the card and I think Thunder Rosa, her first match on Dynamite was a hit last night, and I’m really excited for the match. So Billy and I have got a good relationship. If Thunder Rosa wins the title, you could see obviously a lot more stuff between us, but I don’t have any plans to use anybody else from the NWA. Although some of our star wrestlers have been there, with Eddie Kingston and Ricky Starks and Colt Cabana. So it’s a good question but besides Thunder Rosa we’re not really talking about using anybody else from there, but again Thunder Rosa by the weekend could be our champion and it’s quite possible so I would stay tuned on that.”

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You can listen to the full media call with Khan at this link.