Tony Khan Bleacher Report interview, talks Forbidden Door, injuries, Sting, more

[Chris]

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Forbidden Door partnerships:

"I really enjoy working with CMLL and I expect we're going to have a really long, fruitful, positive business relationship," Khan said. "Salvador [Lutteroth III] and the team at CMLL have been great to work with. I've dreamed of working with them for years.
"I'm a really big fan of CMLL. When Salvador and a lot of the lucha libre wrestlers come in, I start talking to them about how, when I was in college, I would watch CMLL every week and I was a big fan of Mistico and so many other great wrestlers like Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy, they were a great trio, and Blue Panther of course.
"To be able to work with them now and with Mistico, who is an inspiration and one of the greatest stars in wrestling, it's really cool. The people at CMLL have been great to work with."

"The folks at Stardom have come in and been a great partnership," Khan said. "I think it's the kind of partnership I've wanted to have with them for a long time. And with the changes in management, we've been able to do that.
"Under president [Hiroshi] Tanahashi at New Japan Pro-Wrestling, that relationship has only gotten stronger and better. And I believe this could be the best Forbidden Door yet, which is really saying something."

Hechicero and Titan:

"We were really big believers in him and when the partnership started, he was one of the people I was most excited to work with, along with Mistico," he said.
"Hechicero is a phenomenal talent. It's so great having him in AEW right now and I'm a huge believer in him. I think he's fantastic. I love working with him in particular and all of these great stars we've been able to bring in recently from CMLL."

"Titán is a guy I've had a lot of respect for for a long time," Khan said. "He went into ROH about six years ago and had a fantastic main event with Cody Rhodes, who was the Ring of Honor champion at the time. I've been following Titán for many years. He was a guy I always wanted to get into AEW.
"There are great men and women at CMLL, and we've been able to get a lot of their great stars coming up for Forbidden Door and AEW television. It's been great."

Elite Angle:

"I don't think anybody in pro wrestling wants to be spike-piledrived ever," Khan said. "It's one of the most dangerous, deadly moves in pro wrestling. It's banned in multiple pro wrestling promotions and it's illegal in several states, and there's a reason.
"I don't recommend it to anybody nor would I ever be eager to take another spike piledriver again. Only the most trained professional wrestlers can sustain that kind of beating, especially multiple times."

One of the unexpected results of this segment was Shahid Khan, Tony's father, appearing on screen and becoming a meme on social media.
"He thought it was fantastic," Khan said. "People were sending it to him. He knew it was going to get attention. He knows AEW is a big deal, and he follows the show and the product. He's not a hardcore wrestling fan, but he watches AEW."

"To have the voice of the NFL and host of the draft, Rich Eisen, every single round, reference the neck brace, talk about AEW, talk about the piledriver and what The Young Bucks had done to me, it got a lot of great attention for AEW," he said.

Injuries:

"It's happened so much and we've had to change so many things," Khan said. "The Young Bucks referenced this body count, and they're not altogether wrong. Since they started this reign of terror, I'm not the only person they've put out and injured.
"FTR have injuries going back to their Anarchy in the Arena and their ladder match with The Young Bucks. We saw them attack Eddie Kingston in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and he's been out injured. Of course, Darby Allin has been beat up bad. What they did to him in that Anarchy in the Arena match is insane, and they left Darby hanging, beaten, bloodied, and I don't think broken.
"And Adam Copeland, also that night at Double or Nothing, not necessarily related to The Elite, but a lot of injuries have happened in AEW with top stars. A lot of the top babyfaces, a lot of the top fan favorites, and it's been great having such a deep roster and so many awesome stars. We still have so many super-popular stars on this roster who've stepped up.
"I think that's why I'm so proud of the wrestlers in AEW. I believe AEW is where the best wrestle. When we have a great wrestler like Dax or Cash, Darby or Eddie or Adam, all of these top stars are irreplaceable and we miss these guys, but the show has been able to continue because we have so many great women and men stepping up."

Toni Storm/Mariah May/Mina Shirakawa

"It's a storyline that I had worked on and put together based on things Toni Storm has done since she became Timeless and the integration of Mariah May," Khan said. "It's a fascinating dynamic between Toni and Mariah, and I think that it's some of the most captivating stuff on AEW television week in and week out.
"It's been fascinating to watch Mariah progress since she came in. She has a great background in Japan, she's been a top star for Stardom, but we introduced her in a new character as somebody who idolizes Toni Storm and wants to be like her as a wrestler in and out of the ring.
"I've talked about how I drew inspiration from All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard, and then Toni has run with it. Mina Shirakawa has a longstanding history with Mariah May going back to Stardom and their time in Club Venus. Now that we're working with Stardom, it came along as this opportunity to bring Mina into AEW and she has run with it.
"Mina has become a major part of AEW in recent weeks, and I think she's somebody who could be here on a regular basis. Somebody who can represent us as AEW women's world champion.
"All three of them, Toni, Mariah and Mina, are fantastic wrestlers. It's going to pay off at Forbidden Door in a fantastic match when Toni Storm fights Mina Shirakawa for the AEW Women's World Championship and also possibly for the respect and affection of Mariah May."

Sting's retirement:

"The greatest thing we've ever done in AEW, in my opinion, is the retirement of Sting and the way we handled Sting's final years as a pro wrestler," he said. "He had one of the greatest careers ever in wrestling and when he arrived in AEW, he did not feel that his prior run had been what he was looking for.
"When he had previously competed in WWE, I don't think he had a great experience with WWE. He was looking to do something very different. When I first talked to Sting, he was interested in having a comeback, but I don't think Steve [Borden] ever imagined it would lead to a three-year run in wrestling that would become legendary.
"It is an immortal series of matches. Sting was undefeated in his arrival, teaming with Darby Allin in every match. The two of them came together to be the most successful team in the history of AEW. They had some of our best matches ever, some of our biggest moments, and it built to them becoming the AEW world tag team champions.
"Sting's final match, Sting and Darby vs. The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution, was, in my opinion, the greatest sendoff ever in pro wrestling.
"And Sting deserves that because he's one of the greatest wrestlers ever, and we were very lucky to have him in AEW."