Tony Khan media call ahead of Worlds End notes

[Chris]

In a 180 from this month's pre-Ring of Honor Final Battle call, AEW head Tony Khan was more loquacious in speaking to the media Thursday prior to Saturday's Worlds End and was more than happy to talk about several topics that included the Continental Classic and their impending TV rights negotiations.

The full audio can be heard below.

He said he's never felt more on top of things and more invigorated than he is right now with the booking and spoke of the Continental Classic as an "experiment" with both a control group (what they have been doing) and experimental group (increasing what he called the allocation of sports-based old school wrestling).

He is attributing the recent ratings increase for Collision to the more sports-based presentation despite going head-to-head with the NFL on Saturdays recently. He said he will move more toward that style of presentation based on fan feedback which he said was tangible.

He said the Classic has been the most fun thing he's ever done and put together. However, he was non-committal about a women's version.

TV rights

Asked about his current relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery, Khan said the relationship is "amazing" and that he's excited to work with WBD through 2024 and after that, there will be some exciting conversations to be had. He again said he has lots of interest in ROH TV rights and is holding them as a card to be played during the AEW TV rights as he assumes there will be a lot of suitors. He said it would have to be a heck of an offer to get away from WBD.

Like WWE, he expects "a lot more" in revenue when it comes to the next round of AEW media rights based on where Dynamite started.

He defended the year-over-year declines in both Dynamite and Rampage ratings, bringing up how WWE Raw had experienced a similar decline in the fourth quarter as has cable, but no one brings up their downturn when talking about Raw TV rights. He said he thinks WWE would give a similar answer as to their performance vs. cable.

The Devil revealed?

Khan also heavily implied the identity of The Devil will be revealed at Saturday's PPV, saying "there will be some big revelations and big moments at Worlds End."

Other notable quotes:

• Khan said he is excited for Hiroshi Tanahashi as NJPW president while giving props to outgoing president Takami Ohbari. He values his relationship with Tanahashi quite a bit and puts over his professionalism in every aspect.
• Asked if he has replacements for VPs and other front office people who are departing, Khan said he has some big announcements regarding that, hinting those will come in the new year after contracts end.
• Khan said Kenny Omega's diverticulitis affected "a lot of things" when it came to the Worlds End card. He thought the best thing would be to rebuild the card and not just try to replace him which led to bringing in Sammy Guevara, Sting and Darby Allin.
• He felt the time was right for Swerve Strickland vs. Keith Lee and has been wanting to build up both guys for this moment.

Click Here to Listen

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/tony-khan-aew-media-call-continental-classic-experiment-tv-rights-devil-reveal

 

[Comrade Khan]

He said he's never felt more on top of things and more invigorated than he is right now with the booking and spoke of the Continental Classic as an "experiment" with both a control group (what they have been doing) and experimental group (increasing what he called the allocation of sports-based old school wrestling).

interesting tidbit, sounds like they are trying to find their new sweet spot

 

[Deezy]

I hope this geek citing Cagematch ratings was a rib.

 

[Roy Mustang]

Hopefully we see more stuff like the C2 as it has easily been the best part of AEW in the last couple of months