Tony Khan responds to Triple H's comments on Cody Rhodes documentary

[Chris]

Tony Khan has responded to Paul "Triple H" Levesque referring to AEW as a secondary promotion.

Levesque's comments were made in the recently released American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes documentary. He said Rhodes was taking a chance by returning to WWE but wouldn't be able to live out his dreams in a "secondary promotion."

"It’s taking that gamble again and saying, ‘I didn’t grow up dreaming of being the champion or the face of a secondary promotion. I wanted to be the WWE champion,’" Levesque says in the documentary.

The AEW president responded to these comments in a recent interview with The Orlando Sentinal. Khan referred to AEW as being the top promotion in the UK in terms of television as well as ticket sales for AEW All In.

“We certainly won’t be the secondary promotion at All In,” Khan said. “We’re No. 1 in the UK, on TV and with a record gate. I have a lot of respect for Cody. I know these weren’t his words, to be fair, but we’re not secondary in a lot of markets — for the first time in a long time, WWE has been secondary in a lot of markets. … I’m proud of where we’re at and we’re not taking a back seat to anybody.”

Our own Dave Meltzer reported in last week's edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there have been 76,929 tickets distributed to All In at Wembley Stadium. 70,400 of those are paid for a gate of $9 million. The show is 3,780 away from beating WrestleMania 32 as the most-attended paid wrestling show of all time, not counting 1995's Collison in Korea event.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/tony-khan-responds-to-triple-h-calling-aew-a-secondary-promotion

 

[Canadian Dragon]

as always:

 

[Death By Looch]

... I can see the toxic fan corners already getting their pitchforks and torches for the next war about this topic ready.

I mean at that point, when Cody was "the face" of AEW, they definitely weren't on the level they are today and to counter Hunter's comment from the documentary with the numbers they are pulling from Wembley this year, feels more like it's just two people arguing past one another.

Honestly though... I feel like it's not the worst thing, especially for the non-toxic fans, who just want the entertainment, to see small jabs and stabs between the two companies. Nothing to really get heated over, imo... even though a lot of people will go into overdrive about it, as always.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

for me it just sounded like Hunter is still sour Dynamite kicked his NXT ass for a year Im being toxic I guess

 

[Chris]

I do like the small jabs back and forth myself yeah lol harmless pettiness is fun to watch for me

 

[Jay-Ashley]

Love how Japan has pretty much killed their pettiness on rivalry promotions, but America and Mexico are burning strong with it lmao.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

Love how Japan has pretty much killed their pettiness on rivalry promotions, but America and Mexico are burning strong with it lmao.

I honestly would never have guessed that Japan would all of a sudden play ball and work their shit out, but especially USA would just start hating each other lol.

Except Impact, who be like we will work with AEW and send Mickie James to WWE for a one off, because we are cool bros.

 

[Jay-Ashley]

I honestly would never have guessed that Japan would all of a sudden play ball and work their shit out, but especially USA would just start hating each other lol.

Except Impact, who be like we will work with AEW and send Mickie James to WWE for a one off, because we are cool bros.

I honestly agree lol

IMPACT is that cool guy that hangs out with everyone and no one questions it lol.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

I honestly agree lol

IMPACT is that cool guy that hangs out with everyone and no one questions it lol.

he's that guy that always shares his stash with everyone and never expects to be paid back, just happy to see his stash (wrestlers) get used and making ppl happy. Honestly, Scott D'Amore doesn't get the flowers he deserves. Just a good human and we are all lucky to have him as one of the leaders in the industry. Every promoter on the planet could learn a thing or two from him.

 

[Jay-Ashley]

he's that guy that always shares his stash with everyone and never expects to be paid back, just happy to see his stash (wrestlers) get used and making ppl happy. Honestly, Scott D'Amore doesn't get the flowers he deserves. Just a good human and we are all lucky to have him as one of the leaders in the industry. Every promoter on the planet could learn a thing or two from him.

Oh, I highly agree. Scott is maybe my favorite promotor currently though and CIMA are kind of tied to be honest. The one thing I like about IMPACT the most is that it feels homey, if that makes sense. It seems like everyone is good with everyone and they try to welcome anyone and everyone within reason.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

full agree with you there too! 2023 Impact seems like the tightest lockeroom Ive seen since aew year 1

 

[Jimmy King]

Besides those comments in the documentary, it’s actually a good watch and worth checking out.

 

[Deezy]

Probably not the best day to respond when the other guys are releasing their quarterly reports of record profit.

 

[Death By Looch]

Record profit thanks mostly to Saudi money, instead of product quality... so nothing really to write home about.

 

[Deezy]

Record profit thanks mostly to Saudi money, instead of product quality... so nothing really to write home about.

$410 million in profit isn't just Saudi Arabia, their TV ratings are up. Their PPVs have all been bangers.

If you don't watch something, don't assume the quality of a product that is far more successful than any other one.

I don't slag Rampage unless it was the one time I watched it.