Tony Khan spoke with longtime Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio at F4WOnline.com to promote the highly-anticipated AEW & NJPW: Forbidden Door 2024 pay-per-view.
Ahead of the AEW, NJPW and CMLL joint venture at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Sunday, June 30, the AEW President spoke about AEW’s television media rights negotiations, pay-per-views possibly switching to the MAX or Venu Sports platform, discussions with ITV in England, WBD’s CEO supporting AEW and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On AEW’s TV media rights negotiations and PPVs possibly moving to MAX or Venu Sports: “It’s a very complex conversation. There’s a lot of things to be talked about. In addition to MAX, obviously, a lot of people are talking about Venu Sports. That’s a really unique opportunity. I think (Venu Sports) could be something we could be part of and it’s a really interesting conversation. That’s a whole new conversation and that’s a new world. There’s a lot of really interesting and exciting things but what’s really cool is I don’t think that Warner Bros has had such a hands-on boss who has overseen a studio like this since Ted Turner was here at TNT and TBS like we have with David (Zaslav). There is a supreme commander at the top of Warner Bros Discovery and he loves AEW and I have a great relationship with him and I think it’s going to go a long way towards really keeping something that is very important to me alive, which is wrestling on TBS, TNT. When we brought it back, I always said this is an American institution, there should be wrestling on these channels.”
On AEW’s negotiations with ITV in England: “I also had the same great conversations in England with the amazing people at ITV. I really feel that way also about England, there should be wrestling on ITV.”
On the importance of having WBD’s CEO supporting AEW: “That’s a really good thing for the company to have, is the support of the head of the studio, one of the top, most powerful people in Hollywood who loves AEW, loves what we’re doing. And has gotten a look under the hood of AEW also. Very publicly, it’s not a secret, that they’ve also seen what WWE is doing and analyzed it, done the comps, and I think there’s a very glass-half-full story to that which is they stuck with us and they want to be with us. They had a chance to make a deal with someone else and they didn’t.”
For the complete interview, subscribe by clicking here. H/T to F4WOnline.com for transcribing the above quotes.
Make sure to join us here tonight for live AEW & NJPW: Forbidden Door 2024 results from Long Island, N.Y.
