In an interview with Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, AEW President Tony Khan addressed comments made from Chris Jericho about TNT allegedly wanting the company to announce appearances in advance instead of having surprises. Here is what Khan said:
“I don’t think that’s exactly how the conversation…I know, because I was the one who had it, that’s not exactly how the conversation with TNT went but there’s a balance between announcing things in advance like we’ve done with Mike Tyson coming in for this week or with Paul Wight coming in, telling fans in advance when something’s coming or surprises that came out of nowhere like when Sting showed up. And I think that’s a great balance to have and I think we’ll be doing both. So with Mike we announced in advance but I would never, and let me make it clear, TNT never said, ‘Don’t do surprises.’ They thought that was great and they’ve had a huge reaction to Sting and in doing the announcement with Paul they were excited to do one with a press release and it was a great strategy, we did a great number and it was a huge interest and it built huge search traffic and it built a lot of buzz and now Paul is a big part of our family and for everybody that’s been involved in Elevation, he’s brought a lot more eyeballs on Elevation, it’s been a huge, huge success for us. We just did by far our best month ever on YouTube, the views for Elevation have been a huge success but also, that’s only one part of what Paul does here, on screen is that. Behind the scenes, he’s been a huge, huge presence, mentoring young talent, giving notes to all the wrestlers on Elevation on their matches, on what he thinks they can improve or what he thinks they should keep doing and where their strong points are. And also, I don’t want people to think…Paul’s going to, Paul’s going to wrestle [laughs]. I really think this was a great way for Paul to come in because you’re going to get…there’s a little bit of that mob mentality in all things now, and wrestling is no exception, and for Paul to come in this way – Elevation, he’s elevating young talent, he’s added tons of value for the young wrestlers, he’s put thousands and thousands of new eyeballs on young wrestlers that are going to be making new fans and it’s a great opportunity for them, he’s mentoring them on the show, he’s not taking anybody’s spot, he’s adding value to the young wrestlers. If anybody says that Paul Wight came in and took some young guy’s spot and is holding back the young wrestlers, that is crap. That is the opposite of what is happening, that is not the case and that would be an example of that backwards mentality that some people have. You have to actually look at how people are being utilized and in Paul’s case, he’s helping elevate the talent. Now there will come a time when it’ll make a lot of sense for Paul to get involved in a wrestling storyline. He’s one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, he’s one of the most recognizable big men in the world and he’s going to have a huge, huge, huge presence here but the way he’s come in, the way he’s helped elevate the talent, and the way that young wrestlers are benefiting from Paul being here, nobody can deny.”
