AEW President and CEO Tony Khan continues to show an open-door philosophy when it comes to fan and industry feedback regarding the company’s product. As AEW Dynamite prepares to reach a historic milestone this week—becoming the longest-running wrestling show on TBS/TNT—Khan spoke with Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated’s The Takedown about how feedback plays a role in shaping the promotion’s creative direction.
“I do like to listen to feedback from lots of people across pro wrestling, and especially if it’s constructive, it can be really helpful,” Khan said. “I think there’s a lot of times where you hear somebody say something, and they say, ‘Oh, why didn’t they do it this way?’ Or, ‘Instead of going from point A to point B and then to point C, maybe off in between point A and point B, they could have added this.’ And so maybe there’s a good idea there they can use in the future.”
Khan stressed that input from all areas of the wrestling world—wrestlers, production staff, and especially fans—can be vital. “Fans that have never been backstage at a show in their lives, but just love wrestling and watch it a lot, they have great ideas,” he noted. “I had never been backstage at a wrestling show until I was in my 30s. And I just grew up watching it and loving it and following it and trading tapes and talking about it.”
He added, “There’s a lot of different places and a lot of different ways that you can get an idea about wrestling or contribute. It’s really neat that there are people from literally all over the world, in hundreds of countries, that follow the same sport and can share ideas and talk with each other. It’s really cool.”
As AEW Dynamite continues to grow and expand its legacy, Khan’s receptiveness to feedback from all corners of the industry is a reminder of the promotion’s grassroots spirit and evolving approach to wrestling entertainment.
