Tony Khan has addressed the recent round of AEW releases and has elaborated on the reasons behind some of the firings.
On April 1st, news broke that 10 AEW contracted talents had been released. With All Elite Wrestling previously known for not releasing talent unless gross misconduct occurred and instead choosing to let contracts expire, many were surprised by the news. The topic of the releases was also put forward to Khan on the ROH media call.
Addressing the release of Anthony Henry, who was sidelined with a jaw injury that occurred at an independent show at the time of his departure, Khan described his situation as a “grey area” and acknowledged the risk of allowing his contracted talents to work non-AEW or ROH shows:
“As an example, one of the things that has come up is Anthony Henry. He’s somebody who’s done great work in ROH. I really like Anthony and his team, The Workhorsemen. Anthony got injured on an independent show. I do think when our wrestlers, there’s a double-edged sword here, when we book independent shows, injuries can happen, and there’s a risk to that, and they can affect the wrestler’s career, and frankly, here in AEW, it changes our plans, or in ROH, it can change our plans when the talent get injured here, and by the same token, it changes our plans when people get injured on the outside.
Any time anybody gets injured here, I feel responsible, and when it happens on the independents, it’s a challenging gray area. I’ve had a little bit of time to reflect and think about it.”
Khan continued, stating that when Henry has recovered, he would like him to be back in the company:
“Anthony’s gonna be healing up soon, and I’ve thought about it, and Anthony’s gonna come back to AEW and ROH when he’s cleared, which is gonna be pretty soon, and I think we’ve worked something good out. So I’d like to have Anthony back in AEW/ROH,”
H/t to Fightful.
Providing an update on social media, Henry confirmed that he would be returning.
Another release that Khan addressed was Brandon and Brent Tate, known collectively as The Boys. Khan stated that the reason for their firing was that they did not show up to tapings on multiple occasions and that he had to make a “tough call”:
“These are all very different situations. I think Dalton and Johnny have been very creative. I’ve really enjoyed Dalton and Johnny working together, and this came at a time after Dalton had just custody of The Boys on ROH TV. The rivalry between Dalton and Johnny has been tremendous, and I’m really looking forward to the Fight Without Honor. To be honest, they didn’t show up for work on more than one occasion, and it’s not acceptable. I think the whole locker room knew about it, and you can’t do that, and that’s it, and that’s why I had to make a tough call.”
Tony Khan Chooses Not To Discuss CM Punk’s Comments
Before the AEW releases became public knowledge, CM Punk made an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and gave his thoughts on a number of issues he had in AEW, including Khan. When asked about Punk’s interview, Khan wanted to focus on the upcoming Ring of Honor show:
“I’d prefer not to talk about that. I’d really rather focus on the card and Supercard of Honor, but thanks for asking. I do appreciate you asking, and there’s plenty of interesting things we can talk about here,”
H/t to Fightful.
In September 2024, Kevin Kelly and The Tate Twins launched legal action against AEW.