AEW President Tony Khan revealed whether he’d ever consider selling AEW in the future.
All does not appear to be well behind the scenes in AEW. While many roster members were said to have felt better about their concerns after a talent meeting on August 24th, there is very obvious bad blood between AEW World Champion CM Punk and the AEW EVP’s as was made abundantly clear in the post-All Out press conference and in the backstage altercation afterward.
Not only that, but cost-cutting measures as a result of the recent merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery put the company’s television deal in doubt as major cuts have been made to both the TBS and TNT networks.
With so much uncertainty, it’s reasonable to speculate on the future of the company and on a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW President Tony Khan was asked if he’d ever sell the company in the future. Khan was adamant that he’d never put the company in a position that he’d need to sell it.
“I’m never gonna put myself in a position where we have to sell this business as long as I’m alive.”
Continuing, Tony Khan also spoke about the oft-made comparisons between AEW and the late days of WCW, comparisons that he doesn’t find to be valid.
“It’s not even an apples-to-apples comparison with Eric Bischoff’s WCW. He had a lot of things working against him [like] being owned by another company and not being able to make his decisions for the livelihood of the promotion.”
Tony Khan believes that AEW shares more similarities with Jim Crockett Promotions as a “family-owned business.” He also doubled down on the fact that he never wants to sell the promotion the way Jim Crockett eventually sold his company to Ted Turner.
“I don’t want to end up like Crockett Promotions and end up in somebody else’s hands. This is a family business. Theirs was around for a long time, but some mismanagement … and you see what can happen.”
The AEW President also spoke about the company being a financial success, saying they will gross over $100 million in 2022.
h/t WrestlingInc