Tony Khan has elaborated on how WCW influenced AEW TV as the flagship show Dynamite is about to make history.
On April 16th, All Elite Wrestling will air the 289th episode of Dynamite, surpassing the 288 weeks that WCW Nitro was on the air and becoming the longest-running wrestling show on the TNT/TBS Networks. A lifelong wrestling fan, Khan spoke to Jon Alba of The Takedown on SI about his love of WCW before Nitro premiered on TV:
“I’m a big fan, and I grew up watching the shows, and Nitro was a huge part of my childhood. And long before Nitro, I watched WCW. And I wish I could say I watched it long after, but that was kind of the end of the run. And I certainly learned a lot watching those shows.”
Continuing, Khan noted that there are a number of similarities between the two brands, especially as former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting and former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone have both been a part of AEW among other notable names from the promotion:
“I think there’s a lot of great influence [from] WCW. The most clear one to me is that the icon in WCW and our legend, our undefeated star, certainly the person we revere so much in AEW is Sting. And I think there’s a great shared history there. There’s a great shared history across TBS and TNT. Tony Schiavone being a key voice in both products, a lot of similarities.”
Tony Khan Looks Ahead To AEW Dynamite 289
Later in the interview, Khan once again showed his appreciation to WCW, noting that he knows firsthand how difficult it is to produce 288 episodes of programming. Additionally, Khan acknowledged what his promotion has achieved since 2019:
“I really, really, absolutely had so much respect for everything that it took to put Nitro on the air and keep Nitro on the air for all those years. And that’s why I think this is a really important milestone. It’s amazing what Nitro achieved. And to be on TNT for 288 weeks, I know how hard that is firsthand, it’s really hard.”
“It’s a celebration of everything, and really all the wrestling. Looking back, over fifty years of wrestling on TBS specifically, and 30 years of pro wrestling on TNT, and now AEW is a huge part of that conversation. And this is a big milestone for TBS and AEW on Wednesday.”