Tony Khan stands by his choice.
On the April 10th episode of AEW Dynamite, CCTV footage from All In was broadcast that showed the physical altercation that took place between CM Punk and Jack Perry. The decision to air the footage has been met with heavy criticism from fans and those within the industry as it highlighted a former top star who has since gone on to sign with WWE and saw fans chant Punk’s name throughout the broadcast.
Ahead of the segment airing, Tony Khan stated in an interview that the segment was a “must-see” and defended his decision to air the incident 7 months after it originally took place. Now that the infamous segment has been broadcast, was met with backlash and had little effect on the rating of the show, Khan remains unchanged in his original thoughts.
Speaking with Chris Russell, Khan stated that he thought the segment “made a lot of sense” and discussed the upcoming Tag Team Championship match at Dynasty that the footage is connected to:
“Well, I think it made a lot of sense. First of all, FTR/Young Bucks ladder match coming up at AEW Dynasty for the World Tag Team Championships. This is the fourth chapter in FTR vs. The Young Bucks…the last time they wrestled, Young Bucks/FTR III, was at Wembley Stadium, AEW All In. And a lot happened that day. They were the third match on the pay-per-view and at one point it looked like we were going to have to call them up and they were going to have to wrestle the first match.
And then they ended up going on in the spot they were in, but the Young Bucks said, the whole day, everything that happened, it really affected their mental preparation, they weren’t able to pray before the match, they were very stressed out. They slipped on the banana peel and lost the match but they blame FTR, they blame what happened at Wembley Stadium, and that’s why, in hindsight, thats why they refused to shake FTR’s hand.”
Additionally, The Young Bucks have given their thoughts on the segment.
Tony Khan Discusses Competition In Wrestling
Khan has had no issue with taking shots at the competition either personally on social media or allowing the wrestlers to make references in promos, such as Will Ospreay’s promo directed at Triple H’s comments about “the grind.” During a separate interview, Tony Khan gave his thoughts on why competition is the most important thing in wrestling.
Also in the interview, Tony Khan addressed the fan reaction to Jack Perry.
H/t to F4WOnline.