Tony Khan says All Elite Wrestling is on the cusp of a “huge expansion” ahead of their new AEW Rampage show coming to TBS on Friday nights in August.
AEW President Tony Khan was talking to Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards on the AEW Unrestricted podcast in his usual slot before an AEW pay-per-view. The trio were discussing the upcoming Double Or Nothing event that will see Kenny Omega defend the AEW Championship against Orange Cassidy and Pac.
For Khan, Double Or Nothing signals the beginning of a time of great expansion for the company:
“There’s gonna be a huge expansion of the company and I think that’s where Double Or Nothing comes in. Our huge signature pay-per-view, we take our quarterly events seriously. I want Double Or Nothing to be one of the great pay-per-views we’ve done and I think the return of crowds is gonna help boost this great card. But I also think that we have to start expanding the roster in AEW and there’s gonna be great moments and great surprises on the show and I believe that we’re also just bell-to-bell gonna deliver an awesome wrestling pay-per-view for the fans at home and for all 5,000-plus in Daily’s Place.”
Khan then discussed the changes coming up this summer for AEW with Rampage beginning Friday nights at 10 pm ET:
“I’m really, really excited and jacked up about this pay-per-view and excited about what we’re going to do with AEW this year because the company’s gonna change. I’m very happy with what we’ve done these first two years and now is the time to build off it and grow with Rampage coming in, it’s a great time to expand. We’re gonna do all kinds of expansion, whether it’s the new show, new programming. We’re gonna launch quarterly specials with TNT, these super cards that I’m very excited about. And that is something that we all want and as we plan ahead with TBS and TNT – it’s great to have more programming ahead with TNT.”
Tony Khan then states explicitly that part of that expansion will be new faces being added to the AEW roster:
“With Dynamite ahead of everything else this weekend on TNT and planning for the launch of Rampage and everything building to this huge Double Or Nothing event every year. The first pay-per-view of this new era, this new programming extension, new people coming into the roster, new faces coming into the merchandising, the action figure space which people are really enjoying.”
“It’s gonna be a huge year, and Double Or Nothing is the start of this new era in many ways. The first pay-per-view of it and the card speaks to that and it’s gonna be a great card for everyone.”
“[…] I can’t say enough about the roster we have now and as the roster grows and expands this year which I’m very excited about I think we’ll see AEW has everything it takes to compete with any wrestling company in the world in any metric going forward.”