Tony Khan initially had trepidations about AEW Stars being involved in Ric Flair’s final match.
Fans now know who will wrestle Ric Flair in his supposed final match this weekend in Nashville. The sixteen-time World Champion will team with his son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, to take on Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
One aspect that fans may not know is that AEW President Tony Khan had quite a bit of say in who’d take part in Flair’s last outing. Before the announcement of who’d be involved, there was speculation on FTR having an interest in it along with Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat. However, Steamboat would shoot down any potential involvement, and FTR joining no longer became a possibility.
During his appearance on “Insight with Chris Van Vliet,” Flair revealed that he and Conrad Thompson were the ones who thought to include talent from AEW as part of Flair’s last match. However, Khan initially didn’t want any of his talent to get involved.
“Conrad and I put it together initially. We were going to go outside and get some people from AEW, and then it all became a little political with Tony. I’m not sure why he changed things around, but it’s okay. We worked around it and we’re sold out, and that’s all that matters.”
It all worked out in the end as AEW’s Andrade and Lethal eventually got the call. Flair’s history with Lethal dates back to his time in IMPACT Wrestling. The legendary star has recently stated that he doesn’t want to keep wrestling after the upcoming tag match.
Tony Khan seems more open to having talent work outside his promotion, thanks to his working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The AEW President hasn’t confirmed whether fans can expect to see another AEW and NJPW crossover PPV. He did suggest that if one did, it would not take place in Japan due to time zone reasons.
H/t – Wrestling Inc.