AEW owner Tony Khan recently commented on Triple H taking over creative control in WWE and how this change offers up a new dynamic between the two rival wrestling promotions.
Following Vince McMahon’s retirement as Chairman and CEO of WWE, HHH was named Head of Creative and his promotion has seen an upswing in former talents being re-hired by the company.
The likes of Dakota Kai, Karrion Kross and Dexter Lumis have already returned to the company in recent weeks and more former WWE stars are expected to follow suit in the near future.
Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae have been heavily rumoured to make their way back to WWE now that The Game is in charge, with Bray Wyatt also reportedly more open to a return to his former employers than he was prior to Triple H stepping into his new role.
Interestingly, Tony Khan has admitted that a revitalised WWE could also have a positive effect on his own company.
Speaking on the Superstar Crossover podcast, the AEW President admitted that there will likely be a lot more competition between the two companies when it comes to signing talents now that Triple H is running things:
“The challenge would be that I think we’re more likely to compete for the same wrestlers, because I think that our vision of wrestling is probably a bit closer together than with his predecessor,”
However, Khan did concede that this fresh competition is a positive for the wrestling business as a whole:
“I do think there are a lot of advantages, though. The shows they’ve been doing are generally better than the shows that they’ve been doing before the change, which is good for the wrestling business. It’s a little bit different than what we’ve been going up against before, and in terms of me being the CEO of AEW, I see some positives and some negatives, but I see a lot of positives.”
Former NXT Superstar AJ ’Top Dolla’ Francis is the latest name to be linked with a return to WWE, with the ex Hit Row member expected to be backstage at this week’s SmackDown taping.
H/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.