Tony Khan claims he wanted to sign an up-and-coming star to AEW back in 2019 before they decided to go elsewhere!
Last night, Ring of Honor hosted its final pay-per-view event of the year: Final Battle. Capping off a night of various surprise appearances, Bandido returned to the promotion for the first time since 2022, saving Matt Cardona from a beatdown from The Learning Tree following his loss to Chris Jericho.
Speaking during the Final Battle Post Show Media Scrum, ROH Owner Tony Khan shared his delight at Bandido returning to ROH. He went on to admit that he attempted to sign the luchador for AEW back when the promotion first began, but Bandido instead chose to sign with ROH before Khan acquired it.
It was really great to see him back. When I first acquired ROH, Bandido had been the reigning champion and we had the match to crown the undisputed ROH Champion, he was the lineal champion at the time.
It was great to get Bandido, who actually missed Final Battle 2021 due to COVID and we crowned an interim champion and then the undisputed champion at my first ever event, Supercard. That was my first time working with Bandido.
I really wanted to sign Bandido when we first launched AEW. He made a choice and signed with ROH. He became a great World Champion for them and when things changed and I acquired the company, Bandido became a great asset to AEW and ROH. It was exciting to have him return tonight in New York.
The former ROH World Champion RETURNS!
Watch #ROHFinalBattle on #HonorClub at https://t.co/8dcdtxqvDf@IAmJericho | @TheMattCardona | @BountyKeith | @TheCazXL | @BandidoWrestlerpic.twitter.com/x7wVhUKgnk
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 21, 2024
Tony Khan Recently Teased The Return Of A Big AEW Collaboration
It appears Ring of Honor won’t be the only promotion under Khan’s control to see some big returns in the near future. During a recent interview, Khan dropped a big tease that he’s looking into collaborating with Guns N’ Roses to license more of their songs.
h/t to Fightful