AEW: Paul Wight on Vince’s Reaction to Him Signing With AEW, Darby Allin Directed Most of Street Fight

AEW wrestlers and Tony Khan took questions from media after Revolution tonight. Here are some notes from Paul Wight and Darby Allin.

Paul Wight

“Vince actually called me the day it was announced I signed with AEW, wished me a lot of luck, agreed that I’m gonna be a fantastic asset to AEW, thanked me for all the years that I worked in WWE. There’s no animosity, there’s no anger. This just came down to contract negotiations and opportunities. Let’s face it, in over 20 years in WWE, I have done everything that there is to do in WWE. I needed a fresh start. I think Vince understands that, understands me as a talent.

“You know, you follow the rules, like I couldn’t reach out to Tony Khan while I was still under contract, and I didn’t. I came to terms with a mutual dissolution of services when I left WWE. I needed the freedom to pursue different opportunities. And when that contract came to an end, I took a big leap of faith and hoped that my reputation in the industry and the work that I’ve done would earn me a meeting with Tony Khan. I got a chance to drive up to Jacksonville and Tony and I had a meeting at like 10 at night in his office and we talked about wrestling and psychology and what I wanted to do at AEW, and one of the big passions that I’ve had for a long time is getting to color commentate, and trying to bring my experience from the ring to the commentary. And also the opportunity for me to compete with some fresh talent, that I can also help to become better. Also a new environment, a new place to work helps to reinvigorate yourself.

“Believe me, leaving WWE was scary because I had so much tenure there, so my experience and had basically already paid every due I need to pay at WWE. You put a lot of faith in yourself and say hey, if you’re really passionate about this, then you have to put your big boy pants on and give it a shot. And I’m very grateful and thankful that it all worked out and hopefully the AEW fans will be happy as well.”

Darby Allin

Darby Allin said that he was involved in 90% of the production of the Street Fight with him and Sting against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks tonight on Revolution.

“I would say I was involved in 90% of it,” he said. “I was doing damn near everything that night. A lot of work put into this. I was up for weeks helping produce this. It was a lot. It was a good experience because my ass dropped out of film school, so this was kind of a test to see my directing skills. It was fun. I had a good time and everybody trusted me.”