Tony Khan on Dynamite’s 3rd Anniversary, All Out Backstage Fight, MJF, AEW Rankings, & More

Variety held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. Some of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts on AEW Dynamite celebrating their third anniversary this week.

“I think we’ve done about 160 episodes of ‘Dynamite’ now, and we’ve learned a lot in the last several years that I think has helped improve the flow of the show. I think we’ve developed a lot of new stars in these three years to where we can put on more consistent great cards week to week.”

On the topic of AEW’s current investigation into the backstage fight incident between CM Punk, Ace Steel, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks at this past September’s All Out 2022 event, Khan stated that he is unable to give any comments due to the investigation is still on-going.

On the topic of his current working relationship with MJF, Khan stated:

“It’s very professional. He’s been part of AEW from day one, and he’s one of the most important stars on our TV show. … Whether you love MJF or love to hate MJF, I think he’s one of the wrestlers who’s connected with the audience in recent years and made himself a star. He’s also had the company behind him to help build him and support him. I think that he is the total package of everything it takes to be a successful pro wrestler. I think he has it all. He’s a really important part of AEW.”

On the topic of AEW’s working relationship with Warner Bros Discovery, Khan stated:

“They’ve integrated us into the new company and given us the opportunity to be involved in their most valuable intellectual property and weave it into AEW. It’s really exciting.”

Khan also described the move to TBS as a “big success for us,” saying that that the time since the move “is the hottest we’ve been this whole year.”

On the topic of The Acclaimed and “National Scissoring Day” celebrations on this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show, Khan stated:

“They found ways to connect with the audience, but also to have great matches, and you have to be able to do both to be a truly top wrestler. Scissoring is something that really connects to the fans. So I think all this week and especially around Wednesday, and maybe the continuing into Thursday at school the next day, there’s going to be people scissoring at school, at work and in the audience at AEW, and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a great way to greet somebody.”

In a separate interview with Comicbook.com, Khan gave his thoughts about the lack of recent updates for AEW’s ranking system and its future in the company.

“I haven’t updated it lately because I think so much has been fluid, coming out of the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions in particular. It’s a fluid situation coming out of Grand Slam and I think now I’m reevaluating it and quite possibly (I) could bring them back soon, but certainly made a lot of changes for the better that led to our best ratings of the year in many ways because we really zoned in and have had, I think, a lot of our best shows in recent months.”

In a separate interview with Sports Illustrated, Khan was asked about his thoughts about the backstage fight incident at All Out 2022. Khan responded stating that he can not provide any additional details over the incident but did state that AEW will still continue to hold post-show media scrums for their pay-per-view events.