AEW: Tony Khan on Him Admitting He Got ‘Too Collaborative’ with AEW Creative, Harley Cameron on How She Benefited From Working with Mercedes Mone, Backstage Update on AEW’s Creative Plans for MJF for Worlds End 2025

Tony Khan Comments on Him Admitting He Got ‘Too Collaborative’ with AEW Creative

Sports Illustrated’s The Takedown on SI held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts about his belief that he got too collaborative when it came to AEW’s creative in recent years.

“Since you asked about the focus and some of the stories and putting the TV shows together, yeah, I definitely felt like I had had a good approach that I’d refined in 2020, and trying to be good, trying to listen and be collaborative. I think I had gotten too collaborative, and it was kind of the same mistake I made at the beginning.

And it really helped in the end of 2024, going into 2025, I just said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna put the outline for everything together myself. I’m gonna eliminate the meetings between shows, and I will put everything together myself between shows. And then I’ll come in with the outline of what I want, rather than have a lot of collaborative meetings where everybody chimes in what they think we should be doing.”

Khan also gave his thoughts about how he still believes collaboration is a good thing and likes to hear ideas but learned that it doesn’t need a lot of people involved in the process of putting together AEW shows.

“I don’t want to describe ever being collaborative is a bad thing, because the whole thing that makes AEW great is collaboration. But the collaboration should probably, at its best, be between me and the wrestlers, and working to find the best path, and not having a lot of people in the middle of that.

There are tons of contributions to a wrestling show, within a show, that can be found in terms of character work, or once the outline is passed down, implementing that outline. But assembling the outline for the show, I’ve learned, doesn’t necessarily need a lot of people involved.”

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Harley Cameron Comments on How She Benefited From Working with Mercedes Mone

WrestleZone held a recent interview with Harley Cameron. One of the topics discussed included Cameron’s thoughts about how she benefited from working with Mercedes Mone for her wrestling career in AEW.

“She has allowed me this year to dig deep and push to a different level. Obviously, she’s one of the greatest to ever do it, and having the opportunity to work with her has been imperative to my career. It’s definitely highlighted me and given me opportunities, which is exactly what someone with that kind of star power can do.

Being in the ring with her multiple times has pushed me to think outside the box and challenge myself. So I’d say it’s more inspiration than advice, per se. I’m obviously very excited to face her again at the pay-per-view, Worlds End. I’m hoping it will once again bring out that deep-level performance from me.”

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Backstage Update on AEW’s Creative Plans for MJF for Worlds End 2025

As noted before, MJF made his surprise return at last week’s AEW Dynamite & Collision Holiday Bash 2025 show and cashed in his Men’s Casino Gauntlet winner’s contract to be added to the AEW World Championship match at Worlds End 2025. Prior to his return, MJF had been absent from AEW since this past September’s All Out 2025 event due to filming commitments for the new Violent Night 2 film.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported in a recent Q&A article that his sources stated that AEW officials had plans in place for MJF’s return well before he reappeared on television.

In regards to MJF not defending his Dynamite Diamond Ring this year, Sapp reported that those spoken to stated that there were no last minute creative changes made for the match this year and MJF’s inclusion in the main event AEW World title match at Worlds End 2025 was always part of the plan. This plan reportedly had been in place for over a month.

Sapp also reported that AEW officials had set their plans early on for the AEW World title match at Worlds End 2025 to be a Four-way match involving Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, Hangman Adam Page, and MJF.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that MJF could have returned earlier but this was something that was not confirmed by Sapp’s sources at the time.

Sapp also reported that the AEW World title match contract signing on last week’s Holiday Bash 2025 show allowed MJF to enter the match without risking injury and was AEW’s strategy of maximizing attention while protecting him ahead of Worlds End 2025.