Chicago based radio station Q101 held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts about Aaron Wolf and the Knockout Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) being among the talents from New Japan Pro Wrestling that he would like to see make a potential debut appearance in AEW as part of the partnership between both companies.
“Well, I actually am very interested in that. There were a number of wrestlers I really wanted to come [to Forbidden Door 2026] that did not have the visas or were not in New Japan’s plans to send over. Aaron Wolf and the Knockout Brothers, I really want to get over here. And a number of those people were not sent over, but I’d like to work with them in the future. So I really like Aaron Wolf, and I really like the Knockout Brothers.”
Khan also gave his thoughts about how Callum Newman was originally planned to be involved in this past June’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2026 event prior to his shoulder injury.
“There were plans to use Callum Newman and the United Empire, and when Callum Newman got injured, they held him back from the show. That was a major change and we made the best of that. Whether it was injuries with Callum Newman or Tomohiro Ishii, who I would’ve loved to have participate in the main event. I originally slotted Ishii to participate in [Death’s Door cage match].”
Khan also gave his thoughts about Hangman Adam Page losing to MJF for the AEW World Championship at this past March’s AEW Revolution 2026 event and Page’s stipulation of him not being allowed to ever challenge for the title again.
“That was something he asked me about. In that case, knowing what we were doing, I thought that it made a lot of sense for where we were and a lot of time had passed. We were a very new promotion with not as many stars and not as much television when Cody asked for that, and it was a major change. I twas a major change when Hangman asked for it too, but there were a lot of positives and I understood to build the unpredictability, but it’s a huge risk and in each case, the wrestler asked me about it, and I had some reservations, but they were different reservations and the company was in a different position each time and it added unpredictability to a huge world title fight.”
Khan also gave his thoughts about the reason for the increase in the amount of AEW World Championship matches on AEW television in 2026.
“I think we’re delivering at the highest level and it’s great having these championship fights. And when AEW’s at our very best, I think you can tune in and expect to see the top stars fighting each other in huge matches and big rivalries.
I do think that having all these great championship fights on Dynamite, on Collision, on the major events, and having the very best pay-per-views, our fans are having their cake and eating it, too. You get the very best on TV and a great wrestling product for the fans who can’t necessarily afford the pay-per-views that you can certainly expect to get such a high standard watching AEW on weekly TV, Wednesdays on TBS, Saturdays on TNT, or streaming everything on HBO Max. And I think there are some fans that necessarily maybe can’t buy every pay-per-view and they still are getting great wrestling every week.
And the cool thing about the AEW pay-per-views, they’re worth it. I try to put out an incredible pay-per-view every time because I never want to take for granted the people spending the money on the tickets or on the pay-per-view and delivering at an even higher standard than the incredibly high standard that we try to hold ourselves to week to week in terms of delivering great matches and great episodes of wrestling television.”
Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com 1 & 2, Fightful.com 1 & 2
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