In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, AEW President Tony Khan spoke about AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2024, AEW’s inter-promotional relationships, being on the receiving end of a spike piledriver on AEW Dynamite, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On working with CMLL: “I really enjoy working with CMLL and I expect we’re going to have a really long, fruitful, positive business relationship, Salvador [Lutteroth III] and the team at CMLL have been great to work with. I’ve dreamed of working with them for years. I’m a really big fan of CMLL. When Salvador and a lot of the lucha libre wrestlers come in, I start talking to them about how, when I was in college, I would watch CMLL every week and I was a big fan of Mistico and so many other great wrestlers like Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy, they were a great trio, and Blue Panther of course. To be able to work with them now and with Mistico, who is an inspiration and one of the greatest stars in wrestling, it’s really cool. The people at CMLL have been great to work with.”
On his thoughts on STARDOM: “The folks at STARDOM have come in and been a great partnership. I think it’s the kind of partnership I’ve wanted to have with them for a long time, and with the changes in management, we’ve been able to do that.”
On how AEW’s relationship with NJPW has grown stronger and Forbidden Door III: “Under president [Hiroshi] Tanahashi at New Japan Pro Wrestling, that relationship has only gotten stronger and better. I believe this could be the best Forbidden Door yet, which is really saying something.”
On taking a spike piledriver on Dynamite: “I don’t think anybody in pro wrestling wants to be spike-piledrived ever. It’s one of the most dangerous, deadly moves in pro wrestling. It’s banned in multiple pro wrestling promotions and it’s illegal in several states, and there’s a reason. I don’t recommend it to anybody nor would I ever be eager to take another spike piledriver again. Only the most trained professional wrestlers can sustain that kind of beating, especially multiple times.”
On appearing alongside his father during the NFL Draft wearing a neck brace: “He [Shad Khan] thought it was fantastic. People were sending it to him. He knew it was going to get attention. He knows AEW is a big deal, and he follows the show and the product. He’s not a hardcore wrestling fan, but he watches AEW.”
On Rich Eisen talking about the neck brace: “To have the voice of the NFL and host of the draft, Rich Eisen, every single round, reference the neck brace, talk about AEW, talk about the piledriver and what The Young Bucks had done to me, it got a lot of great attention for AEW.”
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door is scheduled for Sunday, June 30, at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.
